Does This Mean No More Caffeine??
I am not going to lie, I am addicted to diet soda. Please
don’t judge, I know the spiel and that I will probably die from a brain tumor
because of it. But it doesn’t change the fact that I consume an embarrassing
amount a day. I noticed last week that the times of day my numbers peaked or
went a little crazy were the times of day I consumed that oh so lovely,
chemically altered beverage. Which to me, doesn’t make sense considering diet
soda doesn’t have any carbs in it. So, I started thinking, maybe, this has
nothing to do with the carbs, maybe this has to do with the
caffeine. So maybe the real question is, does caffeine affect
blood sugars?
When I first started looking I found a lot of information
for Type 2 diabetics and the affect caffeine has on their blood sugar levels.
In fact, there was an article talking about a study where they had patients
take caffeine pills with meals they would consume a caffeinated beverage with
one day and the other take all caffeine away from them. On the days that they
consumed the caffeine pill their blood sugar levels were higher after the meals
verses when they didn’t take the caffeine pill.
My next question was “how does caffeine affect your blood
sugar”? I couldn’t find a direct answer to that question, other than it’s not
that it directly affects your blood sugar levels; it is more that it affects
your insulin sensitivity. When I went to look further into this, I found a lot
of great medical journals that discuss this. The only problem with medical
journals is 1) they always lose my attention span with their big words and 2) I
can’t always understand them because they use big scientific words that go
right over my head. So, I started to dig around more, looking for simplified
answers to this question. It took some digging, but I found a simple
explanation. “It has to do with the fact
that insulin interferes with the metabolism of glucose.” (Click HERE for
article) Because it affects the metabolism of glucose it causes a raise in
blood sugars.
Now, a lot of these finding deal directly with caffeine from
coffee, but I have a feeling that these findings will go across the board with
all caffeine. As much as a hate it, I might need to start weaning myself off
this wonderfully toxic drink and start looking into a world with just one cup
of coffee and drink water, or non caffeinated beverages instead. But, because I
am stubborn, I will be testing this theory before I make the switch.
i love the new look of the website :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you in your "no caffeine" journey.
ReplyDeleteI complained to my doctor a year or two ago about this, asking why my sugar level was going up in the morning even though I had not yet eaten anything - only having had my cup or two of coffee. Her response, 'Oh well, caffeine does raise your blood sugar.' Not yet being willing to give up my morning coffee, I wish I knew how much insulin to bolus for my beloved caffeinated morning coffee. (I, at least, have given up the other 3-4 cups that I use to drink during the day.)
ReplyDeleteI can't remember, but I think Wil might have talked about this on Diabetes Mine a while back... might be worth searching for?
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think I have any hope of giving up Diet Coke. Heck, I'm even willing to bolus for the caffeine if need be. :-)
Thanks Scott I will have to make sure to check it out!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing better for me than that first diet coke of the morning. I look so forward to it! I find that if i switch to something with more caffeine, like coffee or diet mountain dew....my sugars tend to creep up more than w/ my beloved diet coke and i eventually have to make a correction or do a temporary basal. The more pops i have in a day, the higher my blood sugars go.
ReplyDelete