I’m sure this has been asked before, but I’m lazy this morning and don’t want to search.
The question: I drink a lot of coffee in the morning. Usually 3-6 cups. Is there any research or nutrition articles that you’ve read that recommends against T1 diabetics drinking coffee? I don’t add cream or sugar. It doesn’t have an impact on my BG. My blood pressure is good.
Any info or input will be appreciated.
Caffeine is supposed to raise your blood sugar. I read this in “Think Like a Pancreas” by Gary Scheiner, and since then I’ve been careful to limit myself to one cup of coffee or one Diet Coke a day.
This is what the book says: "A natural stimulant, caffeine tends to cause a rise in blood sugar levels approximately 1 hour after ingestion. It does this by stimulating the secretion of stress hormones and promoting the breakdown of fat (rather than sugar) for energy. Granted, the amount of caffeine founds in most foods is insignificant. However, consumption of large amounts of caffeine at one time can produce a noticable blood sugar rise. Below is a list of some of the major sources of caffeine:
Stay-awake pills: 100-200 mg
Brewed coffee (8 oz): 100-120 mg
Espresso: 100 mg
Instant coffee (8 oz): 60-80 mg
Tea (8 oz): 30-50 mg
Cola (12 oz): 30-45 mg
Cold tablets: 30 mg
Chocolate bar: 20-30 mg
Chocolate milk (12 oz): 10 mg
This is on page 154 of his book. He then goes on to explain how you can adjust for the rise in blood sugar caused by caffeine consumption.
According to this chart, if you’re drinking 3-6 cups of brewed coffee every morning, that’s between 300-720 mg of caffeine, which is an awful lot. But, you know your diabetes. If you really don’t notice an impact on your sugar, maybe it doesn’t affect you. Or maybe you get some mid-morning or lunch time highs that you’ve never quite understood, and caffeine is the culprit.
You’re welcome!
I read that book after having diabetes for 10+ years, and found that I learned several helpful things. I’m not on a pump, but it’s got a lot of information for pump users in it, too. Those parts, I sort of skimmed over.
My morning blood sugars have caused me some problems in the past. As long I keep to 1 black coffee and a small bowl of cereal, I’m okay. I wish I could have lattes and muffins like non-diabetics, but the consequences are too annoying.
I’ve never noticed any issue with regular coffee before, I use to drink it every morning and never saw anything from it (two shots of powder creamer and one shot of regular sugar), I don’t drink regular coffee much anymore so I can’t say I drink Decaf which does have some caffeine in it in general, but not very much. I switched over because my husband has a sensitivity to caffeine so safer to not have the regular stuff that has a good amount in it around the house and risk contamination.
the following is the nutritional break down of a 8oz cup of coffee
Calories 2.4
Total Fat 0.0 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Trans Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 4.7 mg
Potassium 116.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.0 g
Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 0.3 g
Vitamin A 0.0 %
Vitamin B-12 0.0 %
Vitamin B-6 0.1 %
Vitamin C 0.0 %
Vitamin D 0.0 %
Vitamin E 0.0 %
Calcium 0.5 %
Copper 0.2 %
Folate 1.2 %
Iron 0.1 %
Magnesium 1.8 %
Manganese 2.7 %
Niacin 2.3 %
Pantothenic Acid 6.0 %
Phosphorus 0.7 %
Riboflavin 10.6 %
Selenium 0.0 %
Thiamin 2.2 %
Zinc 0.3 %
Caffeine 95 grams