Does caffeine raise your blood glucose?

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Permalink Reply by lev on July 31, 2009 at 5:02am

for me (i run a coffee shop) it depends on the time of day, the stress levels, and all of that other stuff. it is so unpredictable that i can only correct after the fact. the reason that caffeine raises bs is because of its effects on hormones and adrenaline. that stuff kicks around in differing levels... so its effects are differing as well

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Permalink Reply by HFXNS on July 31, 2009 at 5:50am

I answered a question about this last week: http://tudiabetes.com/forum/topics/coffee-question

I don't know precisely how much caffeine affects my blood sugar, but it certainly affects my ability to sleep, so I try to stick to one cup of coffee a day. I do believe it raises my sugar, though. There have been many mornings when my sugar shoots up to 15 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) or so after just a small bowl of cereal (15 g of carb) and a coffee. It pisses me off.

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Permalink Reply by NyJonesy26/Ken on July 31, 2009 at 6:37am

I am a huge energy drink addict, and found out my sugar only shoots up when I drink them with meals.

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Permalink Reply by Ahmad ( Al ) on July 31, 2009 at 6:55am

Caffeine runs in my blood, in average I drink 4 to 6 cups of black coffee a day. Don't believe it effect my BG level. I never bolus for it! I drink it with nothing added just water and pure dark coffee (light roasted if it differ!)

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Permalink Reply by Karen on July 31, 2009 at 7:16am

When I went for training on my pump in April of 2008, the CDE mentioned this issue. I've been diabetic since 1979, and this was the first I had heard of that. So, I started closely watching my blood sugars after my huge morning cup of coffee, and sure enough, it was spiking me. I find bolusing for 10g works for me. Although in the past month, I've started exercising after my coffee but before my breakfast. I skip the coffee bolus and let the walk on the treadmill take care of the coffee spike. :)

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Permalink Reply by MelissaBL on July 31, 2009 at 9:17am

Similar experience. Had never heard the theory that caff can raise your sugar until this year.

My CDE suggested a theory that, in her experience, it's very individual. She says she notices even that type A personalities seem to need the bolus for the coffee more often than type B personalities (go figure - maybe we just get too excited about getting that caffeine boost!). My CGM tells me that my BG rises about 30 mg/dL after my morning cup. I had no idea. I thought that the small amount of sugar-free creamer and the caffeine would have a negligible effect, but I think she was right. She suggested I bolus half a unit to a unit for my morning cup and see if it helped. It has been working very well for me for the last couple months, but I doubt I would have noticed it on my own.

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Permalink Reply by Alexis Pollak - I Run on Insulin on July 31, 2009 at 7:19am

I have never bolused for caffeine, and I drink a lot of coffee. Its important to remember too that often folks drink coffee first thing in the morning when lots of hormones that help your body "wake up and get going" (adrenaline, cortisol, etc) are also being activated, and that can raise your BGs. If I wake up low first thing in the morning, I often don't need to eat anything to correct it, as soon as I start getting up and getting moving, my BG comes up on its own. It may be that when you drink the coffee there are other hormones at work, raising your BG. A good experiment would be to test drinking caffeine at different times during the day and see if you always need to bolus. Interstesting!

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Permalink Reply by janet fallows on July 31, 2009 at 7:38am

my son george drinks a lot of diet coke and his blood glucose levels are okay ..janet x

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Permalink Reply by nel peach on July 31, 2009 at 7:48am

I wear a sensor .I drink black coffee 1 cup for breakfast ; estimate my breakfast carbs at 77 grams ...so do not really have prove , that caf. will raise my BG , also do my morning walk . In the afternoon I get a cappucino with 1 percent milk, no added flavours , est. 14 grams of carbs ...I always noticed a rise in BG ..read on TU some time ago , that caffeine raises BG ...and I started to order DECAF ...I am a happier camper, read coffee drinker , numbers staying flatter . I stay away too from regular diet coke in the afternoon as well ...only decaf, diet for me . Cannot advise you how many grams of carb you would need to bolus for ....but 30 grams sounds like a lot .

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Permalink Reply by Roy Andrew Feigel on July 31, 2009 at 8:30am

drink black coffee it dont rase blood sugar

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Rawlings on July 31, 2009 at 10:28am

If my beloved Diet Coke starts increasing my blood glucose, I quit! That's my only vice left :-)

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Permalink Reply by rainbowgoddess on July 31, 2009 at 11:54pm

It seems to depend on the amount. For example, I'm a big Coke Zero addict. That doesn't seem to affect my blood sugar. I seldom drink coffee, so I can't speak for that. But energy drinks, even sugar-free ones, definitely seem to spike my blood sugar.

A couple of years ago it seemed as if I were falling asleep at work all the time. I'm not a big coffee drinker, as coffee tends to aggravate my acid reflux. So I started drinking sugar-free energy drinks -- Tab, Rockstar, and one other that I can't remember the name of. (The Tab energy drink was very yummy!) And I discovered that when I drank a couple of cans of these drinks, my sugar would shoot up. Since then I've been trying to find other ways to stay awake -- going for short walks every hour or two, drinking water, sticking my head out the door for fresh air, and (most importantly!!) making sure my blood sugar isn't too high or too low.

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