{"id":183,"date":"2017-11-28T07:11:47","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T07:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/diabetes-glucose.com\/?p=183"},"modified":"2017-11-28T07:11:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T07:11:47","slug":"can-drinking-coffee-raise-blood-sugar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diabetes-glucose.com\/can-drinking-coffee-raise-blood-sugar\/","title":{"rendered":"Can drinking coffee raise your blood sugar?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee\u2019s Effect on Diabetes<\/h2>\n

Coffee and diabetes<\/h3>\n

Highlights<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. For people without diabetes, coffee may help reduce the risk of developing diabetes.<\/li>\n
  2. Caffeine has been shown in the short term to increase both glucose and insulin levels. Because of this, people with diabetes should be cautious when consuming coffee.<\/li>\n
  3. Once sweetener is added to coffee, it removes the benefits of diabetes prevention. It can actually increase your risk of developing diabetes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Coffee was once condemned as being bad for your health. However, there\u2019s growing evidence that it may protect against certain kinds of cancers, liver disease, depression, and Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

    There\u2019s also compelling research that increasing your coffee intake may actually lower your risk for developing type 2 diabetes. This is good news for those of us who can\u2019t face the day until we get in our cup of java. However, for those who already have type 2 diabetes, coffee could have adverse effects.<\/p>\n

    Whether you\u2019re trying to lower your risk, you have diabetes, or you just can\u2019t go without your cup of joe, learn about coffee\u2019s effects on diabetes.<\/p>\n

    What is diabetes?<\/h2>\n

    According to the Mayo Clinic<\/a>, diabetes is a disease (or group of diseases) that affects how your body processes blood glucose (sugar). Blood glucose is important because it is what fuels your brain and gives energy to your muscles and tissues. If you have diabetes, that means that you have too much blood glucose circulating in your body and it can cause serious health concerns. There are a number of different factors that can cause diabetes.<\/p>\n

    Chronic diabetes types are type 1 and type 2. Other types include gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy but tends to go away after birth. Another is prediabetes, which means your blood glucose levels are higher than usual but not as high as would be considered diabetes.<\/p>\n

    Some signs and symptoms of diabetes include increased thirst, unexplained loss of weight, fatigue, irritability, and more. If you think you might have some of these symptoms, it is important to talk to your doctor.<\/p>\n

    Coffee as possible prevention of diabetes<\/h2>\n

    The health benefits of coffee for diabetes differs from case to case. A study published in the Diabetologia<\/a>\u00a0is starting to generate discussion.<\/p>\n

    Researchers at Harvard tracked over 100,000 people for about 20 years. They concentrated on a four-year period. They found that people who increased their coffee intake by over one cup per day had an 11 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

    However, people who reduced their coffee intake by one cup per day increased their risk of developing diabetes by 17 percent. There was no difference in those drinking tea.<\/p>\n

    It is not clear why coffee has such an impact on developing diabetes. Caffeine may not be responsible. In fact, caffeine has been shown in the short term to increase both glucose and insulin levels.<\/p>\n

    Coffee\u2019s effect on glucose and insulin<\/h2>\n

    A 2004 study published in\u00a0Diabetes Care<\/a>\u00a0showed that a dose of caffeine before eating resulted in higher post-meal blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes. It also showed an increase in insulin resistance. So, while it could be beneficial for protecting people against diabetes, it may pose dangers to people who already have type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

    There are a lot of ingredients in coffee other than caffeine. Some of them may be responsible for that protective effect seen in the 2014 study. Also, drinking caffeinated coffee over a long period of time may change its effect on glucose and insulin sensitivity. Tolerance from long-term consumption may be what causes a protective effect.<\/p>\n

    Another\u00a02004 study<\/a> looked at a \u201cmid-range\u201d effect on people without diabetes who had been either drinking 1 liter of coffee at day, or who abstained for a period of four weeks. At the end of the study, those who consumed more coffee had higher amounts of insulin in their blood. This was the case even when fasting.<\/p>\n

    If you have type 2 diabetes, the body tries to make more insulin in order to remove sugar from the blood stream. The \u201ctolerance\u201d effect seen in long-term coffee consumption takes a lot longer than four weeks to develop.<\/p>\n

    There is a clear difference in how people with diabetes and people without diabetes respond to coffee and caffeine. A Duke University study<\/a>\u00a0had habitual coffee drinkers with type 2 diabetes continuously monitor their blood sugar while doing daily activities.<\/p>\n

    During the day, it was shown that right after they drank coffee, their blood sugar would soar. Blood sugar was higher on days that they drank coffee than it was on days they didn\u2019t. Coffee might be protective in those who haven\u2019t developed diabetes, but caffeine can be dangerous if you already have type 2.<\/p>\n

    Other health benefits of coffee<\/h2>\n

    There are other health benefits of drinking coffee. According to the Mayo Clinic<\/a>, past studies tended to not consider other risk factors of the coffee drinkers when performing the study. However, new studies with controlled risk factors show coffee\u2019s other benefits. These include protection against:<\/p>\n