Can caffeine raise your blood glucose level?

QUESTION: Can caffeine raise your blood glucose level?

ANSWER: Hi there,

This is a very important question, because a lot of people are consuming coffee every single day. Scientists have carried out several studies on this topic and they have found that an elevation of the blood glucose level is observed after the consumption of coffee in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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The theory in this case is that caffeine impairs the insulin's effect, which is leading to the theory of an elevation in the blood glucose.

This is very important, because as you probably know people with diabetes type 2 are not using insulin, but pills which are stimulating the insulin secretion. Because of this, they are pliable to such affect.

However, such an elevation is not observed in people with normal insulin secretion, because their body is able to produce as much insulin as it is needed.

With regards to type 1 diabetics, it is not quite clear if coffee causes elevation of the blood glucose concentration. The possible explanation in here is that there is no insulin secretion in these patients, which means that caffeine is not able to damage it.

As you probably know, patients with diabetes type 1 are obligated to take insulin shots, leading to no possible effect of caffeine in them.

In conclusion, I will mention that it would be good for you to avoid the consumption of coffee in purpose to reduce the risk of cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs).

As you may know, patients with diabetes, no matter type 1 or type 2, are at higher risk of CVDs, because of the atherosclerotic development caused by this condition.

In addition, coffee elevates your blood pressure, which is making the atherosclerotic plaques in your arteries unstable, which may end with myocardial infarction or stroke.

In purpose to prevent such conditions, my advice for you is to avoid using coffee and to try to find a way to reduce the stress, because stress causes elevation of the blood pressure too.

Hope it helped!

Dr.Alba