Dosing for caffeine - 3g per shot ?

[EllieM]

I've just been for a chat with the diabetic dietician, where she looked at my blood glucose and food and insulin records so as to calculate starting insulin rates for a tandem tslim insulin pump (starting on Monday).

All well and good, but she told me a surprising (to me) piece of information. She recommends her pump users to count 3g of carbs per shot of coffee. (One of her patients takes triple shots of expresso so has to count 9g!)

I'm guessing this is because the stimulant makes your liver pump out more glycogen? The caffeine itself should be carb free.

Not sure what, if any, the effect is on T2s though. (Suspect it's just up to the individual to test).

Does Caffeine Affect Blood Sugar?

While some affirm the health benefits of caffeine, like improving insulin sensitivity and blood sugar, research is mixed on whether it's detrimental for people with diabetes.

diatribe.org

The article above suggests you should keep to less than 4-5 cups a day, but also states
Caffeine has been shown to offer a handful of health benefits, including potentially reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

So, who doses for their caffeine? Or counts it in their daily ration if they are restricting carbs?

And, luckily or unluckily for me, I changed to drinking decaff coffee at the beginning of the year, so I just need to count for any milk in my coffee.

 

[eventhorizon]

Good news on the pump start!

I drink literally litres of black coffee everyday. I never bolus for it and don't see any impact up or down on my blood sugars. But we're all different.

Did you get a compatible CGM funded along with the pump?

 

[EllieM]

Did you get a compatible CGM funded along with the pump?

I'm already a self funded dexcom user so that was one reason to use tandem. NZ doesn't fund cgms for anyone yet, though I suspect/hope that this will change later this year. (It's just crazy that they don't even fund kids or pregnant women).

 

[Hopeful34]

Black coffee doesn't affect my blood sugar @EllieM but I only have it weak. Have never been told to count carbs for it either.

Hope all goes well with your pump start next week.

 

[Antje77]

I don't need to dose for coffee either.

I know some people do, but I also suspect that at least for some of those people it's not the coffee they dose for but foot on the floor, seeing as many people have that coffee first thing in the morning.

How exciting you're finally starting the pump!

 

[Jasmin2000]

So, who doses for their caffeine? Or counts it in their daily ration if they are restricting carbs?

I exercise in the morning to generate an Adrenalin spike of 7-8 (from a FBG of 5) and use this for my walk to a coffee shop (1.5 miles), which takes my BG back to 5. I have a large fully caffeinated Nero's Americano and in 30 mins this drives BG back up to 6-7 when I walk to work (1 mile). By the time I'm at my desk, BG has returned to 5. This is all without carbs but I imagine those walks would be equivalent to about 5-10g each.

 

[SimonP78]

I count coffee, though as it makes up such a small percentage of my overall carb intake I rarely bother dose for it (as I usually have acting insulin on board) - I count 5g for a cup of instant with milk and 10g for a latte. I've never tried to see what happens with black coffee as I'm not keen, though I could probably try a couple of (or a double) espresso without sugar to see how much of the effect is caffeine and how much the milk.

As @Antje77 also mentions above, I'm never sure how much is foot on the floor vs coffee for my morning drinking (in the afternoon I also make life difficult by eating biscuits with my coffee), though if I WFH and just drink coffee waiting for BG to come down in the morning, I can wait until lunch time (I know, I should go an exercise, I must get the laptop setup in front of the turbo trainer so I can sit in meetings and pedal!)