Caffeine and blood glucose

Absolutely does...lots of research. I can no longer take caffeine after lunch time or I'll struggle to sleep big time and my BG has the potential to spike.

However first thing it's a big strong caffeine coffee with a big dollop of cream. The fat in the cream stops my BG from spiking as a result of any early morning liver dump.


Diagnosed 13 April 16: T2, no meds, HbA1c 53, FBG 12.6, Trigs 3.6, HDL .75, LDL 4.0, BP 169/95, weight 13st 8lbs, waist 34" (2012 - 17st 7lbs, waist 42").

2 June 16: FBG AV 4.6, Trigs 1.5, HDL 2.0, LDL 3.0, BP 120/72, weight 11st 11lbs, waist 30" (2012 - 17st 7lbs, waist 42").

Regime: 20g LCHF, run 1 mile each day, weekly intermittent fasting.

Never give in, never give in, never never never given in...Winston Churchill.

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There's a lot of research into the release of hormones with Caffeine. Caffeine typically causes an increase in cortisol release, and as a result of this a fight or flight response. What you end up with is a message to your liver to dump glucose and get you ready to move.

Typically, this isn't a very big jump (using CGM, I've been able to observe an increase of about 0.3 mmol/l that I can attribute directly to coffee).

I've not heard of anyone going low thanks to caffeine though.

I've had no response from caffeine, (unfortunately) I drink sugar free energy drinks fairly regularly, I have noticed no spike or general control difference from when I don't drink them.

I tried it a couple of weeks ago in response to some research which showed it raises BG, I lasted a 3 or 4 days, then decided it was the only thing that really got my bowels moving, especially on the LCHF diet and I could live with the trade-off.

Isn't red bull loaded with sugar?

I find first thing in the morning it does SOMETIMES raise me but if I eat breakfast and wait and hour or so it has little to no effect.
I would imagine it depends on the day, how well you slept etc

Personally it has little effect if I am careful about the diary added. I had a Starbucks Flat White recently, 10g of carbs - and then I was high. In a morning at home I do almond milk with a bit of cream added (to make it more palatable) whizzed up in a milk warmer and it has no effect on my BG. Espresso never affect me.

pshawfocus said:

Does caffeine intake have any effect on your BG levels? I had a day of driving yesterday and to keep me awake, drank a few diet red bulls. I noticed in the evening that my BG was lower than expected as I'd been fairly static through the day. Just wondering if the caffeine has any impact?


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Despite sitting in the vehicle, I find that I often go low after driving for any length of time. What you talk about in your post may be due to caffeine in your case, but watch out for going low anyway. I think it must be because of concentration when driving, glucose is the brain's only source of energy.