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Tea and Coffee

L

lilibet

Well-Known Member
Messages
515
Location
Bonnie Scotland
Afternoon all

Just a query about the consumption of tea and, more specifically ,coffee (filter mainly) and impact on diabetes. Have read so much conflicting information and whilst I appreciate there may be no definitive answer as is often the case in Diabetes land , it would be helpful. Ususal conflict is the 'raises bs and to be avoided to 'its ok in moderation'

I know what it does to adrenal glands, cortisol etc but I honestly think that I am doing astonishingly well to give up a life time of two sugars in said tea or coffee and if I actually had to give it up it would tip me over the edge!!! At most I drink two cups per day and really really dont want go decaff.

Cafffeine is all I have at this point (until I learn about my insulin, diabetes etc and can brave the alcohol :twisted: )

Am away to 'feed' my insulin and perhaps have my last cup of coffee?

Should maybe re name the thread as ' please tell me its ok to keep drinking coffee' thread LOL

Ta

L
 
I personally drink quite a bit of coffee but always decaff because of the M.E, you should give it a go as it really is no different, I did not notice any difference when I swapped.
 
I ENJOY my coffee.I usually just have instant. The columbian one from LIDL tastes Ok. I sweeten with Splenda and top it with Squirty cream. Bernstein says to use cream instead of milk, because it has less available sugar. I have a couple a day. When I'm home on my own wih the dogs, I have a coffee with at least 2 of them sitting waiting to "wash up" my cup, thus getting the dregs of the cream
 
lilibet, have you ever tried fruit/herbal teas as an alternative? London Fruit & Herb, (part of the Ty-phoo empire)produces a range which I find really tasty and refreshing. They're available in many health food shops and on-line.

And no, I don't work for them. :wink:
 
Hello lilibet,

Caffeine will have a tendancy to raise blood sugars, but I can imagine that, as with most
things, the effect that coffee has will vary from person to person. You could try giving it
up for a couple of days to see what kind of effect (if any) it's having on your sugars.
If the effect is negligible and you enjoy drinking coffee, then you may as well continue.

Regards,
timo.

P.S. Don't get enjoyment and addiction mixed up. They're two very different things. :D
 
I think coffee can block the absorbtion of insulin ever so slightly. I have noticed a difference myself. not by much but its definately there. Tea on the other hand doesnt appear to have any affect on bg.
 
i dont like coffee but drink loads of tea every day,yorkshire preferably but fruit teas too :D
 
I'd say stick with your few cups of coffee a day.

You know, the way I see it is that if you have things in moderation, then that's fine :D .

And, as pp's have said, the effect is probably negligible.

I'm now going to have to do an experiment to see what my BG levels are like after having a coffee...

ps. I went off tea when I was pregnant with my daughter and again, I'm also off tea. But, I'm not a great fan of instant coffee...
 
Thanks all

I see differences of opinion reign still!
Thirsty, I have started drinking fruit teas but quite frankly I'd rather shove needles in my eyeballs (anyone know the absorption rate of eyeballs for insulin? LOL). I just cant get used to the taste (they all need sugar!!)

Given new diagnosis and bs are still coming down Im not wholly sure what effects anything have on me at this point to any great degree so just doing what Im told (kind of, have cut carb portions a bit) until things settle a bit. Fully intend when things settle (or if they dont settle) to start testing everything and will include coffee in this.
Re the point re enjoyment versus addiction I will maybe try decaff and perhaps learn which camp I am in :twisted:

Eddie, I am sorry to hear street drugs are out of bounds, I was looking for something to replace the spirits - alas!

Lx
 
lilibet said:
Thanks all

I see differences of opinion reign still!
Thirsty, I have started drinking fruit teas but quite frankly I'd rather shove needles in my eyeballs (anyone know the absorption rate of eyeballs for insulin? LOL). I just cant get used to the taste (they all need sugar!!)

Lx
Click to expand...

You could always add a wicked, evil, chemical sweetener...

:?
 
Hi Thirsty

Hope that comment didnt come across as flippant :oops: , was meant to be tongue in cheek and just a stronger way of saying I dont really like fruit teas!! All comments are gratefully received.

I used to take sugar in hot drinks but stopped the day I was diagnosed and as yet havent ventured to sweeteners as I would like to try and get used to it without having to take anything. On that note however, what is the skinny on xylitol? Someone has bought me a bag but I've not ventured to use it yet.

Ta
L
 
I see most folks seem to shy away from sweetners. I am surprised by this. I am lucky in that I'm type 2 diet only, and am following weightwatchers points plan, but I've got and always had a very sweet tooth; not for cakes or junk like that but in my tea & coffee, and I always use the shop version of canderel, which is just like sugar, in fact I hate ordinary sugar now, but have a good dessertspoon full on my cereals, and 2 tspoons in my drinks. I can definitely recommend the sugar type sweetners, but not the little tabs, as I find they taste sachriny, and I hate that taste lol. :lol:
John
 
lilibet said:
Hi Thirsty

Hope that comment didnt come across as flippant :oops: , was meant to be tongue in cheek and just a stronger way of saying I dont really like fruit teas!! All comments are gratefully received.

I used to take sugar in hot drinks but stopped the day I was diagnosed and as yet havent ventured to sweeteners as I would like to try and get used to it without having to take anything. On that note however, what is the skinny on xylitol? Someone has bought me a bag but I've not ventured to use it yet.

Ta
L
Click to expand...

Heh. Don't worry about upsetting me, it isn't easy to accomplish.

xylitol and other polyols give many people their first, painful experience of explosive diarrhoea. Personally, I've found Splenda and Silver Spoon's sweeteners to be the most pleasant, although I rarely use them.

Hope this helps.
 
The decaff coffee from Aldi (cheap n cheerful, moi?) is bearable if youuse cream instead of milk ... in fact, it's a great excuse to add cream to your diet. At Morrisons there is a single cream (therefore 18% fat and fewer calories than double) and it's lovely thick gloopy, perfect for disguising the blandetty bland of dacaff - it's a channel islands cream from some nice dairy, can't remember now sorry - but it does taste GOOD in coffee ... being as my caffeine habit (sugar free red bull diet, 4 cans a day for 2.5 years) is probably what pushed me the last little bit towards diabetes, I have to be more careful with caffeine than others. If you really fancy giving herbal tea another go, then half a spoonful of honeymakes ALL the difference. Yes it's still carbs and sugar, but your body works way harder to get to the sugar, so it's better than 42 spoons of sugar, or the aftertaste of moudlering death (as per most every sweetener I've ever tried) ... ;)

Apart from that, make yourself really savour one very excellent cup of coffee and day and try to have it with some protein or something, like a handful of nuts ... there's no point wasting good insulin on cheapo instant java that needs 3 spoons to taste anything like it should ;)

ENJOOOOOOOOOOOY :) x
 
I love my instant coffee especially at work. It gets me through the day. Funny thing is that I only have 2-3 coffees at night. First when I get home and the others during the evening. Coffee would be one of the last things I would ever give up no matter what. Addicted? Definately.
Squirty cream is gorgeous in hot chocolate too though very bad for bg's. One of my few and far between treats. :mrgreen:
 
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