Alissa interviewed Dr. Blevins, M.D., Endocrinologist, Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology on caffeine and blood sugar.
Alissa: Does caffeine affect blood sugar and what effect does it have on exercise?
Dr. Blevins: I’ve seen some studies that caffeine and coffee can be shown to prevent Type 2 diabetes. It depends on the person, whether they have diabetes or not, whether it affects their blood sugar or not and also it’s very individual. We’ve seen quite a number of people who have noticed that when they drink coffee by itself, with nothing in it, no creamer, no sugar, no carbohydrate added, coffee fundamentally doesn't have carbohydrates in it, especially people with type 1 diabetes, that their glucose sometimes briskly, not sky rockets, but rises after drinking coffee. It’s complicated a bit because, in the morning when people drink the coffee typically, the hormones in the body that normally rise, for example cortisol growth hormone, can cause blood sugar to rise too. So if a person has nothing to eat in the morning sometimes the blood sugar will rise whether they have coffee or not because of the hormones rising in the morning. Many people experience when they drink coffee, their glucose, their sugar bumps up even more. That’s not everybody. It’s not a rule – it’s more of an observation.
Alissa: If that were the case and somebody realized that the caffeine in coffee was spiking their blood sugar, do you have a recommendation as an alternative form of caffeine?
Dr. Blevins: I think it’s fundamentally the caffeine in the coffee. Usually when somebody drinks decaf you don’t see it happen, but I think caffeine probably interacts with the sympathetic nervous system a bit and that can sort of push the blood sugar up a bit, and it has that stimulatory affect and that’s what coffee’s all about and I think it acts on the sympathetic nervous system to cause the glucose sugar to go up.
Alissa: It’s been suggested to me as a figure competitor to stop drinking caffeine and coffee because it creates cellulite. Is that true? Does caffeine cause cellulite?
Dr. Blevins: No I wouldn't say so.
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Watch for the next blog where the interview with Dr Blevins is continued.