Is Drinking Coffee OK if You Have Diabetes?

For many years, coffee has been a popular beverage among people. This drink is so deliciously bittersweet. Coffee has been discovered in many different types since then, most notably in Ethiopia. However, there are now many other methods to drink coffee.

In addition to creating unique espresso beverages like Frappuccino and afogato, which deviate from the classic latte and cappuccino, consumers have also created hundreds of new flavors, such the well-known pumpkin spice latte.

A website’s staff-gathered statistic states that just roughly 35% of coffee drinkers choose black coffee. The majority of the calories you may see on coffee shop menus come from added sugars and dairy, as black coffee has very little calories—just 1 kcal per 8 oz cup.

For example, the amount of espresso in a Starbucks grande vanilla latte is around 2 oz, or half of the drink. The remaining fourteen ounces are milk sweetened with espresso-strength syrup. If you typically drink coffee, this could provide you with a wonderful energy boost during the workday. However, most coffee beverages are best avoided by those who are diabetics.

We all know coffee tastes wonderful, helps you wake up in the morning, and is beneficial to your gut health when consumed in moderation. But what about those of you who already have diabetes or are worried about developing the disease? In this blog post, we will be delving into that subject.

Diabetes health and caffeine consumption

The study on the relationship between coffee and diabetes is extremely complex. Depending on how addicted you are to coffee, it can negatively impact your insulin sensitivity. Some studies have found no correlation between insulin and coffee consumption, while others have discovered that caffeine can help prevent diabetes in both normal and decaf forms.

Researchers discovered in a 2004 study that giving caffeine to healthy individuals who did not drink regularly caused problems with their insulin levels. While the amount of caffeine consumed had no effect on insulin production, the study did see a reduction in blood insulin levels following a month of coffee consumption.

The scientists came to the conclusion that this effect had to have something to do with how sensitive the organs were to insulin. Although this may not be good news for diabetics, it appears that if coffee use is a habit for you, you also shouldn’t be concerned.

Long-term, regular coffee consumers have been shown to have an increased tolerance to the negative effects of caffeine on blood insulin levels, according to the same group of researchers. They found a neutral effect, meaning that caffeine had no influence on the insulin activities of habitual drinkers, rather than any benefits in terms of insulin.

Alright, so if you have diabetes and don’t drink coffee, caffeine seems like bad news, but if you do drink coffee, your tolerance has grown, so it doesn’t seem like much of a news story. Can you drink decaf coffee? The effects of decaf coffee don’t appear to have any positive or negative effects on those with diabetes. Instead, it appears to be about lowering the chance of getting diabetes.

Researchers discovered that decaf coffee, like normal coffee, had a risk-reducing effect on diabetes in a 2014 meta-analysis. It’s not caffeine that prevents diabetes; it’s something else entirely. If you drink coffee and are concerned about your risk of developing diabetes, you may be wondering if you are getting enough of it. Science offers a partial solution to that.

Scientists evaluated if a person’s coffee consumption would influence their level of protection against diabetes in the aforementioned 2014 meta-analysis. Based on calculations, the researchers discovered that coffee has a dose-responsive effect on lowering the risk of diabetes. In other words, those who drank more coffee daily had greater protection against the risks associated with developing diabetes.

This result confirms the hypothesis that caffeine does not prevent diabetes because you develop a tolerance to it; if it did, drinking additional coffee would only have the same protective effects. A more recent study that was released in 2017 concentrated on the processes underlying coffee’s ability to prevent type 2 diabetes.

According to the research paper, coffee’s health benefits appear to stem from a variety of mechanisms, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and homeostatic effects.

However, “poison is made of the dose.” Despite popular belief, coffee is a substance, and like illegal drugs, an overdose can have serious consequences. Hence, even as coffee may help you avoid diabetes, don’t drink too much of it and harm other parts of your health, especially your brain.

Overall, those in good health should relax knowing that drinking coffee every day keeps diabetes at bay in addition to keeping you awake.

Avoid incorporating coffee into your daily routine if you already have diabetes, as it may worsen your already low insulin levels. However, those diabetics who have been drinking coffee for a long time should also relax—it appears that coffee doesn’t actually care too much about your insulin levels. Having said that, there are a few coffee consumption guidelines that need to be reviewed.

Three warnings to coffee consumers with diabetes

As the introduction to this post stated, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of methods to flavor your coffee. But if you have diabetes or want to avoid getting it, you shouldn’t drink coffee every day.

Watch out for sweeteners

As we’ve seen, there are a ton of flavor options available for coffee drinks these days, some of which are really bad for people who have diabetes. Artificial sweeteners like Splenda are among the most often used coffee condiments.

Not their zero effect on blood sugar, but rather their minimal calorie content, is the key aspect of these items. Actually, studies have indicated that they may even increase blood sugar levels more than common carbohydrates like brown and white sugar.

The good news is that you don’t have to harbor resentment all of your life. It has been demonstrated that stevia, which is derived from stevia rebaubiana extracts, essentially has no effect on blood levels of insulin, lipids, and glucose. As always, consult your physician before cracking open the little green packet and tipping the powdery contents into your coffee because the research isn’t exactly solidified.

Be mindful of flavors

It’s true that flavors sometimes clash. particularly in the realm of coffee. The flavorings found in all those coffee shop beverages are created by infusing artificial chemicals into sugar syrups. Thus, be sure to enquire about the specific ingredients used to flavor your drink when you visit a café.

Of course, some specialty blends brew their coffee using an infusion method. In this instance, rather than sweetness, the notes of those flavors are mostly detected as an aroma. Any variations in flavor are the outcome of a natural food source being extracted naturally. Make sure to find out from your barista if they utilize syrups or infused brews to increase flavor.

Be wary of nondairy goods

While adding nondairy creamers to your coffee is perfectly OK, practically all coffee establishments only offer unsweetened varieties. For instance, Starbucks offers four nondairy milk substitutes, ranging from oat milk to soy milk, all of which are sweetened.

The doctors may have advised some of you to avoid dairy products, but they most likely didn’t mean to do so at the expense of a ton of added sugar. The next time you want a steaming hot latte, make sure to ask the barista if their nondairy milks are sweetened.

Read Also: Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet in Diabetes Management

In summary

In general, coffee appears to be one of the healthiest drinks that is available almost anywhere. Based on current research, it appears to be rich in antioxidants and has diabetes-prevention characteristics that are not related to caffeine. While adding coffee to daily routines might not be a good idea for people who already have diabetes, it might be a welcome addition to your diet if you have been advised to take preventive steps.

Nevertheless, caffeine is a drug, and a drug that is consumed in excess is poisonous. The Mayo Clinic suggests consuming no more than four eight-ounce cups of brewed coffee—less is more when it comes to your health.

Remain under 4 double espressos, as one cup of brewed coffee is about equal to a double shot of espresso. After that, don’t hesitate to cut back on your caffeine intake because decaf is just as beneficial as normal.

Get up and grab that cup of coffee if you’ve been putting off include it in your new diabetes-preventive diet plan as an added energy boost.However, after four times, please switch to decaf coffee—it’s actually better for your health than for sleep alone. Additionally, just to be safe, begin with a visit to your physician.