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Can Caffeine Cause Diabetes? By Phillip Blunzon Milk or cream? Sugar or sweetener? If you're a coffee or tea lover, you've always been faced with choices. Researchers now believe that caffeine may play a role in the development of diabetes, presenting your most important decision yet: to choose a traditional or decaf blend.
Medical experts believe that caffeine poses a higher risk for contracting diabetes, and increases the dangers for those who already have the disease. There are substances in coffee, for example, that can have negative effects on the body's metabolism, presenting health dangers to diabetics and non-diabetics alike. On the other hand, researchers in Japan claim that people who drink caffeine may be reducing their risk of developing diabetes. A study conducted on participants who took caffeine in the form of oolong, black or green teas showed that drinking at lease three cups or more every day could reduce their risk of developing by 33 percent. Despite these findings, modern medical research suggests that it's still better to avoid caffeine if you want to reduce your risk or developing or control an existing condition.
Most modern research shows that avoiding caffeine is still advisable for those wanting to reduce the risk of diabetes. Researchers from a well-known university medical center found that drinking caffeine with meals caused an increase in glucose levels and insulin among people suffering Type 2 diabetes. Insulin is a component required for cells to convert glucose into energy. When a person with drinks caffeine with a meal, the caffeine can hinder the ability to metabolize the meals that are eaten. Fasting subjects who took part in this research saw no significant change in their glucose or insulin levels.
The goal for diabetics is to keep their blood glucose levels down. Healthy diet and exercise are important ways to control glucose levels, but caffeine elimination is also a very important consideration.
Caffeine has a direct negative effect on insulin levels. As you know, is the inability to control sugar levels in the blood. In some cases, the body doesn't produce enough insulin. In other cases, the body produces a hormone that resists insulin.
A chemical called alloxan is a known cause of diabetes. This theory was proven in lab tests where mice fed with alloxan developed diabetes. Alloxan is a free radical generator that not only poisons our insulin-creating cells, but can also cause aging and disease. Alloxan causes damage to the pancreas, including pancreatic
cancer. Caffeine causes the natural creation of alloxan in the body, therefore increasing the chance of developing diabetes, or making an existing condition worse.
Even though the consumption of caffeine can contribute to many health concerns and diseases, people around the world continue to thrive on it. Caffeine is present in tea, coffee, soft drinks, chocolate and many diet and energy supplements. People who drink several cups of coffee, tea or soft drinks on a daily basis are taking in massive doses of harmful alloxan. Even decaffeinated beverages contain some caffeine and, therefore, certain levels of alloxan. Everyone should limit their caffeine intakes, particularly those at risk of, or suffering from, diabetes.
Caffeine intake used to be a health issue reserved for older patients. Now, younger people are facing the same dangers. The soft drink industry is, sadly, marketing "power drinks" with dangerously high levels of caffeine to consumers in the age 15-21 demographic. Some juices and even bottled waters are infused with caffeine, and even respected tea manufacturers are producing "high-powered" teas that are packed with caffeine.
If you have diabetes, or are concerned with preventing the disease, you need to know that there is a definite link between caffeine and diabetes. Talk to your doctor, and take steps to reduce your caffeine intake. Better yet, eliminate caffeine from your diet altogether.
