Insulin Resistant Patients must Reduce Caffeine
Several Studies Link Caffeine and Sedentary Lifestyle to Prediabetes
Jun 26, 2009
Most patients see no harm in drinking a morning cup of coffee, particularly if it is black and unsweetened. But the caffeine alone can have negative effects on insulin resistance or pre-diabetic conditions. In spite of some studies that suggest that caffeine consumption can be helpful in the treatment of insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, there are multiple studies that prove the contrary!
There is one study, performed by Kevin J. Acheson of the Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland that concludes that there is little to no correlation, and that "there is little or no evidence to warrant the recommendation that it should not be a part of a normal healthy diet." Perhaps the question here should be whether the insulin resistant patient must consider things a bit more carefully than those with a "normal" diet.
This information is especially important to those patients who are trying to treat insulin resistance naturally, and are focusing efforts on eating a properly balanced diet to achieve this end.
Caffeine and Epinephrine (a.k.a. Adrenaline)
Caffeine is a stimulant, and one of the ways in which this occurs in the human body is to trigger the secretion of the hormone epinephrine (more commonly known as adrenaline) to help clear the chemical from the system.
In a 2002 study published in Diabetes Care, a team of physicians from the Netherlands announced their findings: that caffeine decreased healthy test subjects' insulin sensitivity by 15%. The doctors who conducted this study concluded that the cellular receptor sites were not adversely changed with caffeine, but that the elevated levels of epinephrine in blood plasma were probably what caused the reduced absorption of insulin (and consequent elevated blood sugar levels).
A further study, published in 2007 in the Journal of Physiology looked specifically at the impact the elevated adrenaline levels might have on insulin resistance. The physicians in Copenhagen who completed this study concluded that adrenaline plays a role in insulin resistance, but it is not solely responsible for the physical symptoms.
Because adrenaline is also a stress-response hormone, it begs the question how many insulin resistant and pre-diabetic patients would get positive blood sugar benefits from stress-reduction activities such as meditation or yoga!
Exercise can Reduce the Negative Effects of Caffeine
For those patients with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, and type 2 diabetes who cannot face giving up their morning cup of joe, there is one ray of hope: exercise.
A team of eight scientists from Canada, Belgium and Denmark published the findings of their study under the title "Caffeine-Induced Impairment of Insulin Action but Not Insulin Signaling in Human Skeletal Muscle Is Reduced by Exercise" in the March 2002 edition of the American Diabetes Association's magazine Diabetes.
This study focused mainly on "glucose disposal" - the process of getting the blood sugar out of the blood and into the muscles and organs for energy. One of the findings of this study included that "after an acute bout of exercise, whole-body glucose disposal is enhanced."
In the case of Type 2 Diabetes, the only way diet and exercise will help with the reversal of the disease is if the patient succeeds in losing weight. For the insulin resistant and pre-Diabetic patient, dietary adjustments and exercise can actually heal the body before lasting damage is done. For the pre-diabetic conditions, even if significant weight loss is not achieved, positive health effects can take place on a cellular level!
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