In one of the LC forums I find myself visiting often someone mentioned that Dr. Atkins was opposed to caffeine consumption as it provoked an insulin response. I thought that surely couldn't be correct - as I have lost weight consuming probably vaster amounts of coffee and caffeine-laden diet sodas than most. But I checked online and as they say... "Sho Nuff", I found studies saying just that. Not grocery store checkout line publication types of "studies", but real honest to goodness doctor/scientist type of studies. Wow!
I started really drinking lots of coffee once I read a study that in Finland (I think) where they drink more coffee than anywhere else - they have lower incidents of circulatory problems and diabetic issues than elsewhere. Having my own personal issues with circulatory problems in my legs - I jumped in with both feet, becoming a very important contributor to Starbucks (and other places serving bean juice) annual revenues.
Now I am about silly with with IV lines running from our Starbucks Barista stainless steel coffee maker direct to my veins (JUST KIDDING - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!)!!
I am not sure what to do as I don't want worse circulatory problems than I have, but I also want to whoosh on down to new lows if I can - and would hate to slow that down.
Also, I wonder if I am really low on carbage and glucose producing sugars if it is really that significant of a factor for me to even worry about it. Any ideas? Weigh in with your thoughts!
I may run my own highly unscientific 2 week test and just drink water and see the difference and if it is measureable or significant in the difference.
Links to a couple of the coffee & insulin response studies I found online:
Caffeine ingestion elevates plasma insulin response in humans during an oral glucose tolerance test
Caffeine ingestion increases the insulin response to an oral-glucose-tolerance test in obese men before and after weight loss1,2,3
One other thought - at least one of these studies showed that excercise actually works the other way - decreasing the insulin response. Maybe that would cancel the caffeine effect out? Or maybe the effect is so short lasting and of so little consequence when there is little sugar in the system that it doesn't matter. Or maybe the sugars from gluconeogenisis is enough to be elevated. Or... maybe the increase in metabolism from caffeine is enough to offset the effects?
2 comments:
Caffeine is a stimulant... so it should increase your metabolism. If you are concerned about the affect on insulin, why not test yourself. Get a diabetic test kit. Check your blood. Drink lots and lots of coffee. Then test again. Everyone is different. So, even if the studies you sited are correct your personal experience might be different.
The studies you just cited tested caffeine's effect on a blood glucose test. Meaning they administered glucose. The abstract of the first study states this was 75g of dextrose. The title even states "Caffeine ingestion elevates plasma insulin response in humans DURING an oral glucose tolerance test".
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