Cut down on caffeine to control diabetes

Washington, Jan 29: Eliminating caffeine from the diet might be a good way to control diabetes and manage blood sugar levels, a new research says.
Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type II diabetes and might undermine efforts to control their disease, scientists at Duke University Medical Centre said.

Dr James Lane, a psychologist at Duke and the lead author of the study, tracked ten patients with established type II diabetes, who drank at least two cups of coffee daily and were trying to manage their disease through diet, exercise and oral medications, but no extra insulin.

Each had a tiny glucose monitor embedded under their abdominal skin that continuously monitored their glucose levels over a 72-hour period.

The researchers found that when the participants consumed caffeine, their average daily sugar levels went up 8 per cent.

Caffeine also exaggerated the rise in glucose after meals: increasing by 9 per cent after breakfast, 15 per cent after lunch and 26 per cent after dinner.

''Coffee is such a common drink in our society that we forget that it contains a very powerful drug-- caffeine. Our study suggests that one way to lower blood sugar is to simply quit drinking coffee, or any other caffeinated beverages,'' the Science Daily quoted Dr Lane as saying.

UNI