 Hey guys, this is Dr. Ahmet Ergen. I am an endocrinologist and a diabetes education specialist. Today we are going to talk about coffee. Yes, it's everybody's favorite, isn't it? So, I mean, it's six o'clock in the morning right now. I feel like I need some coffee. What if I was diabetic? Now, can I still have this coffee? That's the topic today. We're gonna talk about it. Let's get started. Okay, guys. So, well, the coffee is a very controversial topic. Actually, I did a lot of research on that scientific articles and looked at all the research that was done for the coffee and diabetics. It's interesting that how coffee can affect different people and differently. Let's talk about first non-diabetics. So, if you don't have diabetes, actually studies show that the coffee will reduce the risk of diabetes. Can you believe that? And they refer to, you know, some antioxidants in it and so forth. Although they're not super clear why it does that, but definitely in the long term chronic exposure to coffee helped reduce the risk of diabetes in the long term and has been clearly defined in studies. Now, why some of my patients will still tell me that their blood sugar goes up after coffee? And does it happen to everybody? Let's talk about the physiology behind it. So, why would coffee increase your blood sugar at all? So, basically, if you remember from the previous video that we talked about why is my fasting blood sugar high, you can look into that video, the link below, if you want to know more about it. But one of the things we talked about there is dawn phenomenon where your body starts screaming more of a norepinephrine, cortisol, and growth hormone after four, five o'clock or in the morning, like before you wake up. So, your body is trying to get you ready for the day, you know, trying to get more energy and stuff like that. So, basically, that's your body's preparation for you to wake up. But at the same time, a lot of people will realize that their blood sugar actually keep rising after they wake up, even if they do not eat or drink anything. That is the dawn phenomenon. Now, the point I'm trying to make here is when you get up and get a cup of coffee, coffee does the same thing. It will increase your norepinephrine cortisol levels, and it's going to be against your insulin. You may be on insulin right now, or you may not be on insulin, regardless, your body has to have some insulin in your system. So, whatever the insulin is in your system, that coffee will make the job of the insulin more difficult. So, as a result, your blood sugar may actually spike after coffee. Now, does coffee only do that, or the sugar in the coffee, and the creamer is the responsible? Well, as we discussed, the caffeine is the main ingredient, you know, one cup of coffee will give you 100 mg of caffeine, which is great and okay. Up to 400 mg of caffeine a day is okay. But then, you know, definitely the 100 mg of caffeine can be enough to spike your blood sugar due to the hormonal changes. Now, does that happen to everybody? Well, not necessarily. So, I think like alcohol or any other medication that everybody responds to it differently, right, and that depends on how fast you metabolize or process that food. So, basically, the same thing applies to coffee. If you're a fast metabolizer, your body will be able to tolerate more, and it's not going to spike your blood sugar as much, because as you drink it, your body will be processing it, so it's not going to be a big problem. But if you're a slow metabolizer, as you sip on the coffee, it's going to accumulate and it's going to create that problem for those people who are complaining that their blood sugar is going up after caffeine. The bottom line is, so if you're one of those people that the blood sugar spikes after coffee, you have to be careful. Now, as we just discussed, the creamer and the sugar definitely affects your blood sugar as well. So, definitely never use sugar. If you want sweetener in your coffee, some sweetening in your coffee, use a sweetener. It's okay, not as long as you're not using it excessively, and you know, as long as you're not compensating by eating a cookie with it, and so forth, you can use a sweetener. That's fine. You can use a creamer, but I would say, you know, go with the half and half or something that's like a low in the fat content, because fat can actually, especially saturated fat, can help drive your blood sugar higher by creating an immediate insulin resistance. So, that is part of the problems. You know, drinking black coffee is an acquired taste, so if you can do that that's better than having creamer and sugar or sweetener, sometimes even sweetener, you know, Splenda, for example, you think there is no sugar in it, there is sugar in it. It's not like totally unsweetened, unharbohydrated, so there are carbohydrates in them, it's just much lower, and they're just sweeter, that's all. But if you're putting like three or four Splenda in there, you're gonna see the result. Same thing with the creamer, just be easy on that. And then, if you're drinking black coffee, you can check it before and after. If your blood sugar spikes after black coffee, that means that you know, one of those slow metabolizers, so maybe you may want to have a decaf coffee in the morning, or something like a little bit smaller portion of a coffee, or just do something to counteract the problem. So, what is the contract problem? If you say, oh, you know what, doc, you know, whatever you say, I'm not giving up on my coffee, fine. Just take a walk in the morning, you know, as you're drinking your coffee. That exercise will help you burn the sugar, and will help your insulin. Remember, insulin by itself, if you're leaving your insulin alone to do the job, like if you're just drinking coffee and laying down, watching news, insulin is on its own, it's gonna be helpless. But if you take a walk, or if you are on a medication, that's okay too. Like, I have a lot of Type 1 patients, and I tell them, look, I see your blood sugar, I see in your DEXCOM or your Freestyle Libre, very clearly, especially, you know, when you wear a continuous monitoring device like that, you know, you can see how blood sugar goes like this, this, this, and then I'm like, what are you eating for breakfast? They're like, just coffee. Well, I'm like, just coffee, and your blood sugar goes up like to the sky, you gotta do something about that. I'm like, hey, try a couple units of insulin, and, you know, find what works for you just to support that insulin, especially, you know, like, Type 1 Diabetics have no insulin whatsoever, so anything will shoot them up. I tell them, take two units for, you know, some people take up to eight units for their coffee when they're Type 1 Diabetics. So, you know, as I said, try to find out how much you spike, and what you can do to help it, and enjoy your coffee, guys. We'll see you in the next video. Remember to share this video with family and friends, and the social media. All right, talk to you later.