Caffeine, Insulin, Fat and Weight Loss
Posted by Lori on April 21, 2008
As I mentioned earlier today, Gwen of Gwen’s WLS Journey was stuck on a weight loss plateau for several days. She’s lost eighty pounds with her Lap Band and is now down to losing her final fifteen. She finally laid off coffee over the weekend and voila! she dropped a pound and a quarter.
Duke University did a study on caffeine and Type II diabetics and discovered that it caused blood sugar levels to spike through out the day after meals. We don’t know whether it does the same for non-diabetics or not, but we do know that Dr. Atkins found his patients didn’t lose weight as well when they were drinking coffee. In my case, I could barely register as being ketosis if I drink any caffeine whatsoever regardless of how meticulous I am about keeping my carbs below induction level.
Here’s a quick little video from the Mayo Clinic for diabetics about how blood glucose and insulin are created and function in your body.
Calories Per Hour puts what happens next very simply:
Our pancreas creates a hormone called insulin that transports blood sugar into our body’s cells where it is used for energy. When we eat refined grains that have had most of their fiber stripped away, sugar, or other carbohydrate-rich foods that are quickly processed into blood sugar, the pancreas goes into overtime to produce the insulin necessary for all this blood sugar to be used for energy. This insulin surge tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it.
From the Duke study:
Participants took capsules containing caffeine equal to about four cups of coffee on one day and then identical capsules that contained a placebo on another day. Everyone had the same nutrition drink for breakfast, but were free to eat whatever they liked for lunch and dinner.
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 percent after breakfast, 15 percent after lunch and 26 per cent after dinner.
“We’re not sure what it is about caffeine that drives glucose levels up, but we have a couple of theories,” says Lane, who is the lead author of the study. “It could be that caffeine interferes with the process that moves glucose from the blood and into muscle and other cells in the body where it is used for fuel. It may also be that caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline – the ‘fight or flight” hormone that we know can also boost sugar levels.”
For those of you who aren’t losing weight, try laying off the caffeine and see if it makes a difference. We all love our coffee and tea, but most of us would rather be skinny. 
Gwen said
It’s interesting learning more about caffeine. I still think there is a lot more to the story–insulin is very complex and interacts with other hormones in our bodies that have a wide range of effects. And the way insulin interacts in the body of a Type II Diabetic is a little different than non diabetics so I’m not sure that the findings can be directly applied to non diabetic dieters. But it is interesting, and compelling. And dropping the coffee did correlate to ending a plateau–but correlation shouldn’t be confused with causation. I’m not saying it was definitely the caffeine, but it is compelling enough to keep me off caffeine now, to see what happens. And I’d like to keep looking around for more info on the story, but my studies aren’t letting me right now.
BTW, my weight loss is 57 lbs–I wish I was at 80 lbs! But I am pretty happy with the 57 lb loss at this point, and am working on the last 17. Thanks so much for following my blog and for your informative and interesting posts! I will stay tuned for more.
Lori said
Gwen,
Thanks for your great responses. I’m doing more research on the insulin/caffeine thing. I’ll let you know when I find something. I’m getting nowhere on plateaus though. Bummer.
Lori
Nyny said
check this out…. http://www.drmirkin.com/diabetes/9897.html
seems like caffein consumption causes a boost in insulin production by inhibiting insulin’s affect on the sugar in the first place.
also, if insulin tells our bodies to stop burning fat, and enables our current fat cells to pick up the new fat that we’re not burning, AND if the sugar we’re eating isn’t giving us energy because the insulin doesn’t work as well, we’re not only going to continue OVER-eating because we’re hungry, but what we ARE over-eating is being turned into fat AND is contributing the vicious cycle of insulin being less effective.
although i’m not a diabetic, i’m going off the caffein, AND switching to a low-glycemic load diet.
john said
I had coffein addiction last 10 years I had major depression
panic attack and general anxiety symptomes
aswell as I was obessed.
after reading coffein blues I cut all caffein intake, and sugar too. after 5 months by taking Bcomplex vitamines and by cutting caffein and sugar, I lost 40 pounds, and didnt experience anymore depression ,anxiety etc. I also add 30min regular exercise everyday.
but the greatest factor was caffein.After starting caffein intake,
altough I was in the same eating and exercise routine, I start to ragain weight….
so caffein is greater risk factor for mental and diabet risk factor, I myself make experiment on my body.
greg said
I just lost 92lbs in 16 months using low to moderate carb diet, and I have kept it off. I did it without cardio only working with weights. I got my metabolism moving buy stacking 325 asprin with 30mg of effederine and 200mg of caffine 3 times a day, once before breakfast then afternoon wkout and again before supper. my question is, how did I lose the weight if caffine and or effederine spikes our insulin? i ONLY USE THE STACK BEFORE WOROUT NOW because my waist went from 46in to now 36in, so if caffine spikes my insulin then if I take it before I eat I might store it. what do you think I should do, just dont take caffine at all or just before workout? HOW MUCH CAFFINE SPIKES OUR INSULIN?
Lori said
Greg,
They only tested Type II diabetics. It may not impact you that way. Hang in there and do what you feel comfortable doing. If you hit a plateau, and nothing else works to end the plateau, then quit caffeine and see what happens.
Congratulations on your accomplishment.