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Blood sugar and tea

Let me start off by saying I have been fasting for almost 4 years now. I had an unusual observation today. I have a blood sugar monitor, the finger stick kind that I got because we had some extra money on our FSA card that we needed to use, and my curiosity. I am NOT diabetic. My stomach was a bit uneasy this morning so I had a cup of caffeinated black tea with no additives. I am usually a strictly water guy. After having my tea I decided to check my sugars (just a random test), and they were about 20 points higher than my normal average. Again, my curiosity piqued, I re-tested immediately and the difference was about 2 points off so it wasn’t a bad reading. So I figured I would go with it and like a normal food test, I tested after 1 hour and then after 2. The reaction was just like food. After 1 hour it had dropped about 10 points and then after 2 it was down to normal range again. I know that tea is a supposed clean fasting drink. Clean, as in it doesn’t effect blood sugar/insulin. However, this may lead me to believe something else. This was a one-off test and I will test again another day with the full protocol (testing prior, 1 hour post and 2 hours post) the next time. I was wondering if anyone with a CGM or finger tests have experienced anything similar.

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Answer

  1. I’m interested in the results of your follow up study.
  2. My brain put commas in your title, and I was like WTF? That’s the kind of day my brain is having, I guess. (Not fasted, so no excuse there, lol)

Answer

Interesting, but you don’t know it was the tea (I know, that’s why you will redo it with a reading prior).You should also test for a few days without tea, at the same time, and anytime your stomach feels a little uneasy.

Answer

That’s great to know!

Now I’ve heard that caffeine sometimes spikes (low) blood glucose. If I recall my research online, it was only in some circumstances though… and usually, it was caffeine ingested almost directly after you woke up.

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