One More Cup of Coffee, Please

Let me be honest, this is my second post on coffee. More honesty is necessary, I love a nice cup of hot coffee at any time of the day or night. Since we are being honest, I was also diagnosed with diabetes. Some more truth, I have absolutely no intention to refrain from drinking a cup of coffee.

I am however excited to share some results and research findings. If you haven’t started following my blog posts, then maybe you should make that change now. Talking about change, I may very well be making a change soon. The question though is this, “can I safely drink one more cup of coffee for the day?”

A Moment Please – Some Journal Notes

Just how much cups of coffee can a person diagnosed with diabetes consume? Before we answer this question or even look at the latest research findings, please take some time to read the first post I did about diabetics consuming coffee. Please go ahead and click this link: “Is coffee good for you?”

Let me state here that my blood sugar readings are mostly good. Unfortunately, I still struggle some days and consume some foods which are diabetic-unfriendly. That’s the truth, and, I usually know that I am doing so. The good news is that I have less of those days. The secret is that in the early days I would not have these foods in the house. So, now, I wake up to wonderfully improve readings of seven and less (126 and less).

When you consider that I have moved away from eighteen (18) and more, which is about 324 plus extras, you can see why I celebrate. I give God the glory all the time. Without Him, I would not have been led to a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, who motivated me to always present only the truth in my business endeavor.

Change and More Change

There is yet another change in my life. I started buying more varieties of coffee and I do not use

A cup of coffee

them for decorative purposes. Yes, you could bet your life on this, I am drinking most of the coffee I purchase. I say most because I am a giving person, and I feel happy when I share coffee with other lovers of this delicious hot beverage. Yes, I purchase enough to share.

I am home on vacation, God bless the teaching profession and as a result, I found myself consuming more coffee. But something strange started happening again whilst on my almost six months away from work. My blood sugar dropped too low on a few days that I got scared. I also had diarrhea a few days. Hmmm. What’s happening?

Down, but Not Defeated

To be honest, I took a break from writing, because I felt I did not have anything positive to say and that maybe I was losing the war to beat diabetes. Please do not judge. Allow me to continue being honest with you. I felt hopeless. I needed a pep talk from someone, but, I had some lonely days. I am normally the one encouraging others, and all my friends and family members failed to see that I needed help. I just needed to share my fears.

Today, I am happy that the only friend and family I saw was my Creator. Left alone in silence, I needed to hear from Him and I did. Okay, please stay on this page. Continue to read. I have not gone crazy. It’s just that I am walking in my breakthrough and I must share how wonderful God has been to me.

I Wonder and I Ponder

I realized that my blood sugar dropping too low as an indication that I was doing something right, but just maybe, I was overdoing it a bit. Hence the search for the truth. These are the thoughts I had:

  1. I allowed myself to be stressed at work by one co-worker and so the time away was healing my blood sugar issues. But, I also recognized some bitterness in me towards that said individual and I hated what it was doing to me. I am someone filled with love. I don’t like foolishness, but, I genuinely care for those around me and I hated what I was feeling and so I decided to truly forgive and I made the first step towards healing. This is where it climaxed. I invited the co-worker in my home space and guess what? The sugar was still too low. Haha, the moment of truth. This person was not my problem.
  2. Could it be something I am eating or drinking? Why diarrhea? Confusion hit me and I was frustrated, but, determined to find the answer/s. I started to look at my lifestyle. Has it changed since I am home? Yes, it did.
    1. I was cleaning and dusting the house on a daily basis. Hence, a lot more physical activities. I was also in the garden some days. Hmmm. Those activities should not result in loose bowels.
    2. I was having fewer fruits because I am not on the road every day. This needed to be fixed, especially for retirement. Some fruits help me to keep my sugar level in control…but, I was having less, so it would normally get higher. I certainly was not having enough fruits to lead to diarrhea.
    3. My coffee intake was different. I was consuming more than two cups per day. To be honest, I was drinking mainly three (3) cups of coffee per day, and it was mostly instant coffee.

The Search Begins

This is where my search for the truth began. Yes, I love having a cup of coffee at least an hour before I leave home because I would have a lovely cleansing movement in the bathroom before I start my day. Three cups per day could be the reason for the loose bowels. Okay, I can fix this. I was including some milk as well and I don’t do so well with milk. This could be an issue too.

Wait, we are both asking the same question. How do you explain the low blood sugar readings? To answer this question, I re-read my first post about coffee and I turned to the Internet to research this strange phenomenon of the low blood sugar and to see if the coffee was the “good culprit.”. This is where it got interesting and I can’t hide my excitement.

Drum Roll – The Results are In

The first article I saw advised diabetics to limit their coffee in-take because caffeine worked differently for all of us (Castro, 2018). You bet your last dollar, I was arguing about this point. I felt that since the result could vary, then people would be better told to exercise caution as they drink coffee and be sure to test.

Yes, remember I am from a coffee family and so I could very well have an eye for the “yes, go ahead and drink all the coffee in the world. Afterward, my eyes caught an article from Catharine Paddock which started with the following line:

“One day, people with type 2 diabetes might be able to regulate their blood sugar by drinking tea or coffee, thanks to synthetic biology” (Paddock, 2018).

Yaay, things were looking up for me and the sky was now well lit. But, as I continued to read, I got it confused and less happy. Here is why:

“… coffee consumption brought down blood glucose levels in line with different doses of caffeine. Once the caffeine had entered the mice’s bloodstream, it activated the synthetic gene circuit, causing it to release the compound to bring down glucose levels” (Paaddock, 2018).

The Case of the Mystery Car

I don’t care much for the synthetic gene circuit. There is not much room here for a discussion on my part. Years ago I had an old car which we kept modifying because we could not source the parts, and, I didn’t like the end result.

It was “hell” diagnosing what was wrong and the part to correct the issues. Needless to say, those parts sometime affected other functions. Sorry, but, synthetic gene circuit recalls this horrible memory for me, and I am not going there with my body. I don’t claim to understand the concept, but, some things just turn me off at first sight.

And the Winner Is!

Can you imagine how I felt when I saw the following?

“Coffee is actually beneficial to your health in its ability to slash the risk of developing what is now deemed the world’s most common long-term health condition, according to a report by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC)” (Haas, 2018).

Okay, so, according to the author, this was reported by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC). I will turn my back on skepticism as I examine my experiences. There is more great news to come before I tie the loose ends. Please read the below quote taken from the same article:

“In what will come as incredible news to those who worship the world’s most common psychoactive drink, you don’t need to stick to just one cup a day. In order for caffeine to effectively reduce your risk of developing diabetes by 25 percent, you must drink between three and four, the study claims. It doesn’t discriminate between men and women. And even if you prefer decaf you’re still ok” (Haas, 2018).

Close those Curtains

Don’t expect too much talking from me at this moment. I told you before that I started drinking a lot more coffee prior to seeing this article, and I started experiencing low blood sugar episodes and had to adjust my medication. I grew with folks just gulping down the good old coffee, coupled with a lifestyle of whole foods and physical activities and they lived long, pain-free, happy lives.

Folks, I am closing my arguments at this point.

Let me remind you that the “one size fits all” does not work in health issues. We are all uniquely created and have varying backgrounds and socialization. Our prescription to lead a healthy and happy life will vary somewhat, but, one thing is for sure, whole foods and an active lifestyle is on all the prescriptions.

For those of us who love to consume some coffee, I would suggest a bit of caution and that we always check the impact it is having on our bodies. For me, I am happy that I can continue to indulge.

Continue reading here: Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

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