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Welcome back friends. You are listening to the Juice Box Podcast.
B
Jenny and I have been chit chatting for so long we're almost out of time. But we're gonna do a bolus four for you.
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To begin with, let's just, let's do coffee. Please. Don't forget that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. Thinking about getting an algorithm pump? Don't know where to begin, just juicebox podcast.com up in the menu. Click on Algorithm Pumping and you're going to get a long list of a lot of episodes that will help you to understand better. Juicebox podcast.com find algorithm pumping. The episode you're about to enjoy was brought to you by Dexcom, the Dexcom G7, the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today at my link dexcom.com juicebox this episode of the Juice Box Podcast is sponsored by Omnipod5. Omnipod5 is a tube free automated insulin delivery system that's been shown to significantly improve A1C and time and range for people with type 1 diabetes when they've switched from daily injections. Learn more and get started today@ omnipod.com juicebox at my link. You can get a free starter kit right now. Terms and conditions apply. Eligibility may vary. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox since we came here and
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did this, we should donate. All right guys, listen, Jenny, say testing for me real fast.
C
Testing.
B
Okay, Jenny and I have been chit chatting for so long we're almost out of time. But we're going to do a bolus for, for you to begin with.
A
Let's just, let's do coffee because I
B
don't know the first thing about it and I, I was with somebody this weekend who said, oh, my blood sugar has been high, I've been drinking a lot more caffeine than I should have. And I was like, okay, so I'm just going to ask you to talk me through it. Why is coffee a thing that I assume if I look up, doesn't have carbs in it? Is that right? Why does that or does it.
C
So it does caffeine is. I equate it similar to like an adrenaline hit. Right? So caffeine. Why do most people drink caffeine?
A
I. Well, I've come to learn the whole
B
world is medicated on caffeine or cigarettes of some kind or a Vape pen or something. I didn't know until I talked to everybody, but everyone's jacked up on something.
C
Yes.
B
So I'm going to.
C
So it can, I mean, caffeine in coffee, black coffee we're talking about to begin with, it can raise blood sugar levels essentially because it can reduce some insulin sensitivity based on the fact that caffeine kicks your energy into gear. Right. And so a typical cup of coffee somewhere between like 200 and 250 milligrams of caffeine, depending on your size and kind of coffee you drink, blah, blah, blah. Right? So if you are a person who just likes black coffee and you're seeing a rise despite thinking, well, gosh, there aren't any carbs. You're right, there aren't any carbs. But you're bolusing for something that requires you to cover a rise in the blood sugar because of its effect. Right.
B
Is it measurable or is it a thing you have to figure out?
C
Yeah, if you pay attention. 100% years ago, when I started enjoying coffee, I don't like coffee black myself. I like to have a little bit of cream in it, but I tested it first without the cream to get an idea of what just happens with the coffee. Right. And I eventually found that my typical cup of coffee takes about a unit of insulin, a cup.
B
Okay.
A
Is that 8 ounces?
C
It's 8 ounces, an 8 ounce cup of coffee or a 1 cup cup of coffee. Not your Jethro cups from the, you know, the Big Gulp, the gigantic Gulp mugs that you get at the fancy.
B
Call them Jethro cups. What is that?
C
Is that like, is that something gigantic? Jethro is like gigant dick. Right? Sorry.
B
No, no, I just thought maybe it was like something local to you. Is there, I mean, can, is it reasonable to say that everyone is a unit for 8 ounces or is that not a reasonable thing to say?
C
No, no, mine. What I did to test, and this is what I recommend to most people who want to get an idea, is drink your cup of coffee with stable nice looking blood sugar. Drink it, don't bolus for it. Check the rise, Check the rise. How much did your blood sugar go up and where did it finally plateau from the effect of the coffee? Because that will happen. It'll happen even if you eat carbs without any bolus, you will get to a point where the carbs finally have kind of hit enough and now Basil is just holding you flat there. Cause you didn't bolus. Right. So if you can establish the rise amount, on average, that you get from a cup of coffee. That then you can use your math based on your correction factor or your ISF to figure out how much insulin you need to prevent that rise.
A
Okay.
C
So I saw a rise in blood sugar over a couple of days of doing it. I averaged it, and I was like, oh, in general, it's like a unit of insulin I need for a cup of coffee. So that's how I recommend figuring it out. A unit may not be necessary for everybody. It might be 0.3, it might be 2 units, depending on. Depending on what your sensitivity to insulin looks like. That's what you're gonna base that on. And for today's pumps that really are driven by allowing you to take a bolus that it's not gonna subtract any insulin behind it, we often have to add carbohydrate. Right. So then if you know about what one unit does to cover the rise, you can equate that one unit should also then cover that same number of grams of carb that is your insulin to carb ratio, time of day.
B
Okay.
C
And then you can enter it, get the bolus rolling, and move forward.
B
Now, you said you don't like black coffee. Do you sweeten it with something?
C
I do. I. Well, I put in a little bit of. It's like a coconut milk creamer that I use. It's like a tablespoon. It's two grams of carb.
B
Okay.
C
I haven't seen.
B
You don't put sugar in it, though, I would imagine.
C
I don't put sugar in it, no,
B
but somebody's going to.
C
Of course. Absolutely. If you look at any of the restaurant types of coffees or the, I guess the coffee shop types of coffee, whether it's Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks or whatever, most people don't go there for a cup of black coffee.
B
But. But in your house, you, you know, you're one of those people who has a coffee maker that comes on in the morning. And the best part of waking up is folgers in your cup or whatever. And. And you run downstairs and you have a cup.
C
Mine's the. Mine's the pour over. It's a drip. I don't. We don't use a coffee maker. But.
B
Yeah, look at you. You're fancy and so.
C
Tastes better, honestly. And I don't like things running through plastic. So.
B
Yeah, I don't know. I'm with you. And.
A
But.
B
But somebody's gonna come down in the morning, have a cup. Yes, but they're gonna put in the sugar. But they don't like, I mean, people. I've watched people make coffee. They grab sugar and toss it.
A
Toss it.
B
It's a, it's a, it's an about thing.
A
So how does.
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I mean, explain. Let's just pick a number. Like, how would two is two tape. I don't drink. Here's the thing. You don't say out loud a lot. There's a couple things you shouldn't say out loud in mixed company because it really confuses people and causes them to look at you oddly. But I've never had coffee before.
C
Okay.
B
So I'm gonna say that now just so I can let you know. I don't know what I'm talking about, but is like, is two tablespoons of sugar.
C
That's a lot of. That's a lot of sugar.
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Teaspoons.
C
Two teaspoons would be about right. And if you compare it to what you might get at, again, sort of a coffee shop, if you're doing the packets, each packet of sugar is a teaspoon and it's four grams.
A
Okay.
B
Oh, that's a great way to. So each packet's four grams of carbs.
C
Yep.
B
So for you specifically, if you had a 8 ounce cup of coffee, you need a unit for your coffee. And then let's just say you're a person who then put in two packets of sugar.
C
Yes.
B
Now that's eight carbs. Let's just use your numbers. What would that be for you? Let's stick with you for a minute.
C
Yeah. So in the morning time, specifically, I have an insulin to carb ratio that's 1 to 11. I mean, if we just do it 1 to 10 to make it easy in terms of counting. Right. That's an extra 0.8 units of insulin because I'm eating 8 grams of carb as sugar on top of the one unit for the coffee.
A
Yeah.
B
So now you have the coffee. We're adding the sugar for you and the creamer. So now you're up to like 15 carbs. So what would you do? Would you do, Would you actually dial in the carbs? You would, but if you were, if you were spitballing it, would you do two units? Maybe.
A
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Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox the Dexcom G7 is sponsoring this episode of the Juicebox Podcast and it features a lightning fast 30 minute warmup time. That's right from the time you put on the Dexcom G7 till the time you're getting readings. 30 minutes. That's pretty great. It also has a 12 hour grace period so you can swap your sensor when it's convenient for you. All that on top of it being small, accurate, incredibly wearable and light.
B
These things, in my opinion, make the
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B
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B
You think you go heavier?
C
I guess if I'm estimating, sure, I might go heavier. But I, I use, I mean I use my pump, right? So I, I put the carbs in for the one unit that I require for the coffee, right? The grams of carbs that be like 11, right? And then essentially I'm going to add the 4 extra or the 8 extra. That comes to 19 grams of carb. And so yes, about 2ish units, I guess. And then I look at my blood sugar, right? What's my blood sugar doing? Blah blah, blah.
B
Would you, I'm just gonna use the word. Would you lie to the pump and tell it that you were having since you were 1 to 11. Would you tell it 11 carbs for the coffee or do you put in one and then bolus for the creamer, for example?
C
No, I put in the grams of carbs so that again, based on the kind of algorithm you use, the acknowledgment of what you put in is how the system kind of follows it out and, or helps you after. And so I definitely put it in as if it's a carbohydrate.
B
Okay, let me hit everybody real quick. Heavy cream, 0.4 grams per tablespoon, half and half is 0.6 or 0.7. Regular flavored liquid creamer, 5 grams per tablespoon Powdered flavored creamer, 2 grams per half a teaspoon, 0 sugar. Liquid creamer of course, does not have any in it. That's just a breakdown of creamers, just in case you're wondering.
C
And I want, I love to bring up the creamer because again, as you said, you know, heavy cream, half and half, whatever, it's pretty negligible, right? I mean, unless you're really low insulin to carb ratio, you could have couple tablespoons of that without really much damage in terms of miscount of carbohydrates. When you start getting into the flavored coffee mates and whatever other brand people are using with all the flavors and the sugars and everything, do you really sit in the kitchen and take a tablespoon measure and pour into that and then pour it into. Oh no, you dump it out of the jar and on average your dump is going to be about an eighth to a quarter cup depending on how heavy handed you are. So look at the overage that you may be adding to just coffee because of lack of measurement.
A
Yeah, it sounds like creamer is the
B
ketchup of drinks, you know? You know what I mean? You're like, I don't know.
C
Yeah, yeah, well, and then when you start looking at some of the restaurant style or the, you know, coffee shop kind of style stuff, not only is there, there's usually just real milk or real creamer in it when they're making some of the specialty drinks. But let's look up some of the pumped liquid flavorings, right? They do come sugar free, which is a better option in terms of saving you the carbohydrates and the kick to your blood sugar. But many people don't like them, so. Or they don't like the sweeteners that's involved in it. So they're going to do the regular sugar and most coffee shop places are doing at least two to four pumps of those syrupy sugars that go in for your fancy peppermint mocha that you get at, you know, the holiday times and there's.
B
So in the end this is just. There's more carbs in it maybe if you're doing stuff like that than you, than you think. And on top of that you're getting a kick from the Caffeine?
C
Yes.
A
Do people see a rise from tea?
C
So I again n of 1, we're
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just using you to.
C
I don't, I don't see any rise in my blood sugar from tea. I have a cup of tea before I go to yoga in the morning. I drink it on the way there in a fasted state. I don't have anything else. I don't see any rise from that whatsoever. I usually do like a green tea or a white tea. Sometimes it's herbal tea, which again you shouldn't technically see an impact. But, but tea caffeine is fairly low comparative whether it's a black tea or a white tea or a green tea. Very, very low compared to your cup of coffee. So hit wise maybe you might, but I don't.
B
How does soda punch in comparison to coffee? You know what I mean? Is it not one to. Is coffee just really zhuzhed up for caffeine? Maybe we should break that down so people can understand.
C
That's a great, you know, a good question. Again, if it's just regular coffee, I wouldn't necessarily say, gosh, drink a cup of regular coffee to treat a low blood sugar because it's going to raise your blood sugar like soda will. Okay, so does definitely, I mean it's, it's sugar. So it is a, almost a streamline right into bloodstream to kind of help. So coffee is not going to really kick you like that. But I do in terms of like bolus strategizing, I pre bolus for my cups of coffee.
B
Okay, how much do you do usually?
C
If it's, it's just my typical morning cup, I will usually do about 12 to 15 minutes is my average.
B
Okay. All right. So it takes, it takes because it will hit hard enough to mess you up if not.
C
Yes.
A
Okay,
B
well that's interesting.
A
What about.
B
So, but if there's tea and I put, I mean some people put cream in tea and sugar and tea. So just treat it the same way but don't worry about the caffeine effect
C
from it for the most part. Correct. Like a matcha latte or something like that, which is like a green tea powder essentially that's fluffed up with milk of some type.
A
Right.
C
And they may again then add a vanilla or some type of flavoring syrup to it. So you can see just the tea in and of itself. Probably wouldn't eat a bolus. But if you're adding to it, then what you're adding, if there is carb in it. Absolutely. You need to consider and count.
A
Would A person with type 2 diabetes get hit with black coffee?
C
Yeah, yeah.
B
They'd get the same feeling from it. Okay. It's interesting. It's one of the things that throughout my time in this, people are always talking about like, you know, they don't know what's going on in the morning. And when somebody eventually says, do you drink coffee? And then you know, oh, I do. How come there's no carbs in coffee? And that starts that whole conversation. Yeah, it's really, it's super interesting. I, I, I brought this up here. Hopefully this is fairly accurate. Average caffeine content In a brewed coffee, 8 ounces, 95 milligrams standard cola, like Coca Cola 34. Diet Cola, like Diet Coke, 46. Citrusy soda, like Mountain Dew 54. Espresso 63. Instant coffee, 62. So just brewed co has. It's a lot, I mean, that's obviously a lot more than what we're seeing with everything else. Is caffeine impacting people all over the place and they don't, do you think they don't think about it when you talk to people?
C
I definitely encounter enough people that when we're looking at blood sugar records and trying to navigate out is like what's coming where? Right. It's the, where were things happening here? We're trying to make an adjustment. Is it basal? Is it a ratio? Is it something that's not being counted? So we do talk through in pretty heavy detail. And beverages are a big place that I bring up because it often gets missed in other, you know, health care discussion. Nobody really remembers to ask, well, gosh, you wake up in the morning and like you said, your pot has been dripping coffee for you already and it's ready to go. And you pour your cup while you're brushing your teeth or shaving or, or getting in the shower, whatever you're doing. And it's, it's not a thought.
B
Yeah, I just, but then a Red Bull.
C
Go ahead.
A
Red bull has 80 milligrams in it,
B
so that's got to be a thing. I see kids walking around with Red Bulls all the time and they probably have sugar in it too.
C
And the Red Bull, I believe does have sugar in it.
B
Okay.
C
I think there's a sugar free version too. I've never had Red Bull. Like, I've never had any of those energy.
A
When I get tired, I go to sleep.
B
Right. I guess the day is over. I'll go sleepy now. Let's see.
A
A standard 8.4 ounce can of Red
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Bull contains 27 grams of sugar.
C
Okay. There is a sugar free one, isn't there? If I remember correctly, sugar free alternatives.
B
But they're still going to have the caffeine.
C
So that's the purpose for drinking it really, the caffeine, Right?
B
I. I think so. I think in the 80s people stopped doing this and they went to that caffeine and stuff.
A
Yeah.
B
There was a hand motion I did for Jenny that none of you are going to know the answer to around coffee. Is there anything we missed here? Like, I know like you, we didn't dig deep enough in just to see. To see. But you guys really like one of those Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks coffees that are flavored and everything are going to have way more carbs in it than you probably think. And then consider the caffeine as well. But I think the way Jenny laid it out, just, you know, kind of drink a cup of black coffee or you know, with minimal stuff in it to see what it does to you. That's great information to have. Like, how much can I expect this coffee to move my blood sugar without all the other impacts? And then you maybe can have a better time in the morning and enjoy your coffee.
C
I agreed.
B
I see people drinking it. You guys seem to love it. So I just. When I think of coffee,
A
I think
B
of my parents smoking like my dad smoking a cigarette and like the coffee and like all this, it's just not something I'm interested in because of that,
C
you know, that makes sense. It's a negative association that you have along with it.
A
I did, I should say.
B
I was in the Dominican Republic recently. I went out on a cruise to check out the cruise ship for the juice cruise.
C
Yeah.
B
And we got off in the Dominican and we did a bunch of little like, like stuff. And one of the things we went to, they brewed coffee like right from like beans.
C
Really good.
B
I don't know. I tried it. I felt like I was gonna die. So I tried it. But I. I took a few sips
A
and I was like, oh, okay.
B
And that was it. They were rolling cigars too. I did buy cigars. They were really good.
A
Sure they were.
B
I sent them to my brother. He already is complaining that they're gone. So.
C
Good coffee too. I used to have a friend who lived in Hawaii. When they would come back to visit, they would bring the Kona coffee. It is just better. Really good coffee as well. Yeah, it's awesome.
B
All right, well, I appreciate you doing this with me. Thank you very much.
C
No, thank you.
A
A huge thanks to my longest sponsor, Omnipod. Check out the Omnipod 5 now with my link omnipod.com juicebox you may be eligible for a free starter kit. A free Omnipod 5 starter kit at my link. Go check it out. Omnipod.com Juicebox terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions can be found@ omnipod.com juicebox Today's episode of the Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the Dexcom G7, and the Dexcom G7 warms up in just 30 minutes. Check it out now at dexcom.com juicebox the podcast contains so many different series and collections of information that it can be difficult to find them in your traditional podcast app sometimes. That's why they're also collected@juicebox podcast.com Go up to the top. There's a menu right there. Click on Series Defining Diabetes, Bold Beginnings, the Pro Tip Series Small Sips, Omnipod 5, Ask Scott and Jenny Mental Wellness, Fat and Protein Defining Thyroid After Dark, Diabetes Variables, Grand Rounds, cold win, pregnancy, type 2 diabetes, GLP meds, the math Behind Diabetes, Diabetes Myths, and so much more.
B
You have to go check it out.
A
It's all there.
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I'm waiting for you.
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And it's absolutely free. Juiceboxpodcast.com.
Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Jenny
Main Theme: The nuanced impact of coffee (specifically caffeine) on blood sugar for people with Type 1 Diabetes, including strategies for insulin dosing and practical tips for handling common coffee additives.
This "Bolus 4" mini-episode dives deep into the question: How does coffee, which contains negligible carbohydrates, still impact blood glucose levels for people with diabetes? Scott and Jenny unpack caffeine's metabolic effect, share practical self-testing strategies, and provide granular advice for dosing insulin with coffee and popular coffee shop drinks. The discussion balances hands-on experience with humor and real-world perspective.
Caffeine & Blood Sugar:
No Carbs ≠ No Effect:
Individual Response Matters:
Memorable advice:
Sugar & Creamers:
Impactful Quote:
Home-Brewed vs. Shop Coffee:
Algorithm Pumps & Reporting Carbs:
Math Example for Jenny:
Tea:
Soda vs. Coffee for Lows:
Energy Drinks:
On Self-Experimentation:
On Creamers:
On Coffee Shop Drinks:
On Pre-bolus:
On Coffee’s Cultural Place:
Find more diabetes strategies and community talk at JuiceboxPodcast.com
Series referenced: Bolus, Defining Diabetes, Pro Tip, and more available via their site.
This summary captures the episode’s practical insights, camaraderie, and the lived experience of dealing with coffee and diabetes—empowering listeners to experiment, personalize, and think boldly about insulin!