Background: The ingestion of caffeine (5 mg/kg body weight) and a 75-g oral glucose load has been shown to elicit an acute insulin-insensitive environment in healthy and obese individuals and in those with type 2 diabetes.
Objective: In this study we investigated whether a similar impairment in blood glucose management exists when coffee and foods typical of a Western diet were used in a similar protocol.
Design: Ten healthy men underwent 4 trials in a randomized order. They ingested caffeinated (5 mg/kg) coffee (CC) or the same volume of decaffeinated coffee (DC) followed 1 h later by either a high or low glycemic index (GI) cereal (providing 75 g of carbohydrate) mixed meal tolerance test.
Results: CC with the high GI meal resulted in 147%, 29%, and 40% greater areas under the curve for glucose (P < 0.001), insulin (NS), and C-peptide (P < 0.001), respectively, compared with the values for DC. Similarly, with the low GI treatment, CC elicited 216%, 44%, and 36% greater areas under the curve for glucose (P < 0.001), insulin (P < 0.01), and C-peptide (P < 0.01), respectively. Insulin sensitivity was significantly reduced (40%) with the high GI treatment after CC was ingested compared with DC; with the low GI treatment, CC ingestion resulted in a 29% decrease in insulin sensitivity, although this difference was not significant.
Conclusion: The ingestion of CC with either a high or low GI meal significantly impairs acute blood glucose management and insulin sensitivity compared with ingestion of DC. Future investigations are warranted to determine whether CC is a risk factor for insulin resistance.