Longevity Briefs: Your Morning Coffee May Perk You Up, But It Is Bad For Your Blood Sugar

Longevity briefs provides a short summary of a novel research, medicine, or technology that caught the attention of our researchers in Oxford, due to its potential to improve our health, wellbeing, and longevity.

Why is this research important: Sleep is crucial for glucose homeostasis and sleep disruption can affect insulin sensitivity and glucose clearance. Coffee is a very popular drink used to remedy fatigue and sleepiness. However, studies have shown that coffee can negatively impact glucose metabolism in overweight individuals, naturally leading to the question whether the combined effect of coffee and sleep disruption impacts glucose homeostasis.

What did the researchers do: In this study, researchers have compared insulin sensitivity (blood sugar control) in 29 participants following normal sleep night to fragmented sleep. They also analyzed whether coffee consumption after restless night affects plasma glucose (blood sugar) levels.

Key takeaway(s) from this research: The researchers found that not sleeping well for one night didn’t affect blood sugar at that much. But people who drank strong black coffee after a disrupted night’s sleep had significantly increased blood sugar levels, around 50% more than people who didn’t drink any coffee. According to these findings, drinking coffee after a bad night’s sleep can make you feel more alert, but may inhibit your body’s ability to tolerate the sugar in your breakfast.

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