Green Tea Increase Sugar Level?

by Wally
(New York)

Can drinking green tea increase sugar level? I drink Celestial Seasonings Authentic green tea ...

My sugar levels seem to spike up at night.

After 3-4 days of testing, the problem is the green tea I'm having with my dinner. I tested my sugar level right before I ate dinner by drinking an 8 oz. cup of green tea I had refrigerated and my glucose reading was over 90 points higher!

It's not the caffeine because coffee doesn't have the same effect on me. Am I the only one this happens to? I couldn't find anybody online with the same problem. Even my friend who is a big tea drinkers thinks I'm crazy.

The green tea I'm drinking is Celestial Seasonings Authentic Green Tea. Usually, I prepare about half a gallon of the tea at once, add 4 packets of Sweet N Low and then put it in the fridge. (Sweet N Low does nothing to my glucose readings)

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Green Tea Increase Sugar Level?

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Oct 19, 2007

Reply
by: Julian

This is very unusual. Green tea and oolong tea have very good scientific records for diabetes, even alowing for the caffeine effects.

Perhaps you can try brewing your Celestial Seasonings HOT without the Sweet N Low? I know Sweet N Low by itself is harmless, but there might be an interaction effect there.

Otherwise, trying drinking in the morning. Or other brands. My recommendation is loose leaf as they are higher quality.

Would you let me know it goes, please? I am very curious why this is the case ...

Oct 19, 2007

Another experiment
by: Wally

Thanks for replying Julian.

What I did today at lunchtime:
11:45 am. Took a reading and the meter said 161. Brewed an 8oz. cup of green tea with nothing in it. Just had the tea. No food.

At 12:55 pm, took another reading. The meter read 172.

Now that's more of a tolerance I can handle. I won't wonder too much about an 11 point difference. I wonder if I were to drink more, would the difference have been higher?

Now the other questions I have are, is the Sweet N Low reacting with the green tea and would other artificial sweeteners (such as Splenda) react the same way? Guess it's time to grab a few extra packets of Splenda next time I buy a cup of coffee.

Oct 19, 2007

Reply
by: Julian

Good work! Hmm... sometimes I wonder if it necessary to add sweeteners?

High quality green tea tastes naturally sweet anyway, due to its theanine content. As a further advantage, theanine is a powerful soothing agent with many other health benefits.

Just my personal preference. It will be interesting to see how you do without the sweetener... :)

Mar 10, 2008

Tea Tea Tea
by: Anonymous

Get loose leaf green tea.

And try a sencha or guyrokuro or switch to a white and why would you wanna spoil your green tea with sugar?

Try jasmine and don't boil your water!

I was looking on line here and too many people are scorching their tea creating a NEED for sugar.

If you steep it at 140 degrees at most you'll actually be able to refine your palate enough to notice a difference between your old stuff and the loose leaf!

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