Diabetes and Nicotine

I have type 2 diabetes also, and wondered the same thing a few years ago. So I did some reading and testing. But for me, there are so many other factors that have a bearing on my blood sugar, that I could never pinpoint the effect of nicotine on my blood sugar. I smoke all kinds of pipe tobacco, but seldom smoke more than one bowl a day. What matters the most to me are my A1C results. With my meds, diet and exercise, my A1C levels pretty much stay the same, in the safe zone. I don't really know what the nicotine or sugar in the tobacco are doing to these results, but as long as I keep things under control I'm not too worried. Like my Dr. said, it's not that I can't have sugar, I just have to have a lot less of it in my diet.
Everyone's different, so everything we consume will affect us differently, whether eaten or absorbed.
(I'm not sure I used the words effect and affect correctly here... I can never remember)

I'm not sure I used the words effect and affect correctly here... I can never remember

Click to expand...

Nailed it :D

I developed Type II in 1997 after a car accident that messed up my back enough to have surgery. The diabetes showed up because I wasn't able to do the physical activities that I was used to doing like playing racquetball. That being said, I smoke my pipes at least once a day and my diabetes is controlled enough that my doctor only has me checking my fasting blood sugar once every other day. It normally runs between 95 - 120 depending on what time I eat dinner and what I eat. Pipe tobacco hasn't apparently have an effect on my blood sugar. My A1C was 5.4 in June.
If anything my pipe smoking keeps my blood pressure down. My doctor knows I smoke a pipe and tells me he wishes his healthy patients had my blood pressure. It was 118/71 last month.

.pappy, are you taking blood pressure meds?

Hakchuma,
No.

I was gifted with good blood pressure when I was born. The highest it's ever been was 130/78

If it is on the internet, it has to be true.

Have you asked your Doctor?

Nicotine tells your body to produce more adrenaline. Adrenaline triggers a fight, fright, flight response of your organism and releases glucosis in your bloodstream.

just a thought, I can't see how you actually get sugar. Nicotene is an effective vascular constrictor though. It seems that could affect pressure. Sugar testing too?

I never knew nic and BS(blood sugar) were connected. Learn something new every day! I know I turn red smoking certain bakkies... I always assumed it was BP.

Could you have picked any crappier studies? What your links show is that when nicotine is INHALED it raises blood sugar. The other study showed that when blood cells are removed from the body and cultured ,nicotine has an effect. The science relating to nicotine and blood sugar is inconclusive at this point. Many studies show an effect while others show none..
If you are truely concerned about your blood sugar levels than you need to stop eating carbs. That cereal and milk you consumed before your run are way more dangerous to your health than smoking a few bowls of pipe tobacco.
If you are a diabetic that means your body cannot process carbs.... They are poison so why would any diabetic consume them.

That's not entirely true. Even diabetics (I talk about type II here, not the kind where you have to inject insuline) can process carbs. They also need carbs (no organism can exist without them). The problem is, that cells cannot take up glucosis in the same way because they are resistent to insulin at some level. It is important to refrain from consuming pure glucosis but complex carbs are not a problem if they are not consumed too much.
With type II diabetes it is very important to control weight (fat tissue is more resistant than muscles to insuline) and blood pressure and to limit other risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Helas, the most important is nicotine. It's of course a matter of how much but diabetes (high blood pressure, often associated with diabetes) and smoking is probably the worst combination for your cardiovascular system.
If I would want to play the devils advocate here, if I were your doctor and you my patient I would seriously advice you to reduce tobacco consumption or even stop smoking at all.
I think it is save to say that cigarettes are much worse than pipes but one has to emphasize that nicotine also is absorbed by your buccal mucosa albeit on a smaller scale than via your lungs.

I'm not going to turn this thread into a diabetic forum but perhaps I'll say my peace and leave it at that. Carbs are NOT an essential nutrient. Too many large scale studies have proved it. If you have diabetes you should severely limit your carb intake to no more than roughly 30 to 50 g per day. At this level your body will not need to release insulin. There is no such thing either as a complex carb. Don't believe me? Get a blood meter, eat some grapes or a banana then watch your blood sugars soar for the next few hours. Sugar is sugar no matter the source. Telling a diabetic to eat carbs is like telling an alcoholic to just have a few beers a day or like telling a lung cancer patient to just smoke a few cigs a day.
Peace said
Ps. The reason for recommending a few carbs for a diabetic is it very hard to avoid all carbs. Even eggs have a tiny fraction of carbs

I've had Type II for 19 years. When I eat too many carbs from rice and potatoes my fasting blood sugar is higher then when I don't eat the rice and potatoes. I smoke my pipe every night and I don't see it affecting my blood sugar in the morning.

I agree that most people would be able to live on a strict no carbs diet in theory because our body is able to produce sugar out of fat and some amino acids (my wife is such a person, although from time to time she literally craves sugar and has to eat some to not collaps because of hypoglycemia with her low body fat count). Also, the problem of Type II is not the lack of insulin (they often produce too much of it). They problem is, that cells are immune to the hormon. Not taking carbs to trigger insulin release will thus have no effect. But of course, diabetics should limite their carbs intake on a strict minimum. The problem is that many type II diabetics will have to begin to take medication to control their blood sugar at some point. Many oral anti-diabetics can casue severe hypoglycemia as an undesired effect and patients will have to include a well controlled quantity of carbs in their diet. And the example of fruit does not work. They all have a high content of glucosis that of course will cause a rapid increase of blood sugar. "Comlex carbs" for me are more like whole bread and cereals which will release sugar more slowly into our system.
I must point out, that I'm not a nutritionist. What I know about this is based on what I learned in medical scool 20 years ago and my short career as a clinical doctor (now I work in the field of public health). Perhaps all is different now, like the fact that back then, one had to avoid fat like the plague to lose wheigt and now it's carbs.

Edit: It's bullshit what I said about Insulin release above. Of course sugar intake triggers insuline not the opposite (can't change it anymore). Sorry.

At the behest of my doctor, I attended a "Diabetic Lifestyle" class this morning. The class dealt with all things diabetes including the nutritional aspect of managing it. The consensus between my doctor and the person doing most of the talking was that too many carbs are bad for you if you have type II but your body does need some carbs to function properly. I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know and easily answered all the questions the instructor had. She would ask me a question and I would answer. She would say, "I guess we don't need to go over this since you know it already."
At the end, she asked if I had any other questions so I asked about the correlation of nicotine to blood sugar. She and the doctor said there have been no definitive link between nicotine and blood sugar rising. That is as good of an answer as I could find.
By the way there is such a thing as Complex Carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates may be referred to as dietary starch and are made of sugar molecules strung together like a necklace or branched like a coil. They are often rich in fiber, thus satisfying and health promoting. Complex carbohydrates are commonly found in whole plant foods and, therefore, are also often high in vitamins and minerals.
Simple Carbohydrates on the other hand: Simple carbohydrates are sugars. All simple carbohydrates are made of just one or two sugar molecules. They are the quickest source of energy, as they are very rapidly digested.