What Happens to Your Blood Sugar When You Drink Chai Tea

Chai is a drink that combines black tea leaves with a blend of spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves. It can help lower blood sugar, but the overall effect depends on how you prepare it.

How Chai Tea Helps Lower Blood Sugar

A traditional chai made with just black tea and spices has no sugar and less than 2 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Some of its ingredients can help regulate blood sugar:

• Black tea: Rich in polyphenols, plant compounds that help your cells respond better to insulin, the hormone that moves sugar from your blood into cells. Research shows that regular consumption of black tea provides modest benefits for preventing or managing type 2 diabetes.
• Cinnamon: May improve how the body uses insulin and reduce fasting blood sugar, although results are mixed.
• Ginger: In some studies, ginger reduced fasting blood sugar and improved long-term blood sugar (blood sugar) control in people with type 2 diabetes.

However, the type and amount of milk and sweetener largely determine whether chai reduces or increases blood sugar.

Chai Ingredients That May Raise Blood Sugar

While black tea and the spices in chai tea can help control blood sugar, the high sugar content of many popular presentations usually has the opposite effect. Café-style chai lattes or preparations made with the following ingredients may increase blood sugar:

• Milk: Cow’s milk naturally contains a type of sugar (lactose), which your body breaks down into glucose, increasing blood sugar levels.
• Sugar: Your body quickly absorbs white or brown sugar, causing a sharp rise in blood sugar levels.
• Syrups: Flavored syrups and coffee concentrates add large amounts of sugar, rapidly raising blood sugar levels. For example, a 16-ounce chai latte has between 30 and 40 grams of added sugar, about the same as a can of soda.
• Caffeine: The caffeine in black tea can sometimes raise blood sugar levels by causing your body to release stress hormones like adrenaline, which trigger the liver to release stored sugar.

The best choice for healthy blood sugar is an unsweetened chai made with tea, spices, and a low-carb milk alternative.

Is Chai tea safe for people with diabetes?

Chai tea may be safe for people with diabetes, but how it is prepared determines its effect. Keep the following in mind when choosing winery:

• Opt for homemadeUnsweetened chai made with black tea and spices, less likely to raise blood sugar.
• Drink it without added sweeteners such as sugar, honey or syrups, because they can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar. For people with diabetes, these spikes make it more difficult to keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range and can increase the risk of complications over time.
• Avoid cafe-style lattes and chai concentrateswhich can often contain 30 grams of sugar or more in a single serving.

If you prefer milk or a sweetener in your chai:

• Use sugar-free options like stevia or monk fruit
• Choose sugar-free almond milk or other low-carb milk alternative

If you take diabetes medications such as insulin or metformin, drinking large amounts of chai, especially with extra cinnamon or ginger, could lower your blood sugar too much and cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Symptoms include tremors, rapid heartbeat, sweating and confusion.