(1)The performance gels can be bought with varying levels of caffeine, including no caffeine.
(2)The articles referenced above indicate that caffeine increased glucose levels in studies on Type 2 diabetics.
(3)However, I would not give them a DIET (no sugar) drink or non-sugared coffee. I also would not give them cheeseburgers or pizza UNTIL the blood glucose levels have increased to an appropriate range and the symptoms of the event have subsided.
The form of the sugar is also important.
I wanted to make a few more notes related to my post above. I quoted only the parts somewhat related to this post. (I apologize that the other post is a little hard on the eyes with the formatting.)
(1) Skunk, I hope you'll provide some details regarding which gel you chose and your experience after you've used it.
(2) FWIW IIRC, the article indicated an 8% increase in blood glucose levels. Almost anything could be blamed for such a small difference. We're talking about the difference between 100mg/dl vs 108mg/dl, or 200mg/dl vs 216mg/dl.
You could take ten Type I diabetics, make them keep the exact same activities, exact same insulin doses, exact same schedules, etc., etc., etc. for two weeks and the blood glucose levels could still fluctuate 8% at the same time from day to day.
(3) IME and a fairly well-known fact among diabetic specialists, when a Type I diabetic incurs a "severe" hypoglycemic episode which is then countered by simple sugars, a second episode can occur fairly soon IF the person does not take in some fairly complex food (containing complex carbs along with some fats and protein, i.e. cheesburger <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ) soon after achieving an accepted blood glucose level after the first episode.
