Caffeine consumption could have a negative effect on people suffering from type 2 diabetes, raising blood sugar levels and possibly exposing them to other risks, US researchers revealed Monday.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, conducted their study on ten people with type 2 diabetes, with an average age of 63, who agreed to have a tiny glucose monitor embedded under the abdominal skin.

This device monitored the glucose levels continuously, so the researchers were able to track the effects of ingested caffeine while the ten patients carried on their lives as usual, the BBC reports

The participants were given four tablets containing caffeine (equivalent to around four cups of coffee) on some days and four placebo tablets on other days. The researchers found that the caffeine pills increased blood sugar levels by 8 percent compared to days when the participants received the placebos.

The authors wrote in the journal Diabetes Care that this suggests daily consumption of caffeine, which is found in coffee, tea or soft drinks, increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes.

Cutting caffeine out of their diet could help diabetics control their blood sugar levels, the team said. A high level of sugar in the blood can lead to heart disease, among other health problems.

The researchers added that they found caffeine intake seemed to have a particularly strong effect after meals, with a 9 percent rise in blood sugar levels after breakfast, a 15 percent rise after lunch and a 26 percent rise after dinner.

“We're not sure what it is about caffeine that drives glucose levels up,” Dr James Lane, at Duke University in North Carolina, and lead author, said. He added that he intends to conduct a new study to see whether excluding caffeine from a diabetic’s diet can help control blood sugar levels.

“It could be that caffeine interferes with the process that moves glucose from the blood and into muscle and other cells in the body where it is used for fuel,” Lane offered as an explanation.

The new study appears to be in stark contrast with previous research which showed that people who drink more coffee are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.