This is not a failure of discipline. This is physiology.
A gastroenterologist's social media warning about a beloved evening ritual — coffee paired with biscuits — invites us to reconsider how easily comfort habits can work quietly against the body's own rhythms. Dr. Pal Manickam's caution is not a call for austerity, but a reminder that the small, repeated choices we make at day's end carry biological consequences that compound over time. In the space between pleasure and physiology, the humble biscuit turns out to be a more consequential actor than its innocence suggests.
- What feels like a harmless evening wind-down is actually a dual biochemical trigger — caffeine elevating dopamine while refined carbs spike insulin, setting the body on a collision course with its own hunger signals.
- The crash arrives within hours: energy drops, focus fades, and the gut begins demanding more sugar, turning a single biscuit into the first link in a craving chain.
- Repeated exposure to this pattern doesn't just encourage overeating — it destabilizes gut microbiota and overstimulates the nervous system, making digestive irritation and amplified cravings the new baseline.
- Nutritionists and Dr. Manickam are steering people toward fiber- and protein-rich alternatives — roasted peanuts, boiled chana, makhana — that satisfy the snack impulse without triggering metabolic disruption.
- The trajectory is clear: the coffee-biscuit ritual is losing its innocence, and the conversation is shifting from willpower to biology as the real battleground of everyday health.
Gastroenterologist Dr. Pal Manickam recently took to Instagram to challenge one of the most quietly universal habits of modern life: the evening coffee paired with a biscuit. What feels like a small, deserved comfort, he warned, is actually a biological trap — one that destabilizes blood sugar, inflames the gut, and turns the body against itself.
The mechanism is deceptively simple. Caffeine floods the system and lifts dopamine while refined carbohydrates from the biscuit cause insulin to spike almost simultaneously. The result is a brief, confused sense of satisfaction followed by an inevitable blood sugar crash — and with it, the urge to eat something sweet all over again. This is not a matter of weak willpower. It is physiology running its course.
The damage extends beyond overeating. Repeated activation of this cycle overstimulates the nervous system and disrupts the gut's microbial ecosystem, which begins to crave more sugar and refined starch. Two chocolate-coated digestive biscuits carry roughly 166 calories and nearly 10 grams of sugar — a load the gut was not designed to process regularly alongside stimulants.
The prescription is not deprivation. A small handful of pecan nuts, an apple with peanut butter, roasted peanuts, boiled chickpeas, or makhana all satisfy the same evening impulse while keeping blood glucose steady and digestion calm. The distinction is not moral but practical: some snacks work with the body's chemistry, and some work against it. The coffee-biscuit pairing, it turns out, has always been doing the latter.
A gastroenterologist named Dr. Pal Manickam recently posted a warning on Instagram about a habit most people consider harmless: dunking a biscuit into an evening cup of coffee. The pairing, he explained, is far more disruptive to your body than the casual ritual suggests. What feels like a small, deserved break after a long day is actually a calculated biological trap—one that leaves your gut inflamed, your blood sugar destabilized, and your willpower fighting against your own chemistry.
The mechanism is straightforward but worth understanding. When you drink coffee alongside a refined carbohydrate like a biscuit, two things happen almost simultaneously. The caffeine floods your system and elevates dopamine, that neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and reward. At the same moment, the refined carbohydrates in the biscuit cause your insulin to spike rapidly. This dual surge creates a peculiar state of confusion in your brain—a momentary hit of satisfaction even as your blood glucose begins its inevitable crash. Within an hour or two, that crash arrives. Your energy dips. Your focus wavers. Your body sends out a signal: eat something sweet again. You reach for another biscuit. This is not a failure of discipline. This is physiology.
Dr. Manickam points out that this cycle does more than just encourage overeating. Repeated activation of this pattern overstimulates your nervous system and destabilizes the delicate ecosystem of bacteria living in your gut. Your microbiota, sensing the constant influx of sugar and refined starch, begins to demand more of the same. The result is a feedback loop that leaves your digestive system irritated and your cravings amplified. Two chocolate-coated digestive biscuits, for reference, contain roughly 166 calories and nearly 10 grams of sugar. Your gut was not designed to process this regularly alongside stimulants.
The alternative is not deprivation. Dr. Manickam and other nutritionists point toward options that satisfy the same evening snack impulse without the metabolic chaos. A small handful of pecan nuts—about 20 grams—delivers roughly 140 calories, less than 1 gram of sugar, and the kind of fat that actually supports your body's functions. An apple with a spoonful of peanut butter offers natural sweetness, healthy fats, and genuine satiety. Roasted peanuts, boiled chickpeas, or makhana (fox nuts) provide fiber and protein that keep your blood glucose steady and your digestive system calm. Even dried fruit, though higher in natural sugars than whole fruit, remains a more sensible choice than refined biscuits.
What makes this distinction matter is not moral—there is nothing wrong with wanting a snack—but practical. Your evening ritual can either work with your body's chemistry or against it. The coffee-and-biscuit pairing works against it. It creates a temporary pleasure followed by a crash, followed by cravings, followed by digestive irritation. The alternatives create something steadier: sustained energy, balanced glucose, a gut that is not constantly inflamed. The choice, in the end, is between a snack that feels good for five minutes and one that actually supports how your body functions for the hours that follow.
Citas Notables
Biscuits are essentially compact sources of refined carbohydrates that do little for digestive wellness, while roasted peanuts, boiled chana, or makhana provide nutrients without overloading the gut.— Dr. Pal Manickam, gastroenterologist
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Why does caffeine make this worse? Couldn't you just have the biscuit without coffee?
The caffeine is the accelerant. It triggers dopamine release right when your blood sugar is spiking from the refined carbs. Together, they create this artificial peak of pleasure that your brain learns to crave. Without the coffee, a biscuit is still problematic, but you don't get that same neurochemical hijacking.
So it's the combination that's the real problem, not the biscuit alone?
Exactly. The biscuit alone is still refined carbohydrates, which your gut doesn't love. But pair it with coffee and you've engineered a craving machine. Your body crashes hard after that dopamine-insulin spike, and then it demands more.
What about the people who say they only eat one biscuit and feel fine?
They might feel fine in the moment. But the gut disruption and the blood sugar crash are happening whether they feel it or not. Some people are more sensitive to the effects than others, but the biology doesn't change. It's like saying you feel fine after one drink—the liver is still processing it.
Why are nuts better if they're also high in fat?
Because it's a different kind of fat. Nuts have monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that your body actually uses. They also come with fiber and protein, which slow down digestion and keep your glucose stable. A biscuit has refined carbs with no fiber, so it hits your bloodstream fast and hard.
Is this about calories or about what the food does to your body?
It's about what the food does to your body. Two biscuits and 20 grams of pecans have similar calories, but they're completely different experiences metabolically. One destabilizes you. The other sustains you.
So if someone loves their evening coffee ritual, they just need to swap the biscuit?
That's the practical answer, yes. Keep the ritual. Change what goes with it. Your gut will thank you, and you'll stop riding that blood sugar roller coaster.