Alcohol and BG levels

[Silver Hammer]

Since diagnosis I have deliberately reduced and at times eliminated alcohol from my diet; but now I have reached the weight that I want to be and have generally good control I sometimes "indulge". I have noticed that beer, despite the 17g of carbs per pint, seems to significantly drop my BG readings, how does this work? I can now combine something like steak and chips with 3 or 4 pints of beer and 2 hours after - 5.1! This seems like a free ride, although the morning after BG reading may be a little higher than normal - is this the only drawback?

Maxwell

 

[jim1951]

Hi Silver Hammer

my understanding is that with alcohol, the liver is so busy dealing with it, that it puts glucose release on the back burner giving you a temporary reduction.

jim

 

[douglas99]

The other question is, after your weight loss, what are you like with the steak and chips without the beer?

 

[Silver Hammer]

Jim
Thanks, does this just delay the BG rise, smooth it over time, or eliminate it entirely? While I intend to keep my alcohol consumption low generally I will certainly not be avoiding it entirely and this effect seems like an added bonus.

Douglas
While I try to keep my carbs to around 100g per day on average and usually go out of my way to avoid unnecessary carbs; when I do go out and have something with significant carbs like a pub meal portion of chips I do get higher than usual readings (for me) after 1 and after 2 hours, but these will not be higher than around 7.5 maximum. So they are not really a problem on an occasional treat basis.

Maxwell