Milk and Alcohol questions!

[lindainsomerset]

I have 2 questions that I would like explaining please if anyone can help.

1. I always have porridge for breakfast and count the carbs as 16.2g per portion, but have just noticed that having it made with milk takes it up to 24.8g? (confused). Am I being thick here, but really, does milk have carbs??

And for question number 2 (my favourite topic)..... If alcohol can significantly lower your blood sugar levels, should I be drinking more red wine (maybe daily), as my levels don't go any lower than 9 on a good day?

Appreciate your help.

Thanks

 

[Paul1976]

Hi!

Yes is the answer to question 1 I'm afraid,milk contains natural sugars in the form of lactose so a way round that if you're keeping carbs as low as possible is to to swap regular milk to Lactofree milk which all supermarkets stock and tastes the same IMO OR soya milk which tastes slightly different but OK.

Question 2: Depends on how much more Red wine you mean,I like a couple of large glasses a night which my doctor never fails to tell me is more than the governments recommended 21 units a week for men! :lol:

 

[MaryJ]

Hi Linda

Yes Milk has carbs!

Alcohol does lower your BG's (not beers tho - they have carbs) but I aint gonna say increase to bring your levels down as it's not the healthiest way to go about things.

However, if I'm having a wine I know I can tollerate more carbs than if I wasn't. So with a wine I could have 30g of pasta with my bolognese, without a wine I would have birds eye steam fresh veg with the bolg.

Mary x

 

[xMenace]

If your best number is 9, you have a lot more to be worried about than alcohol, and alcohol won't bring thos numbers down significantly. My personal recommendation is a very low carb, high fat diet, but you need to educate yourself before jumping in this pool. You should probably book a medication review.

Milk has sugar. The higher fat content of the milk, the lower the sugar content. I use only heavy cream now, and now that much.

 

[Sirzy]

Hi,

Milk certainly does have carbs, 5g per 100ml, and all of this is from sugar in the form of lactose! I'd possibly swap to an alternative form of milk such as soya or almond milk maybe, or just make your porridge with water and a dash of cream/milk instead.

Btw, porridge might not be your best option for breakfast if you're wanting to watch your carb intake, even though my diabetes doctor promised me it's a 'slow release' carb, I still spike into double figures after only 15g of it made with water!! But we're all different, and all have different tolerances for carbs at different times of the day. The same amount of porridge in the evening doesn't send me above 6.

As for using alcohol to lower your bg, it's ok to do this occasionally, maybe even daily if it's a small glass of red with dinner, I always have a couple of vodkas on a Saturday night as my dinner is usually higher in carbs than it would be during the week, but again, it's a personal choice. It may be better to try and lower your BG through your diet rather than relying just on alcohol, that's just my opinion though

 

[viviennem]

I drink far too much red wine, though I don't drink every day. But I can certainly polish off a whole bottle at a time when I do drink.

I am not recommending this amount. Firstly, alcohol causes inflammation throughout the whole body, including the liver and the pancreas. So, while a moderate amount of alcohol is very nice to have, you have to take the risks into consideration.

As for lowering blood glucose - well, it may so do at the time, and allow you those few extra carbs with your meal, but I find if I drink every day my blood glucose levels creep gently upwards - not very high, but noticeably. I'm going though a non-drinking phase at present, and my BGs are lower overall than they were 2 weeks ago - my fasting was under 5 this morning, first time for weeks.

There are carbs in wine - not many in a glass, but a considerable few in a whole bottle. Also calories. In addition, alcohol "inhibits the inhibitions"; you may fancy an extra helping of food that you know you shouldn't have, and the alcohol stops you stopping yourself from having it.

Read round on alcohol, discount 50% of what you read because of scare tactics, and then make up your own mind, as I have done. But for a diabetic to regularly drink quantities of a substance that is known to inflame the pancreas is not really a good idea.

I tell myself so, regulalry! :wink:

Viv 8)

 

[MaryJ]

Totally agree Viv re the 'decisions' taken whilst under the influence.

On bank holiday monday we'd indulged in one or two sherbets and ordered take out - fine, I always take the chicken and salad off the naan of my kebab and heyho - low carb. But NOooooooo drunken Mary decided to have a 'little' bit of naan - then 'just a little bit more' then ate it all and a piece of hubby's pizza

BG reading was fine but tummy wasn't the next day. It isn't used to all the carby rubbish.


Mary x

 

[lindainsomerset]

OK, so no more milky porridge for breakfast, maybe no porridge at all, because it does make my BG spike (been in denial up 'til now, but need to get in control).

Red wine in moderation (thats good news!)

One last question ...If milk has carbs, what about cheese? Do I have to limit this as well?

Am going to try low carbing for a while so want as much info as I can!

 

[Paul1976]

Cheese is not so bad at all carbs wise,I believe the bacteria added in the making process feed on and eat up the lactose well before the cheese is ready to eat(to the best of my knowledge)

 

[Sirzy]

It depends on the type of cheese you eat, I think as a general rule, the softer cheeses have more carbs than the harder ones, so for example, go for a cheddar rather than a cream cheese, although these are still quite low carb.

 

[Paul1976]

Yes,i've heard that too,I know cottage cheese has more carbs per 100g,then say, a mature cheddar or red leicester.

 

[Grazer]

Here's an answer I posted to Lucy on another threrad about drinking wine, may be helpful:-

"Glass of wine is fine lucy. Not sure if your hubbies wine is "the real thing" or not, although I'm sure it's fine, but the general rule is that the stronger the alcohol, the less carbs it has, as the carb content is sugars which are brewed out as they turn to alcohol. So spirits, like vodka or whisky, have zero carbs. Wine has some, beer has more. Even when carbs ARE present though, you will tend to get lower BGs. That's because the liver always processes toxins firast before it bothers about converting carbs to glucose, and it sees alcohol as a toxin. I don't drink alcohol deliberately to lower my BGs, but on the days when i DO have a drink, I have my more carby meals to take advantage! This alcohol effect is why people on insulin need to be wary of hypos when drinking; I believe a lot of them use less insulin per amount of carbs if they are having a drink. Obviously, drinking loads and getting low BGs is no good if you also turn your liver to mush, and there is evidence that LONG TERM HEAVY drinking can increase insulin resistance. So all in moderation I giuess - with the occasional mad party!
So, enjoy your wine! Providing it's alcoholic!"

Think it's largely what people here have said!

 

[Spiral]

OK, so no more milky porridge for breakfast, maybe no porridge at all, because it does make my BG spike (been in denial up 'til now, but need to get in control).

Red wine in moderation (thats good news!)

One last question ...If milk has carbs, what about cheese? Do I have to limit this as well?

Am going to try low carbing for a while so want as much info as I can!

Re porridge.

I make a porridge from a combination of at least 50% ground flax, then almonds and/or dessicated coconut in varying proportions. I make it up with boiling water, sweeten it with stevia and add a generous dash of cream and there you go.... I also flavour it with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla essence.

 

[noblehead]

Lactofree milk has around half the carbs as standard milk and tastes just as good!

 

[Paul1976]

Lactofree milk has around half the carbs as standard milk and tastes just as good!

+1 I switched the whole family too it and we can't tell the difference either! :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

Hey - I love it when we talk about porridge

Normal porridge is made from porridge oats and milk - so pretty much carbs and carbs
But I rather like porridge.. so...

If your bowl of porridge is 16.2g carbs per portion without the milk then eat half a bowl. - or...

Replace half of the porridge with Almond flour (just ground Almonds) - at this mix it still tastes like porridge and now you're at 8.1g per portion + milk.
Now you're quoting 8.6 for milk - fair enough. Use full fat milk and half-half it with water. That gives you 4.3g for the milk and yes, it still tastes like porridge.

So that takes you to a total of 12.4g carbs per portion. That's still too high for me, so I use 1/3 oats against 2/3 Almond flour. It does taste a little different but is still nice. If you still half/half with water you'd be down to 9.7g - still not VLC but not bad. Keen observers will note that I haven't included the carbs in the Almond Flour but they shouldn't be significant at the quantities I use.

Incidentally I use 10g Oats, 20gs Almond lour, 1/2cup water, 1/2cup whole milk - don't use skimmed as it contains a lot more carbs. I have tried flax seed but it changes the taste too much - it's not porridge just because it looks like porridge.

I bought some soya milk yesterday to see if this tastes ok - which would cut your total figure down to 8.1g.

Hope that helps

S

 

[Spiral]

if you decide to try soya milk, be aware that there are huge differences between brands in both price and taste and all sorts of stuff is aded to them, and that even some of the unsweetened soya milk is sweetened with maltitol :shock:

The lowest carb (and in my view the most neutral tasting) are the unsweetened ORGANIC soya milks. The best price is the Holland and Barrett own brand followed by the Waitrose own band. This is true for my part of Darkest Buckinghamshire, at least.

 

[Anonymous]

runs to fridge to check what I bought...

Alpro soya - organic - says carbs 0.1g per 100g

any good ?

 

[lindainsomerset]

The milk thing is weird..... so full fat milk has less carbs than skimmed? Didn't know that! Is there a book somewhere that lists carb values for food?

By the way 'swimmer2' love your porridge ideas, thanks.

 

[Paul1976]

The milk thing is weird..... so full fat milk has less carbs than skimmed? Didn't know that! Is there a book somewhere that lists carb values for food?
.

Indeed there is! :thumbup: The collins gem carb counter book(look on Amazon for a good deal) covers a vast amount of your everyday food items.