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Alcohol and Insulin type 1, whisky

MoonSpirit

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Ok so alcohol is not good for us, I accept that, but I must admit I like a drink, especially beer.
Yes beer in particular pushes up the blood sugar.
Some nights I have a couple of beers
Some nights I have no alcohol at all
However I'm noticing that avoiding beer in favour of a stiff Whiskey before bed seems to have a significant stabilising affect on overnight levels.
I use a Dexcom continuous meter and tend to get spiky up and down spikes throughout the night, even on nights where I have drunk nothing.
I couldn't believe it, but over the last year it's happened too often to be more than just coincidence, a Stiff Whisky before bed tends to flatten out the spikes to a flatter lower consistent level?

Note
Yes the post is probably irresponsible as not scientific proven
No I don't particually like whisky, unless mixed with lemonade and I still prefer a beer.
 
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Spirits lower blood glucose level as does dry wine, as the sweeter it is the more sugar it might have.
In my experience, vodka and diet coke just lowers my blood glucose, with ordinary coke it balances both the sugar and alcohol, same with bucks fizz, medium sweet wine or rum and coke. I've never had beer so I don't know what its like, but assuming its made from a sort of wheat product (hop), it has a starchy background but the longer it ferments the less the sugar (starch) but more the alcoholic flavour / intensity or maybe the sugar is what ferments into alcohol. You're better off asking a brewer for that kind of information.

Ps: I am a bit partial to whiskey myself, a bit of the old jack daniels and coke.
 
I drink red wine, it slightly lowers my BG. Vodka & diet coke lowers it, beer raises t initially but after a few on a longer sess it evens out. Everyone is different though, and I don't run my BG low generally.
 
I remember having a drunken conversation with a friend 30 years ago. I was surmising that I could stop taking insulin and control bgls with whiskey. I then realised it would be to expensive...
 
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zjed said:
I remember having a drunken conversation with a friend 30 years ago. I was surmising that I could stop taking insulin and control bgls with whiskey. I then realised it would be to expensive...
Click to expand...
That would also destroy your liver, or it would give you alcohol-related liver disease or possibly cancer, it is true that the liver secretes chemicals similar to that of insulin but if you just relied on that, it would destroy the liver and you would not be able to drink alcohol for the rest of your life, and would be in the exact same boat as you are in now with your pancreas.
 
zjed said:
I remember having a drunken conversation with a friend 30 years ago. I was surmising that I could stop taking insulin and control bgls with whiskey. I then realised it would be to expensive...
Click to expand...
I think in the 'olden days' before insulin, diabetics were given a diet of pork belly fat and gin. Always a positive I suppose!
 
I just came back from a wedding, two days on the lash. Lowered my Levemir and had much less Novorapid with my food, managed my BG OK, just anticipated my late night BG would fall a lot upon wake up time.
I don't advocate going on the lash, I'm a T1 Diabetic, but I'm also not willing to give up who I am, and I've found a way to make it work for me, and that I can have an occasional blowout.

*Not advocating alcohol for diabetics.
 
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