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Choice of Alcohol

SamJB

SamJB

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,857
Location
Chester
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
After some "research", I've found that two glasses of dry white wine won't push my sugars up and wont make them drop after. This is what I drink with my girlfriend.

However, being a rugby player I can't exactly order a large Pinot when I'm out with the rugby lads! Consequently, I drink beer which is **** for my sugar levels. So can any of you recommend any drinks that I can drink with my girlfriend or with the lads that wont make my sugar levels too high?

Just so you dont think I'm a raging alcoholic, I'm not - two glasses of wine in the week, beer once a month!
 
Re: Choise of Alcohol

Hi! I can't advise you because I don't use insulin so don't know the impact of that with alcohol. However, I find that beer has a similar effect on my BGs as wine; both of them lower it. When you say beer is **** for your sugar levels, I assume you have tested to check and confirmed that? If it is, rather than pints, it tends to be acceptable amongst the lads to drink bottled beer. In which case, a bottle of Coors light (normal alcohol strength at 4.5%) is only about 5 grams carbs compared to a pint of bitter about 20, pint of lager 16. Here's a link to confirm
http://voices.yahoo.com/comparison-ligh ... 68168.html
 
Perfect, cheers Grazer! Miller Light it is then, just need to find somewhere that sells it.
 
Thats coors light, can't get much miller lite over here. Can get bottles of coors light, AND draught in some pubs
 
Generally... in type I's... alcoholic drinks will raise blood glucose in the short-term but reduce it in the medium - long term.. this can vary depending on the sugar content of the drink that you have.. I haven't touched alcohol in years so I can't really help with the specifics.
 
In my experience, the wine I have with my dinners which is about once a week actually lowers my blood glucose after a few minutes and this eliminates the need to take insulin with dinner, or rather it uses the long acting insulin (Lantus) to lower it, where the wine is relatively dry and it's hard to tell when drinking and eating.

A new discovery that I made about a week ago is that I had a medium sized can of vodka and coke, there was only 4% each can of alcohol however it lowered my blood sugar slightly, where the coke should have raised it, maybe it's just my body in reaction to the alcohol I consume.
 
I rarely go our for a drink but will drink bottled/canned lagers and red wine at home. I find the wine, normally drunk with or after a meal has no great impact on my sugar levels. The beer, never more than 2/3, will reduce my sugar levels but not until a good few hours after drinking. So, I always always have a couple of slices of toast before going to bed.

My Wife works at the local surgery and at a BBQ there I had four bottles of beer over the whole evening. One of the doctors was offering me some wine and I declined on the account of being diabetic. He asked what I'd had and he agreed that I shouldn't have any more and that I should eat before bed. He then got totally rat *****. Not fair really.

Hope this helps. Personally, I think you should stick to the Pinot and add an element of culture to rugby players :)
 
When I was first told I was type1 in 2008 I have never touched a drink since, Im blind in one eye and when I was a young man I saw a guy come in for tests when I was in hospital (had an accident so was in the eye ward for about 8 weeks), I got talking to him and he was 19, he said that they told him he must stop drinking now or he would go blind, he said he was going to have one last night out with the lads and then stop. On sat morn 11.oclock I was going down to the bathroom for a wash and in the corridor was this guy sitting weeping on a chair, I said whats wrong he said I woke up this morning and could not see a thing, and he was begging the nurse going about to help him and they said there was nothing they could do now and he has to contact anther department on Monday that deals with blind people,, They had warned him that this would happen but he though just one more.
And that frightened me and 30 year later I got type 1 and that was the first thing I stopped.
In moderation drink should be ok but only having one eye I dont want to take the chance as I prefer my sight to a drink.
 
Hi Sam,

As others have said, alcohol may raise the blood sugar short term but it will lower it longer term. If you do have a drink, probably best to have some carbs before bed to make sure that you don't go hypo overnight. If you measure your glucose levels in the morning then you should be able to work out what effect the alcohol had.
Overall though, it's probably best to do everything in moderation. Enjoy a drink but don't get legless.
 
If you've found something that agrees with you, stick to it. Explain to your mates that you're man enough to drink whatever and you don't need a pint to prove it... 8)
 
Can somebody explain how come when you drink the bs goes down?!! I can t understand how this happens. And when u are healthy how come is not happening?
Thanks!
 
Bishop said:
Can somebody explain how come when you drink the bs goes down?!! I can t understand how this happens. And when u are healthy how come is not happening?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

The liver has a "priority" system, and won't process carbs into glucose while it's busy dealing with a toxin. It sees alcohol as a toxin so ignores ( or slows down) its processing of carbohydrates.
 
Grazer said:
Bishop said:
Can somebody explain how come when you drink the bs goes down?!! I can t understand how this happens. And when u are healthy how come is not happening?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

The liver has a "priority" system, and won't process carbs into glucose while it's busy dealing with a toxin. It sees alcohol as a toxin so ignores ( or slows down) its processing of carbohydrates.
Click to expand...


I've read about this 'priority' system before and it's confused me a bit. Can you explain a bit more: as I understand it, you should as a T1 typically have something to eat before having a drink, but wouldn't you inject with rapid acting insulin for that meal? But then if yo've injected insulin and then had a drink with your meal surely you'd just have a hypo... followed by a carb spike and hour or 2 later once the alcohol has warn off?!?

I'm recently T1. I really want a drink with my friends, but am a bit scared due to my lack of experience (before diabetes I was quite a drinker - and I miss the social side now) There's a big music event next weekend and all my friends will be drinking and I don't want to be the odd one out. Is it safe to get drunk as a T1 - I'm not talking legless, just enough to relax.
 
I don't really understand either but I know for sure the BS will go down if you drink.
For example if you drink one beer or one glass of vine there is no issue at all. But if you drink 2 or more your BS will begin to go down. If you stop here there shouldn't be any problem, you eat something and you are fine. The danger is probably when you drink more like 4-5 galseces of vine 4-5 beers and after you go home to sleep. Even if you eat before it still could be dangerous. I've never had more then 3 beers since I am T1 and this very rare. I try to avoid it, it's not worth it.
 
I only drink small amounts of lager nowadays, however I have found that vodka and diet coke is the ideal drink and doesn't affect my BG. But then again do your Rugby buddies think Vodka and diet coke is a girly drink?
 
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