Drinking and Diabetes

wine is fairly low carb, but packed with calories!

https://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=alcohol

Better to be confused about alcohol than be confused by alcohol I suppose.

I think the party line is it it better to nearly abstain, although a small glass of red can possibly be beneficial.

Well done with the weight loss, by the way!

Edit: @daisy1 for the welcome pack.

Diabetes control is the art of the possible. If you find a small glass of red wine is enjoyable and helps you abstain from other things then I would go for it -- it definitely works for me. I call it 'customized abstinence'.

Red wine and dry white have little sugar. Spirits have even less. Sweeter whites can be quite carby; things like port and sherry are obviously out. A 9% white wine probably has too much sugar. A 13% wine should generally be ok. Beer is generally quite high-carb. Alcohol can also lower blood sugar levels, and block your liver from causing spikes: it's not really a healthy way to deal with things, but I have sometimes had a gin when my readings have been high and it will drop them right back down.

For me, if I drink red wine, I will expect to see a significant drop in my levels. If I have a meal of something like pasta, or if I have birthday cake, I would expect BG levels of 8-9 two hours afterwards, but with wine, my 2 hr result will be in the 5-6 range.

Red wine is my friend! Test with your meter. I had chicken curry with rice one day and recorded a spike of 1.6 after one hour but the next day had the same meal with a glass of red wine and only spiked 0.1 after one hour. I also tested at 2 & 4 hr intervals with no further spikes, next morning fasting numbers were also normal.

I drink what I want when I want, but most often it is if I am out with friends, and maybe the occasional glass of white at the weekends. I carb-count it (usually with dinner) or as a PM snack in My Fitness Pal so I know how many it is, but I see no reason not to enjoy a beer or a wine in the company of friends.

I know that (as stated) that Sherry & Port have more carbs in them however I do makle various saces with both when cooking & find very little fluctuation in my BG lvels 7 over Xmas i drank a glass of either on a couple of occasions with again very little elevation in bG. A lot as stated in various discussions depends on the individual & the way their body is able t deal with what is thrown at it.