• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

I'd like to drink a beer...

JustLucky

Well-Known Member
Messages
61
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, I'm newly diagnosed LADA/T1 3 months ago... I was not much of a drinker before diagnosis, but still was drinking 5-10 beers a month depending on the season

I said goodbye to beer when I first realized I had diabetes, but later I stumbled on a blog article in which a fellow T1 says he drinks a beer once in a while. He's an experienced T1 and better equipped than I am (pump and all).

I'm tempted to try it, I use only Humalog (lispro) and currently don't have access to FIASP or whatever faster insulins are available... But I do have Libre, which is great by the way.
My plan would be to have dinner and then go out and have a nice craft beer, a small one... So, do you have any advice in insulin timing?

My glucose is in range lately, spiking up to 9 after some meals, usually lower

Thanks
 
Wow, there will be many views on this. I imagine you will find that the conclusion is to try it. Alcohol effects different folk differently. I tend to find it slows the whole metabolism. If I have a drink with food I can easily go low after whereas without a drink the BG curve would be much steeper.

If I were you I'd give it a try, if you enjoy it learn to manage it.

Remember it's about 'living' not just 'life'.

Just my 2p worth.
 
Large quantities of alcohol can be problematic for diabetics, because the liver processes the alcohol before it does anything else, and therefore its ability to react to glucagon (produced by your pancreas when your blood sugar goes low) and produce glycogen when you have a midnight hypo can be reduced.

But I very much doubt that one beer is going to have much of an effect on your liver, so your biggest difficulty is going to be working out how many carbs are in it. But I am sure your libre will tell you if your guess is wildly off.

Just make sure you have emergency carbohydrate with you when you drink (I am sure you do anyway) and enjoy.
 
My opinion is that yes, of course you can! In one respect it is like any other carb (how many in a glass, anything around 10/15 on average)???, you can check) but as others have said test, test, test because of how alcohol specifically can affect things. If you are LADA or still producing some insulin you may find it more tolerable too as your body still tries to help you out with all its other responses. I like Lager which I sometimes have 2 halves of if I am at a social function, (I know, I'm living life to the full!!), I don't take insulin for it as it is generally less than 15 carbs. I tend to have a carby snack at the same time too, maybe a bag of crisps, I am a VERY cheap date. x
 
Hi JustLucky, and welcome to the forum.

You might want to try a low-carb beer. I've tried a few and the only one I can recommend is Marston's Resolution - it is not the best beer you will have ever had but it does taste like a real beer (most of the other claimed low-carb beers are thin at best and decidedly watery). 3.5g carbs per 275ml bottle.

I'm T2 and on ~20g carbs/day. You will probably have different priorities to me but I have found a couple of Resolution doesn't seem to affect my BG in any significant way. I also sometimes build in headroom for a normal carb beer every month, providing carbs from other sources have been limited.

@JustLucky
 
Thanks everyone for your time... I'll drink a beer at home one of these days, maybe combine with a bit less carb meal, so we'll see what happens... I'll let you know the results.
I wasn't aware there was a low carb beer, I'm not sure it'll be easy to find it here, but I'll look into it...

It seems that these are great times to be diabetic, with all the modern insulin, CGMs and now also with the low carb beer...
 
JustLucky said:
It seems that these are great times to be diabetic, with all the modern insulin, CGMs and now also with the low carb beer
Click to expand...
And it should get even better with over 60% of Americans either already diabetic or prediabetic and the rest of the world rapidly following suit. We are in the majority...soon!
 
I combine a half of real ale with the latter part of a long walk. It is a treat that then gets walked off immediately. I can't have a pint because I feel the effects too rapidly and walking becomes tricky. Socially I would rather stick to gin!
 
I remember 46 yrs ago when Holsten Pils used to have a sticker on the bottle saying recommended by the British diabetic association , They then had to remove it because it sounded like they were promoting alcohol , They also told me that you should not count the carbs in lager / bear as it lowers your blood sugar anyway , I will say that is rubbish and a can of lager including the Holsten Pils which is still sold in supermarkets contains I think about 12 carbs in my experience anyway still needs to be counted .
 
That takes me back, Hoslten pills, I used to think they must be alright as they said it was alright for diabetics but after six it used to affect my speech and I found I couldn't walk in a strait line
 
Peter03 said:
That takes me back, Hoslten pills, I used to think they must be alright as they said it was alright for diabetics but after six it used to affect my speech and I found I couldn't walk in a strait line
Click to expand...
There must have been something wrong with the crisps!
 
I wondering how to cope with the village beer festival this year. 200+ on offer and only 48 hours.
 
Losing my beloved Guinness was a big fear for me post diagnosis.
At 18g carbs per can it's probably the worst option out there for beers.
Even after remission I still avoided it, preferring a low carb red wine instead.

Then, about 6 months post remission I braved it.
Drank 3 cans within in the hour then took out the meter.
6.2mmol/L . . . . I was delighted.
It remains a real treat to this day, normal tipple is still red wine.
 
I had one small beer and it was soooo good. It actually tastes a bit different after 3-4 months abstinence. Very nice, brought me back to teens for a moment... and also tonight I feel somehow relaxed...
I went to the bar with my bicycle and when I came home sugar was 5. It spiked at 7.5 right after the beer, so no problems...
This is a huge improvement in quality of life
 
Hi, agree with the other posts here. No need to cut it out completely and glad you enjoyed it today!

As a type 1 my management of alcohol will be different from yours. When I was first diagnosed I experimented and over the years have found that one drink makes no difference from the alcohol content. Google often helps tell me the sugar content, so eg. one cider will raise my glucose levels but one glass of wine won't. If I'm only having one cider then I'll inject for the carbs using my usual ratios for bolus.

As Ellie said above, alcohol content consumed becomes a concern for me when I've had a fair amount to drink. Again, I experimented and slowly increased what I was having as I got to know how my body reacted. If I've had a lot to drink I need to know I have carbs to counter the delayed low which hits once the alcohol has been metabolised. This is either a sugary mixer or chips/pizza etc. I will inject half my usual ratio for the carbs in this case.

As I've said this is how I handle alcohol as a type 1, I know it will be different for different types. I guess slowly experimenting and testing to see the effects on your blood glucose would be the way forward? Definitely no reason to give it up completely!
 
I take it you're not in the UK? When I was doing my research 16 months ago I think I recall a number of low-carb beers being produced elsewhere - there were a couple in the USA and one in Malta, but I don't recall exactly what. Worth having a look.
 
KennyA said:
I take it you're not in the UK? When I was doing my research 16 months ago I think I recall a number of low-carb beers being produced elsewhere - there were a couple in the USA and one in Malta, but I don't recall exactly what. Worth having a look.
Click to expand...

I'm in Croatia, I didn't find any yet. But I'll ask the owner of my favourite beer place (if they ever open again), maybe he can get some, as they sell lots of imported beer... We'll see, for now I'll settle with regular
 
KennyA said:
I take it you're not in the UK? When I was doing my research 16 months ago I think I recall a number of low-carb beers being produced elsewhere - there were a couple in the USA and one in Malta, but I don't recall exactly what. Worth having a look.
Click to expand...
The only two I can remember were the Holsten Pils which I still buy occasionally and another one called Marston low C which I haven't seen for years !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…