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Reccomendations for occasional Beer

edwar368

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,

I am type 2 and am looking for recommendations for the "best" from a diabetes perspective beer. I do not drink regularly, but as the summer approaches I do like to have a beer occasionally and especially if we have a family BBQ - I seldom drink more than 3 or 4. I have done some reading but its all been very generic "Beer contains carbs, high calorie, don't do it" sort of thing. But was thinking there must be SOME exceptions. From a brief search around for example, I have found
  • Michlob Ultra lager - at 2g of Carb per 330ml bottle and 73kcal
This seems pretty reasonable to me if I was to say have a max of 4 cans - Am going to give this a try, but wondered if anyone else has any recommendations for any other low carb/cal beers?
 
Hi,

Sainsbury’s do a brand called ‘Skinny’ which is 3g per bottle.

Be careful of the Brewdog gluten free beer - The label says 1g per 100ml (about 3 per bottle) but apparently this is incorrect and there is actually 15g per bottle.
 
`Coors Light. About 4 grms of carbs per bottle. There are 440 ml cans as well.
 

Yes, it’s certainly not a strong tasting beer. But not as awful as I thought it might be.
If your desperate for a cold one, it just about does the trick.
 
bobrobert said:
`Coors Light. About 4 grms of carbs per bottle. There are 440 ml cans as well.
Click to expand...
hmm, the Tesco Website lisst the breakdown for Coors and its quoting 8.9g for a 330ml bottle, so in my head I can have 4 times more of the Michlob ... brought it today, not yet tasted it yet though, will be doing that tomorrow so will report my opinion
 
It is very difficult to find out the carb content of beers. Holsten Pils is a good example, famously brewed to turn all the sugar to alcohol, it has 2.6g of carbs per 100ml. What those carbs are I don't know.
A pint of Guinness is listed in the usually reliable Carb and Cal's book as 9g of carbs - if only that were true.
 
I know I'm commenting as a T1 on a T2 thread, but bear with me...

T1s are acutely aware that beer has carbs (typically 15 to 20g per pint), and that will raise if not bolused for, but we're also aware that above a certain amount of alcohol, usually a couple of pints, the liver, which normally feeds out glucose to fuel day to day bodily processes, prioritises metabolising the alcohol, and reduces by a half or so the glucose it normally releases.

I'm curious how this would work in a T2 context. You've got carbs coming in from the beer, but then, because of the effect of alcohol on the liver, you've got a reduction of glucose coming in from the liver, so the net effect might not be as bad as it seems?

I can recall a few posts by T2s about the beneficial effects for bg of a cheeky wee glass or two red wine of an evening. Red wine is more or less zero carbs, so there's no raise there, but it's likely reducing release of glucose from the liver.

Might a few beers just be a version of that?
 
I quite like the skinny beer from sainsbury's. Tesco also stock them. The other one I have is Marston's Resolution which you can order on line from their website. I think they are about 2grams per bottle (275ml). Maybe try it and see what you think. They are 4.6% alcohol.
 
My tipple of choice was once really hoppy IPAs and similar craft beers. Alas those days are behind me and I’ve been teetotal for around eighteen months. Pretty sure there aren’t many decent low carb IPA kicking about on supermarket shelves
 
Never mind Jim, you're not missing out, maybe one day in the future you'll be able to have just the one for old times sake x
 
According to the nutra check food app a pint of Amstel has 10.2g of carbs. Don’t know if it’s true, but it’s become my beer of choice & 3 or 4 pints makes no difference to by blood sugar. Having said that neither does Guinness, with 15g per pint. But in general if I’m gonna drink I aim for red wine. Keeps everything looking great for the next 24 hours or so & aids sleep (which has a further positive impact on BG). If only there were no other risks from drinking a bottle a night!!
 

Handy to know. At 4.6 they are strong enough to allow you forget the taste after a dozen or so!
 
Adnams do a low carb beer called Ghostship which is quite reasonable, and Brewdog do a low carb beer, very hoppy.
 
Bittern said:
Adnams do a low carb beer called Ghostship which is quite reasonable, and Brewdog do a low carb beer, very hoppy.
Click to expand...
im not sure if the ghostship is low carb but it is 0.5% alcohol available in bottles and certain places on draught .. i think its better than the original,,,
 
Bittern said:
Adnams do a low carb beer called Ghostship which is quite reasonable, and Brewdog do a low carb beer, very hoppy.
Click to expand...

Brewdog don’t do a low carb beer. If you’re talking about Vagabond gluten free? The label is wrong. 15g per bottle.
 
Thanks all. I brought the Michlob Ultra lager and am drinking it right now. I find it very pleasant. Its 3.5% alchol so nice. I am not a fan of strong lagers anyway. As Mr_Pot mentioned, it can be difficult to find out the carb content of some beers. I am pleased that some are changing though and the Micholob publishes the full details on the side of the box (though not the individual bottles)
0.6g per 100ml Carbs
0 Sugar
0 fat

So thats 2g per 330 ml bottle or 3.4g per pint - so very happy with that for the taste and the alchol content
 
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