- Messages
- 366
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
I learned something new yesterday - and I'm curious to see what others think.
Since diagnosis in October I've had 4 glasses of wine, three of them fairly sweet. I had one yesterday that is one of the sweetest varieties (Moscato) and, from the taste, probably on the high end of residual sugar content even for the variety. A 5 oz glass can have up to 34 carbs, apparently.*** (Corrected in a later post - the conversion chart I was using was apparently wildly inaccurate - the correct cap is around 15 grams for a sweet wine)*** I couldn't find any information on the brand I was drinking. My glass was 6 oz.
BG before the first sip: 5.7
BG at 1 hour: 5.2
BG at 2 hours: 5.3
(This reaction is similar to the three previous times I've had a glass of wine, since diagnosis.)
20 carbs in a 3 hour period is about all I can tolerate, normally. On the 3 previous glasses, I figured they must just have been on the low end of the sweeter scale and probably fewer than 10 grams per glass - which would have been fine with what I was eating. I'm pretty sure from the taste that this one was above 20 grams all by itself - and still no elevated BG.
So I started researching. What seems to be happening is that the liver diverts its normal process of creating glucose from non-carbs (and dumping the resulting glucose into bloodstream) into processing the alcohol, instead. And absent the extra glucose the liver is putting out I seem to be able to handle more consumed carbs. (Please feel free to correct this understanding - I'm still trying to sort out what seemed to both me and my doctor to be an odd response to sweeter wines.)
But - assuming I'm correct - it occurred to me that this might mean that I might occasionally even be able to have a real piece of bread in a meal when I have wine.
As background, I don't consider grains (or any other specific form of carb) inherently evil. My body just doesn't tolerate them in large enough quantities to make it practical to include in my diet. I also don't drink much (the 4 glasses of wine in 4 months is fairly typical, not something new since diagnosis/starting to eat low carb). And I'm not likely to start making drinking an every day thing, just to increase my carb cap.
So - with that background:
Am I understanding what is going on correctly? (The liver temporarily stops adding a background level of glucose, effectively raising my carb tolerance cap by the amount the liver is temporarily not putting out)
Am I crazy to think that, on the rare occasion when I go out for a meal that includes wine, I might also be able to enjoy a whole grain roll with an otherwise low-carb meal?
Since diagnosis in October I've had 4 glasses of wine, three of them fairly sweet. I had one yesterday that is one of the sweetest varieties (Moscato) and, from the taste, probably on the high end of residual sugar content even for the variety. A 5 oz glass can have up to 34 carbs, apparently.*** (Corrected in a later post - the conversion chart I was using was apparently wildly inaccurate - the correct cap is around 15 grams for a sweet wine)*** I couldn't find any information on the brand I was drinking. My glass was 6 oz.
BG before the first sip: 5.7
BG at 1 hour: 5.2
BG at 2 hours: 5.3
(This reaction is similar to the three previous times I've had a glass of wine, since diagnosis.)
20 carbs in a 3 hour period is about all I can tolerate, normally. On the 3 previous glasses, I figured they must just have been on the low end of the sweeter scale and probably fewer than 10 grams per glass - which would have been fine with what I was eating. I'm pretty sure from the taste that this one was above 20 grams all by itself - and still no elevated BG.
So I started researching. What seems to be happening is that the liver diverts its normal process of creating glucose from non-carbs (and dumping the resulting glucose into bloodstream) into processing the alcohol, instead. And absent the extra glucose the liver is putting out I seem to be able to handle more consumed carbs. (Please feel free to correct this understanding - I'm still trying to sort out what seemed to both me and my doctor to be an odd response to sweeter wines.)
But - assuming I'm correct - it occurred to me that this might mean that I might occasionally even be able to have a real piece of bread in a meal when I have wine.
As background, I don't consider grains (or any other specific form of carb) inherently evil. My body just doesn't tolerate them in large enough quantities to make it practical to include in my diet. I also don't drink much (the 4 glasses of wine in 4 months is fairly typical, not something new since diagnosis/starting to eat low carb). And I'm not likely to start making drinking an every day thing, just to increase my carb cap.
So - with that background:
Am I understanding what is going on correctly? (The liver temporarily stops adding a background level of glucose, effectively raising my carb tolerance cap by the amount the liver is temporarily not putting out)
Am I crazy to think that, on the rare occasion when I go out for a meal that includes wine, I might also be able to enjoy a whole grain roll with an otherwise low-carb meal?
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