I’m a T2 trying to control my diabetes by diet alone. I don’t check my glucose levels, I’ve never been told to. I need to have my annual check up soon and I’d like to know if the beer I drink (maybe two to four cans at the weekend) affects my blood sugar levels. I drink Stella Artois Unfiltered. I once emailed Stella when first diagnosed and they said there was no sugar in their regular Stella, but I’ve recently changed to Unfiltered. I’m confused as to whether I’m doing wrong. My other preferred tipple is red wine. I’ll drink a bottle over at least three days and I have two to three days a week alcohol free. I’d appreciate advice please. Thanks
Yes, the beer you drink affects your blood sugar levels. Beer is generally very carby. You won't know unless you are testing your blood glucose, of course, and I'd strongly recommend that, if you're trying control by diet you do test, and test before and after food and drink. How would you know otherwise if you're actually controlling it or not? GPs will never tell T2s that they should test, as if they did they'd be obliged to prescribe you the meter and test strips, and the NHS does not want to pay for those. But testing is really the only way to know if you're actually "controlling your diabetes with diet".
I googled "carbs in Stella Artois unfiltered" and Google tells me via the Tesco site there are 10.3g per 330ml can. Thing is, it's not just sugars, but all carbs that turn to glucose when digested. The same Google source says 0.2g sugar per 330ml can, so Stella answered your question correctly, but you weren't asking the right question.
Most beers, as above, are fairly high in carb - usually in the region of 20g per pint, so around 10-12g for a 330ml can.
Higher alcohol beers
are sometimes slightly lower carb, but this isn't a hard and fast rule. Some people are now producing very low carb beers, around 1g per 330 ml can, at around 5-6% abv. These don't affect my BG even slightly. There's a thread on this forum on zero carb beer - here:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/zero-carb-beer.192130/
Red wine has a similar carb level to beer, but as we don't tend to drink wine by the pint (at least, I don't) there are fewer carbs per standard drink. There are no carbs in spirits, but many mixers are very carby.
This website has a lot more information about alcohol and carbs:
https://getdrunknotfat.com/
I tend to drink mainly spirits and (red) wine these days, as well as my rationed supply of zero carb beer. I will occasionally have a "real" beer, but usually in the context of an otherwise zero carb day. That's because I'm aiming for around 20g carb/day, and one pint takes up the daily quota. If you've a less strict carb regime, "real" beer might be more of an option.
The other thing to be aware of is that alcohol affects the ability of your liver to maintain and manage blood glucose levels, because it's busy metabolizing the alcohol. This can give an artificially low reading on a blood glucose test. However the carb and sugar has still gone in, and still needs to be processed and stored - it's not been magically vanished.
