Weekend alcohol increases BG by ~0.5mmol/l for the whole week

[IamResistance]

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to share a very important discovery of mine - alcohol is a poisonous substance. While it lowers blood glucose immediately after being consumed, it also increases average blood glucose by appox 0.5 mmol/l for 4-5 days.
I got used to drinking around 0.7l of strong spirits (whiskey, rum or vodka) during weekends. My CGM shown avg blood glucose around 5.6 (morning fasting level ~6.6; lowest night level ~5.0). I noticed that the avg BG reaches its peaks on Mon-Tue and gets lower by Friday. After not drinking on a weekend my avg BG went down to around 5.1 (morning fasting ~5.6, lowest nightly ~4.6). I hope to make insulin/HbA1c and triglycerides/HDL analyses after a month of sobriety to get more motivation.

P.S.
I am doing low carb OMAD with intermittent fasting, with 2000 of metformin.

 

[Guilty]

This is true for me as well. Excessive drinking leaves my bloods higher than normal for days afterward.

I'd tell you if moderate drinking had the same effect. But I can't do moderate drinking

 

[KennyA]

Interesting. Technically, alcohol doesn't lower blood glucose: as metformin does, it interferes with the liver topping up BG, and the BG falls naturally in consequence. I wonder if what you're seeing is a rebound, with the liver trying to make up for lost time?

I don't get this effect myself - I get the very clear alcohol lows but have not seen any follow-on (comparative) high. Given the inherent allowable error in BG testing with both fingerpricks and CGMs a difference of 0.5mmol/l would be very hard to spot.

 

[Paul_]

Interesting. Technically, alcohol doesn't lower blood glucose: as metformin does, it interferes with the liver topping up BG, and the BG falls naturally in consequence. I wonder if what you're seeing is a rebound, with the liver trying to make up for lost time?

I don't get this effect myself - I get the very clear alcohol lows but have not seen any follow-on (comparative) high. Given the inherent allowable error in BG testing with both fingerpricks and CGMs a difference of 0.5mmol/l would be very hard to spot.

Since diagnosis in July, I've only had one heavy night on the town (been abstaining for weight loss benefits). I should probably caveat that at 43 with two young kids, my definition of "heavy drinking" is much different than in my 20's, plus from this one night it appears low carb had turned me into a total lightweight!

Anyway, I generally fingerprick test at a high 4s or low 5s range before meals. It's very consistently in this range and has been for quite some time now. This was the same the day after drinking, however from the next day I tested in the low 6s before meals for 3-4 days. No change in diet or carb intake. Could it be that while your liver is processing alcohol, it isn't dumping glucose, so its glucose stores build up and these are then released over the following days? Is that what you meant by a "rebound"? Don't know if that's a thing, but it's the only theory I could come up with.

 

[KennyA]

Since diagnosis in July, I've only had one heavy night on the town (been abstaining for weight loss benefits). I should probably caveat that at 43 with two young kids, my definition of "heavy drinking" is much different than in my 20's, plus from this one night it appears low carb had turned me into a total lightweight!

Anyway, I generally fingerprick test at a high 4s or low 5s range before meals. It's very consistently in this range and has been for quite some time now. This was the same the day after drinking, however from the next day I tested in the low 6s before meals for 3-4 days. No change in diet or carb intake. Could it be that while your liver is processing alcohol, it isn't dumping glucose, so its glucose stores build up and these are then released over the following days? Is that what you meant by a "rebound"? Don't know if that's a thing, but it's the only theory I could come up with.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant by "rebound". You could imagine the liver not being able to calibrate exactly where it needs to be and reacting by dumping a lot of glucose - because it doesn't think a lot of glucose is a bad thing. It doesn't seem to work that way for me - I'll get lower readings than warranted at the +2hr mark but this will knock into a lower than usual reading the following morning until eventually it sort of rises a bit and stabilises around my usual upper fours/low fives. (I don't know if quantity of alcohol is an issue. I'm usually a "little and often" drinker.) For me the pattern above would be typical following increased consumption up to (eg) half a bottle of red and a large whisky/grappa/rum. Or two.

Caveat: I haven't tested around this for at least 18 months so while that was my experience then things might possibly have changed by now. I've also since discovered that an alcohol inspired hypo is not something I ever want to repeat. I just can't risk drinking much if I'm already running with comparatively low BGs.

 

[Paul_]

I was the same prior to T2 diagnosis, little and somewhat often. On this particular unplanned night, in the words of Micky Flanagan, I was "out", then I was "out out". Stuck to low carb drinks all evening, with a few pints of water in between too. I was 4.1 when I got home and tested. Next day I had a horrendous hangover, worse than I've had in years, and I tested at 4.3 on waking (normally around 6 to 6.5 at best here, so alcohol was still having an effect I'd guess). This evened out back to "normal" ranges through the hangover day, then I saw the slightly raised levels for the next few days after that. Fair to say that I don't have a desire to repeat the experience soon or often, low carb and binge drinking isn't something I'd recommend. I think it's an occasional glass of red with a meal for me from now on.

 

[IamResistance]

5 weeks of this sobriety experiment are off.
I am using a finger prick for now, don't have access to CGM.
My observations are as follows:
1. 2nd week - fasting BG lowered to ~5.6, before sleep levels ~4.6. I am doing OMAD, eating a good (raw fried/boiled meat, eggs, boiled veggies, fresh veggies, salads etc; no bread/cereals, no sugar) dinner at around 7 PM, and go to bed around 10 pm.
2. 3rd week - the levels vent up to ~ 7/5.5
3. 4th week on - the levels are ~6 / 4.8

I am going on with it to measure insulin, hba1c, triglycerides, HDL after as long as I can sustain it.

P.S.
I am now experiencing quite severe night sweats. It looks like it depends on the amount of water I drink in evenings.

 

[KennyA]

5 weeks of this sobriety experiment are off.
I am using a finger prick for now, don't have access to CGM.
My observations are as follows:
1. 2nd week - fasting BG lowered to ~5.6, before sleep levels ~4.6. I am doing OMAD, eating a good (raw fried/boiled meat, eggs, boiled veggies, fresh veggies, salads etc; no bread/cereals, no sugar) dinner at around 7 PM, and go to bed around 10 pm.
2. 3rd week - the levels vent up to ~ 7/5.5
3. 4th week on - the levels are ~6 / 4.8

I am going on with it to measure insulin, hba1c, triglycerides, HDL after as long as I can sustain it.

P.S.
I am now experiencing quite severe night sweats. It looks like it depends on the amount of water I drink in evenings.

Night sweats are a pain. I don't know what causes mine, but I think it's my liver acting up. I can't match them to anything I can directly control.

For me they go along with a sharp BG drop into low 3 territory somewhere between 4am and 6 am, usually - only discovered this from CGM data. I get the nightmares etc as well, and I assume this is because the drop triggers adrenalin rather than the other way round. At this point my liver dumps glucose and my BG will start to rise which runs into regular dawn phenomenon.

 

[IamResistance]

Night sweats are a pain. I don't know what causes mine, but I think it's my liver acting up. I can't match them to anything I can directly control.

For me they go along with a sharp BG drop into low 3 territory somewhere between 4am and 6 am, usually - only discovered this from CGM data. I get the nightmares etc as well, and I assume this is because the drop triggers adrenalin rather than the other way round. At this point my liver dumps glucose and my BG will start to rise which runs into regular dawn phenomenon.

Yep, I studied the forum when got this sweatings and found your helpful posts on this.
I was noticing some time ago that there was no sweats when I eat carbs tonight. I think that the low BG indeed is the reason.
I also noticed that if I drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day instead of my usual 1-2, the sweats get more severe. I linked it to the fact that when drinking coffee during the day, I dehydrate myself, and compensate for it during/after my dinner. But this also may be caused by not the dehydration but by increased cortisol/adrenaline excretion during the day with high coffee consumption.

 

[rexonaut]

Interesting. Technically, alcohol doesn't lower blood glucose: as metformin does, it interferes with the liver topping up BG, and the BG falls naturally in consequence. I wonder if what you're seeing is a rebound, with the liver trying to make up for lost time?

I don't get this effect myself - I get the very clear alcohol lows but have not seen any follow-on (comparative) high. Given the inherent allowable error in BG testing with both fingerpricks and CGMs a difference of 0.5mmol/l would be very hard to spot.

It seems to be individual. I can drink few special beers. White wine is ok, red is increasing. Gin tonic is devil. Cognac moderately is ok.

 

[KennyA]

It seems to be individual. I can drink few special beers. White wine is ok, red is increasing. Gin tonic is devil. Cognac moderately is ok.

All spirits are zero carb, and if you're getting a BG rise it's not directly from the spirits. I think you might be seeing the impact of the tonic, which usually has a fair bit of sugar.

 

[IamResistance]

Hey There,
Marry Christmas and Healthy New Year!
My almost 2 months long experiment has ended. The blood work results are like this:
07.2023 -> 12.2023
HbA1c: 5.2 -> 5.4%
Fasting morning blood sugar: 6.34 -> 6.34 mmol/l
Insulin: 16.7 -> 17.7 uE/ml
HOMA-IR: 4.71 -> 4.99
Triglycerides: 6.76 -> 2.15 mmol/l
HDL-C: 0.8 -> 1.02 mmol/l
Another thing to mention is I gained 2 kilos despite my OMAD diet and the calorie restriction. My clothing feels the same, and the belt buckle is still at the same hole, and it looks like I have slightly less of subcutaneous fat, which maybe suggests that my internal organs slightly recovered after my 22 kilo loss this year.
The results are inducing that now I have slightly more insulin resistance comparing to the blood readings in July. I've been feeling magnificent during these two months so I think I will continue to search for a way to not drink alcohol and to somehow treat my insulin resistance. Now I am going to have breakfasts (switching from OMAD to TwoMAD ) as I noticed that if I have a fatty keto-like breakfast, it lowers my blood sugar for the whole day.

 

[Paul41]

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to share a very important discovery of mine - alcohol is a poisonous substance. While it lowers blood glucose immediately after being consumed, it also increases average blood glucose by appox 0.5 mmol/l for 4-5 days.
I got used to drinking around 0.7l of strong spirits (whiskey, rum or vodka) during weekends. My CGM shown avg blood glucose around 5.6 (morning fasting level ~6.6; lowest night level ~5.0). I noticed that the avg BG reaches its peaks on Mon-Tue and gets lower by Friday. After not drinking on a weekend my avg BG went down to around 5.1 (morning fasting ~5.6, lowest nightly ~4.6). I hope to make insulin/HbA1c and triglycerides/HDL analyses after a month of sobriety to get more motivation.

P.S.
I am doing low carb OMAD with intermittent fasting, with 2000 of metformin.

This is interesting thank you.
I was a big beer drinker but I’ve not had one since July.
However I’ve switched to wine ( I don’t consume as much alcohol as I did but I drink often)
I guess I’ll stop drinking, it might be the reason ( as you’ve mentioned) as to why I’m finding my base level of BG is perhaps 0.5 higher than I would like/ expect.
Taa

 

[Francel]

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to share a very important discovery of mine - alcohol is a poisonous substance. While it lowers blood glucose immediately after being consumed, it also increases average blood glucose by appox 0.5 mmol/l for 4-5 days.
I got used to drinking around 0.7l of strong spirits (whiskey, rum or vodka) during weekends. My CGM shown avg blood glucose around 5.6 (morning fasting level ~6.6; lowest night level ~5.0). I noticed that the avg BG reaches its peaks on Mon-Tue and gets lower by Friday. After not drinking on a weekend my avg BG went down to around 5.1 (morning fasting ~5.6, lowest nightly ~4.6). I hope to make insulin/HbA1c and triglycerides/HDL analyses after a month of sobriety to get more motivation.

P.S.
I am doing low carb OMAD with intermittent fasting, with 2000 of metformin.

I’m Type 1 on insulin and I have the complete opposite problem with alcohol. On the night my BG raises to ridiculous levels, despite drinking vodka with low carb tonic, and then the following few days are spent in hypo Alcohol is the devil incarnate

 

[Simon Grey]

An interesting thread - my main comment as a Type 1 is that if I had consistent BG readings in the 'high 4s to mid 5s' I wouldn't consider myself diabetic! My levels range from 3s to high teens despite using multiple injections, regular exercise and a healthy diet. Notwithstanding, my HbA1c is still around 6, and generally these BG swings are not life-limiting so I don't worry too much. Just saying so others can stop fretting about a movement of 0.5! I would love to be able to notice that small a movement!
On the subject of alcohol, as mentioned above, alcohol depresses liver function which then means it doesn't do its job of topping up BG when needed, so if you are on insulin, you are more prone to hypos. Hope this helps!

 

[Job76]

When I drink my readings go high quickly but then sometimes have a crash morning after but after 1 may be 2 correction dose it back down to normal,,but definitely makes a difference,,makes me feel very tired for few days

 

[IamResistance]

Thanks for your replies.
I think that "Prediabetes" is an everyday term for metabolic syndrome. As defined by Johns Hopkins:
Metabolic syndrome is a condition that includes a cluster of risk factors specific for cardiovascular disease. The cluster of metabolic factors include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, impaired fasting glucose, high triglyceride levels, and low HDL cholesterol levels.
In other words, prediabetes is mainly hyperinsulinemia and dyslipidemia combined.
Indeed my HbA1c levels allow me to relax a little as those suggest that I don't have T2. But my fasting insulin levels and my dyslipidemia tell me that I have metabolic syndrome and it should be taken care of.
Even though my experiment with alcohol fasting didn't show that my hyperinsulinemia improved, it showed that my dyslipidemia improved drastically, which definitely lowers my risks and simply dictates to not use alcohol anymore.
I think I continue experimenting with how I eat and what I eat or drink.

 

[Paul41]

This is interesting thank you.
I was a big beer drinker but I’ve not had one since July.
However I’ve switched to wine ( I don’t consume as much alcohol as I did but I drink often)
I guess I’ll stop drinking, it might be the reason ( as you’ve mentioned) as to why I’m finding my base level of BG is perhaps 0.5 higher than I would like/ expect.
Taa

I finally ran out of excuses for stopping drinking

Thanks for the heads up

So I’ve been dry over a week and my resting BG is down bellow 6 again . I’d say it’s about 0.5 down on average to what it was when drinking.

 

[IamResistance]

Congrats, awesome results!
My curve is almost as flat as yours now after giving up caffeine (from coffee, tea and diet coke)

 

[Outlier]

Well done both of you!