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Type 2 What Happens To Carbs

N

nsh2111

Well-Known Member
Messages
322
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all,

I have read the forums and have experienced that some wine or alcohol helps lower BG.

I am currently on holiday and being honest , I have been drinking more then some wine and also eating carbs . BS hovers around 6.5 to 7.5 after two hrs of meal or when I check random.

My questions is if I eat carbs and also drinks alcohol, what happens to carbs while liver is busy dealing with the alcohol? Assuming I eat more than LCHF carbs .

Thanks in advance
Nav
 
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My understanding is the liver processes the alcohol before the glucose.
 
Alcohol also temporarily reduces the livers capacity to release glucose from its stores - the body treats alcohol as a poison and prioritises its elimination above all other liver functions
 
dbr10 said:
My understanding is the liver processes the alcohol before the glucose.
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Yes but then what happened to all the carbs I ate?

Do they get stored or processed later on or just straight out of body?
 
nsh2111 said:
Yes but then what happened to all the carbs I ate?

Do they get stored or processed later on or just straight out of body?
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They get processed after the alcohol. If I eat a meal with a glass of red wine it reduces my BG slightly; but I can't honestly say I've tested to see if the increase from the carbs is just delayed and still happens later; or if the combined effect of the meal and the wine means that the spike is actually less. I really should test this with identical meals to get some idea.
 
So really it's a false premise that alcohol Lowers it just delays.
 
nsh2111 said:
So really it's a false premise that alcohol Lowers it just delays.
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No, it's not a false premise. It is generally accepted that it does. Bernstein mentions it and warns insulin users to be careful with it.
 
If I have a drink with even a low carb meal my numbers are always slightly higher next day - also regular consumption of alcohol and higher carbs can cause non alcoholic fatty liver which isn't the best for diabetes
 
lovinglife said:
If I have a drink with even a low carb meal my numbers are always slightly higher next day - also regular consumption of alcohol and higher carbs can cause non alcoholic fatty liver which isn't the best for diabetes
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My FBG is normally a little lower than usual. I'm LCHF.
 
dbr10 said:
My FBG is normally a little lower than usual. I'm LCHF.
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mine always rise slightly and stay slightly risen all day - it doesn't stop me partaking as it's not a massive rise but it's a trend I've noticed over the years

I'm 70- 80g carbs a day with normal fats
 
lovinglife said:
mine always rise slightly and stay slightly risen all day - it doesn't stop me partaking as it's not a massive rise but it's a trend I've noticed over the years

I'm 70- 80g carbs a day with normal fats
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Do you think that might be a rebound from a liver dump perhaps. We're all different of course.
 
dbr10 said:
Do you think that might be a rebound from a liver dump perhaps. We're all different of course.
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I don't think so - it only happens after I've had a couple of glasses of wine - only ever drink with food and it happens every time - I can't recall names but I know others on the forum have experienced this when I've posted about it before - like you say we're all different
 
I think I really should test again to make sure how I react.
 
I feel the same. When I drink, it raises my bg next day. I guess my original question was to see if the unused carbs simply gets dumped by body . Sounds like they stay in untill liver had a chance to process them.
 
It would be truly wonderful if the carbs in food, upon drinking alcohol, went straight through the body without being metabolised!

But alas, they don't. If they did I would be living my life in bars, permanently, eating fries and pizza (as in NOT the fathead pizza which is delicious don't get me wrong - but the ones you can buy out and about! At bars!) and getting gloriously drunk in the name of combatting insulin resistance . Sigh.

Life with beer, and fries, and pizza. Sorry, I just had to write it again with beer added because it seemed so delightful.

What the alcohol does for a type two diabetic, in my understanding, is for the while your liver is processing it your liver is not creating and churning out excess glucose which in its dysregulated/diabetic state falsely believes your body needs, due to that ghastly thing - insulin resistance. So not a delay, but a hold, and what a lovely hold it is.

The carbs in the meantime go their merry way through your gut and digestive tract and get turned into our nemesis - glucose. And our pancreas churns out as much insulin as it can I guess, to cope with the glucose, and then we have lots of circulating insulin that our cells say ' no no no - there is already way too much glucose in my cells already, ditto insulin - go away' and is shut off to the glucose and the insulin. So there is the excess - swimming around in our blood. And we wake up and pee first port of call, as our body tries to get some of the excess blood glucose out that way, maybe we pee again not long after, and in the meantime our body is storing as much of the excess glucose as it can as body fat, and in the tissues.

Depressing, isn't it . Not nearly as much fun as the beer and the pizza. Gee, I miss beer.
 
nsh2111 said:
Sounds like they stay in untill liver had a chance to process them.
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The liver does not process carbs.
I am not sure I understand that, it sounds like an increase in BG.

I do have less increase in BG if I have a glass or two of red wine with my dinner but I haven't found an explanation on this thread or the Internet that I can understand.
 
This is in the context of drinking alcohol whilst eating a lot of carbs @Mr_Pot. So yeah there will be an increase of BG caused from the diet.

But as a person with a liver that merrily churns out glucose on very low carb food regimes, and fasting, I am very aware of where that excess glucose can come from when it isn't coming from your food. It's some kind of wonderful that alcohol can put that process on hold. One has to (at least I do) balance that with the fact that alcohol can further damage the liver, and increase the fat in a liver, thereby increasing your liver's tendency to diabetically churn out glucose, one can only suppose. I wish it was just a happy alcohol story, rather than a complex one.
 
I suppose for me it's proven this morning that it raises.i was 6.3 when I went to bed after dinner . Woke up 8 hr later to 8.1 ((!

Didn't wake up in middle for pee break so guess the carbs are just swimming around waiting to be used. Will have to hit gym now
 


I've got a liver that's very similar, I can fast for 72 hours and during the first 48 hours my blood glucose can either rise or stay the same, usually in the low 6's. During the last day, my blood glucose might drop to mid 5's, but that's about it.
And when I'm not fasting, unless I do at least an hour and a half brisk walking my blood glucose stays at mid 6's.
I've been trying for a year now to try and lower my blood glucose by LCHF but it's just not playing..... ******!
However, I have lost 25 kilos...….

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That sounds more like dawn phenomenon to me than alcohol.

Wine lowers my post meal levels, I go to bed with normal bedtime levels and my FBG is normal.
 
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