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What to drink at the pub

Dry white wine and soda (tall glass lots of ice and lemon) or Gin and slimline tonic, but have also had the problem with coke as others have said when asking for DIET you need to watch carefully. :) :)
 
I don't drink heavily, but when I do drink it's always beer. Although it has carbs, I find it to be fairly slow acting, and (very roughly) cancels out the lowering effect of the alcohol.

I'd be worried getting vodka+diet coke anywhere noisy in case the coke was wrong. Also, if you drink a lot and don't eat, the vodka could cause you a serious hypo during the night when you're drunk, which could be dangerous.

Fruit juice is sugar-heavy, so I'd avoid it for more than a glass or so, but it is at least mostly fructose, which is fairly light on diabetics. Avoid J2O or similar, as they are laden with refined sugar.
 
Always works:
Gin and Diet Tonic
Jack Daniels and Diet Lemonade and slice of lime (if available)
Flavoured vodka and soda
Red wine (stronger the better: more alcohol somehow = less sugar, or at least less of an effect)

Sometimes works:
Pilsner lagers (not sure why)
Some stronger lagers (it varies, though. Thicker tasting (wacky description, I know), rich lagers are a definite NO.)
Micro-brewed cask ales (bizarrely seem to have less sugar, I don't know why. Maybe less sugar used as preservative. Take food and insulin with this, though, and don't stand still.)
Dry ciders (some still have high sugar, though, and work differently on different people. Stronger ones seem to work better.)

Definitely avoid:
Fruity ciders
Weak, mass-produced lagers
Fruitier white wines

General advice

  • You can drink things like lager and ale but only if you're standing up/dancing as it gives the sugar somewhere to go while the insulin is in effect. It's like when you play sport. Sport is the only time I need high sugar foods, otherwise I go hypo.
  • It also seems to help if you have food at the same time, and take slightly more insulin than you would.
  • The last, and ultra-controversial bit of advice, is that my blood sugar is normally better after 5 drinks than it is after 2. There are several factors that affect this but it's something to keep an eye on. Regular binge drinking is a massive no-no, but letting loose every couple of weeks with a five or six beer session, doesn't seem to do too much damage (apart from the hangover).
  • Keep an eye on blood pressure and heart rate. I've found that any alcohol that adversely affect either of these, also affects my blood sugar in odd ways.
  • I've just faced the fact that my social life needs to change because I'm diabetic. It's tough, but saying no to the drink after work gets easier.
 
Hello, gin and slimline tonic or a couple of pints of a famous Dutch lager! Also dry cider. Not all at once and always in moderation of course (hic!).
:thumbup:
Nik
 
why not try cider and soda shandy - I prefer it to one made with lemonade as it is not so sweet and pubs dont usually have diet lemonade.
helnic
 
Often you can't get anything diet except Coke and I hate it with alcohol. The other day, I was in a pub and they had 7Up Free! I almost kissed the bar man! :clap: So it was vodka and 7Up free for me that night. :) Was loving not getting the massive high sugar from normal lemonade.
 
Some tips to check diet is really diet coke:

1. When barman is pouring coke from tap, full sugar coke has white bubbles and doesn't froth up much. Diet coke has brown bubbles and takes longer to settle

2. While barman is doing the above and you're not quite sure of the bubble colour, say in a very friendly voice "I did say diet didn't I? I'm diabetic so full sugar would kill me" I feel it makes them more aware of the issue and I'm putting it more on me than sounding like I'm checking up on them.

3. When at the table (if someone else has got the drinks in), dip your finger into the coke and rub it on back of hand. Wait for it to dry. If diet coke, your hand will be smooth, if full sugar coke your hand will be sticky.
 
Cazz said:
Some tips to check diet is really diet coke:

1. When barman is pouring coke from tap, full sugar coke has white bubbles and doesn't froth up much. Diet coke has brown bubbles and takes longer to settle

2. While barman is doing the above and you're not quite sure of the bubble colour, say in a very friendly voice "I did say diet didn't I? I'm diabetic so full sugar would kill me" I feel it makes them more aware of the issue and I'm putting it more on me than sounding like I'm checking up on them.

3. When at the table (if someone else has got the drinks in), dip your finger into the coke and rub it on back of hand. Wait for it to dry. If diet coke, your hand will be smooth, if full sugar coke your hand will be sticky.
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This is SUCH good advice!! Thankyou so much!!! Im off to the pub later, so i will try this out!! x
 
Cazz, **** good advice !

Personally I just stick to Vodka and soda, no carbs, but I'm not everybody but it works fine for me.

I'm a bit of a drinker ( 48 years so far ) and have tried most combo's but since being diabetic I just avoid the over-sugared rubbish that food co's offer. Simple. There is nowt wrong with water ! either. Very low carb.....

Delphineum - just go for the Vodka ( a fairly pure spirit ) and maybe cut it down a bit with soda. I have come to enjoy a simple drink like that and can say that my levels are totally unaffected. I can still get P***ed when required !

I'm off to Poland for a wedding in the summer, so Wodka is deffo on the bill !

Practice makes perfect ! ( except in the case of gp's ! )

Superchip !
 
Artofmany... Re pilsner lagers... They are the purest form ie they cannot have Any Additives used in production so all the sugar is turned to a purer form of alchohol therefore not affecting bs as much. For me I find Stella Artois Cidre &Pear Cidre has less adverse effects than pretty much anything else...... but I do like the odd guiness but only draught as the bottled has added sugar as a preservative and shelf life enhancer...... Apparently lol

Sent from my GT-I9100P using DCUK Forum mobile app
 
Just goes to show that you can't take anything forgranted:

Beer (Beck's) Serving Size: 275 ml (bottle), Calories: 118, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 0g
Beer Bottle, Imported (Becks) Serving Size: 355 ml, Calories: 143, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 10g, Protein: 1g
Beer (Becks Vier) Serving Size: 568 ml, Calories: 226, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 16.6g, Protein: 0g
Draught Lager (Becks) Serving Size: 1 pint, Calories: 233, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 17g, Protein: 0g

If you do your research properly beforehand, you'll feel like you need a drink. You'll certainly deserve one.
 
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