Whisky

The only time I had a low morning fasting level was after having a strong whiskey with hot water and lemon (criminal I know) for a bad cold the night before .I considered having a tot every night but decided that the liver wouldnt like it and the GP wouldnt prescribe it :roll:
CAROL

Hi,Maitland
Like you say a wee dram to many. I hope no harm was done.
However a wee drink in moderation especially a good Whiskey might be ok if shared with a wee bit of traditional Scottish shortbread.
Something to do with a little added sugar for diabetes.
Like Carty said it is criminal to add anything to Whisky especially lemon as it makes this mix even worse for diabetes.

Roy,

As others have said, have a carby snack before bed if you've had a load to drink.

I love a good whiskey. Polished off a Talisker last month, over the whole month with friends though!

Hi izzzy
Why is lemon with whisky bad for DBs I was meaning that adding any thing but a drop of water to a good whiskey was almost a hanging offence to whisky buffs
CAROL

Confess I love Aldi's Irish Whisky Coffee's .
Get 2 in a box .

They 'warm' me up too ...
This is the only way I actually like a bit of whisky though .

Any other similar tips ? Anyone know of ?

Anna.

I'm stiil to convince my friends that the post drink kebab is for medicinal purposes. I think we should be able to get them on the nhs ;-)

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Interesting as I had a wee dram of Bunnahabhain last night and measured my blood after breakfast at 4.4 as I was about to drive (woops) but didn't drive of course. Normally it would have been over 5 so you're right that the whisky was probably the cause.

carty said:

I considered having a tot every night but decided that the liver wouldnt like it and the GP wouldnt prescribe it :roll:

Click to expand...

The medical students at uni were the biggest set of boozy articles I ever came across - apart from the Norwegians who, given our much cheaper prices, were like kiddies in a sweet shop.

Is that metaphor allowed on a diabetes web site?

Maitland said:

I think in future I will be very careful as to the quantity of malt I drink. It is all a learning curve at the minute.

Click to expand...

Apparantly having a wee dram creates an effect called Islet Priming as it wakes up sluggish beta cells.

Potentiation of the Plasma Insulin Response to Glucose by Prior Administration of Alcohol: An Apparent Islet-Priming Effect
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/co ... 7.abstract

"accelerated rates of plasma glucose disappearance" sounds promising.

carty said:

Hi izzzy
Why is lemon with whisky bad for DBs I was meaning that adding any thing but a drop of water to a good whiskey was almost a hanging offence to whisky buffs
CAROL

Click to expand...

Hi Carol,
I think I was being a little ott regarding the lemon. Something to do with whisky not containing sugar then adding a lemon that does not contain sugar makes it worse. ( some say a lemon does contains natural sugar)
If you would like to add water to a good whisky it must be good spring water from that region.
Ice(on the rocks should also be made from fresh water)
I haven't drank alcohol since being told that I have diabetes type 2. If I was to have a wee dram I would want a little more and I would rather enjoy the thought of that great taste. :think:

Roy,

Yes, it's one of the better Islay malts (not that any are bad). It's a small distillery I've actually stayed at in the former workers cottages. Recommended are both the malt and the distillery. BTW it's pronounced 'Bunniharven'

Your whiskey interfered with your Impaired Fasting Glucose (part of T2). Basically, you liver usually releases glucose to keep you going through the fast of the night. When faced with alcohol, it concentrates on dealing with the alcohol and does not produce the glucose.

If you are on something like Gliclazide, which stimulates insulin production, you probably take it in the evening, or at night. This is to counteract the IFG which, due to the booze, was not there that night, meaning you had a hypo.

As im a recently diagnosed t2 and a drinker (on weekends) I was surprised too see the difference between beer & whisky has on my bs levels.
If I have 2 beers my bs levels rise dramatically, but if I drink whisky my bs levels go down. Im not sure why, but according to my test meter whisky is better for me.
Is the answer the sugar added during the brewing process for beer,as I belive sugar is not added to whisky.Either way I do fancy a kebab after drinking...is that good or bad?

OOPS iv just read previous post and all the answers are there.

another12 said:

As im a recently diagnosed t2 and a drinker (on weekends) I was surprised too see the difference between beer & whisky has on my bs levels.

Click to expand...

Fermenting sugars with yeast produces alcohol which kills yeast once it gets to a certain concentration. Often, some sugar is left over because it has not all been converted.

Whisky is distilled from a mash which contains the sugar yeast and alcohol, ie the alcohol is evaporated off and then condensed, so it contains no sugar, depending on purity and distillation process. Alcohol itself does have an effect on how your blood glucose is metabolised but that is different from the sugars in the drinks.

Many whiskys are matured in old port barrels and as the port residue contains some sugar, some small amounts of this gets into the whisky. A drink like gin however can have many different recipes and is the result of adding various berries to the alcohol. Some of these too have sugar. Depending on gin brand, it will have various levels of sugar.

so im confused and new to all this type 2 diabetis very confused on whats good and whats not as struggling with getting my blood sugars down as the average is between 10 an 16. so is it advisable to have a drop of whiskey to maybe hellp or not thanks guys

kyzared said:

so im confused and new to all this type 2 diabetis very confused on whats good and whats not as struggling with getting my blood sugars down as the average is between 10 an 16. so is it advisable to have a drop of whiskey to maybe hellp or not thanks guys

Click to expand...

NO, it is not advisable to use alcohol to control bg levels.

The reason alcohol lowers bg levels is well known and quite simply, one of the livers jobs is to regulate sugar levels by releasing its stores of glycogen throughout the day as needed. Another job of the liver is to remove toxins from our blood, as toxins are potentially dangerous the liver will stop its other work while it clears toxins from the blood, alcohol is a toxin like it or not, it is. and the liver can remove approximately one unit of alcohol pre hour so if you were to drink say 4 units of alcohol your liver will take 4 hours to clear it from your blood and during this time will release little or no glycogen, resulting in lower bg levels, which can cause night time hypos in T1 and other insulin dependant T2 diabetics.

So sharing a bottle of Whisky/Whiskey or enjoying a night out which may include say 10 units of alcohol and the liver is effectively out of action over night while it is removing the alcohol from your blood. Heavy drinkers may indeed drink more than 10 units of alcohol regularly which is why cirrhosis of the liver is often seen in alcoholics. Other diseases of the liver include fatty liver disease of which diabetics are especially prone.

A simple explanation of how the liver works and info on cirrhosis of the liver http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorder ... osis-liver

Fatty liver disease http://www.patient.co.uk/health/non-alc ... er-disease

The British Liver Trust charity last year found that 28 per cent of people tested were showing the early signs of liver disease. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... perts.html

Therefore sensible advice regarding alcohol would seem to be to drink in moderation and not every night of the week so you give your liver a rest now and again