Wine impact on my blood sugars

[johnnyangel]

well I got through xmas lunch at my daughter's place without too many battle scars except one. I kinda cheated and drank more than my usual amount of red wine for the occasion. I had about I would say about 20ozs of red wine over the course of the afternoon with the meal. As for food I don't think I exceeded my usual carb allotment. I practice low carb and intermittent fasting. Its been about 6 months now. In any event, when I tested my BS during the evening , I was at a very low 3.9. Things only slightly improved the next morning @ 4.3 Typically I test around 5.5 -6.0 in the mornings. Needless to say I was feeling a bit lightheaded and definitely not my usual self. I am curious to hear back and get your take as to what you think happened. I know that a reasonable amount of wine can be tolerated by most T2's with little impact on their blood glucose levels but in my case it has the real opposite and quite undesirable effect. Any thoughts on why this is the case. I'm on 2000mg metformin and 30 mg glick. Thanks.

 

[EllieM]

Well, as a T1 I would argue that 3.9 isn't that low, as it's a perfectly normal level for a non diabetic who isn't taking insulin (or insulin increasing drugs such as gliclazide). But if you're not used to hypos (and 3.9 is technically a hypo) you're likely to feel pretty wonky at that level.

Normally when your blood sugar goes too low your liver produces glycogen to increase it, but when you've been drinking the liver's glycogen production is reduced because it's busy processing the alcohol in your system. This is why T1s are always warned to be very careful about night time hypos if they've been drinking because their liver won't be at full strength to rescue them if they go too low...

 

[johnnyangel]

Makes sense and I know that one's liver prioritizes the metabolism of the alcohol first. What gets me though is why is my blood sugar dropping in the first place. You'd think it would rise instead, especially if the liver is busy doing something else during this time. I did have a glass ( or 2) of wine on an empty stomach. I suspect that may have a lot to do with it. Not certain. Obviously I did not make my living in the health profession.

 

[DanW13]

I’m prediabetic, but see the same reduction when I drink red wine & have measured this with a Libre. Really puts a lid on the readings but although I’d say overall it’s beneficial to have perhaps a small glass a few days a week, I have noticed that if I push it too much I do tend to see a more sluggish insulin response for a day or two afterwards.

Champagne produced a similar but less marked response. Not tried beer yet, the carbs put me off risking it!

So good short term, less good medium term!

 

[johnnyangel]

that's my take of it too. I'm back to snuff now but it took a couple of days.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I find that alcohol pushes my BG down.
I assume that this is preventing the liver chucking glucose into the blood stream.
I often find that after the alcohol has been processed by BG bumps up again.
I haven't worked out yet if this is delayed processing of food, or if the liver is just responding to glucagon from the pancreas after being distracted by the booze.

 

[KennyA]

Alcohol lowers my BG consistently, even beer. It seems to defer the processing rather than stop it, so my typical response on the four or five occasions I've had alcohol with a carby meal (pasta, say) would be an initial fall in readings to around 4 and a bit, followed by a very slow rise over a day or so to about six and then a steady decline back to my "usual" 5.2/5.3. The interesting thing is I don't spike at all. I have not tried this with either potatoes or pastry, which are guaranteed spike producers for me, so unsure how far this goes. The downside is, it seems, an increase in false hypos overnight - extreme sweats, wide awake at 4am....

 

[Bittern]

I understand that glucose is used in the metabolism of alcohol, so if you drink your glucose level will drop.

 

[johnnyangel]

that would explain the drop in blood sugar levels. not certain but I suspect that alcohol also arrests to some degree the metabolism of food in the digestive tract. for sure alcohol plays havoc. no wonder only a small amount could be tolerated.