Red wine, beer and spirits

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Hungry

Hungry

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi guys

I’m totally new to both type 2 diabetes and this forum. Still getting my head around stuff and coming to terms with the diagnosis. Blood sugar was 54. Question is can I drink alcohol, red wine or beer..obviously moderation is key but what are peoples thoughts and experience?
 
Red wine is better as it's very low in Carbs, I know it's supposed to cause BG to drop but it always did the opposite for me causing it to rise during the night..I dont bother anymore
 
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Yes you can. I drink the occasional glass or 2 of red wine and am partial to a real ale or 2. Its the same with most things and you can enjoy in moderation.
 
Spirits, in moderation, such as vodka, have none.

As a rule of thumb, anything sweet has more carbs, as most drinks are back sweetened.
Having said that, I don't count carbs, so I'm good on most.
Real ale is definitely my drink.
 
Thanks Stitch. I guessed as much but thought I’d run it past you experienced guys
 
Brava210 said:
Red wine is better as it's very low in Carbs, I know it's supposed to cause BG to drop but it always did the opposite for me causing it to rise during the night..I dont bother anymore
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Don’t bother drinking red wine?
 
Red wine, dry white wine and spirits with diet mixers (in my case gin and slimline or rum and coke) have no impact on on my BG levels. Sadly port does, but I still have the occasional small glass. I don't drink beer but I believe it has more carbs so likely to increase your levels to some extent. Cider is the same.
 
rebrascora said:
Red wine, dry white wine and spirits with diet mixers (in my case gin and slimline or rum and coke) have no impact on on my BG levels. Sadly port does, but I still have the occasional small glass. I don't drink beer but I believe it has more carbs so likely to increase your levels to some extent. Cider is the same.
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Even I have given up cider!!
It's pure sugar, I used to find nothing cut through dust like a pint after a dusty day at work, sadly I then tested after I was initially diagnosed.
That put me off to this day, and I still can't look at it.
I do drink real ale though again, but I'm still careful with my choices, and avoid sweet beers like the dark Belgium ones.

There are low carb beers, Low C is a decent one.
 
I've found that a G+T with fever tree tonic doesn't affect my BG at all.
I occasionally have a glass of single malt.
I recently bought some beer that's 2g of carb per bottle (Michelob ultra light.) It's OK, but I miss my German Helles beers!

I have probably drunk alcohol around 6 times since I was diagnosed.
 
Myself and many others actively avoid Fevertree because it uses fructose which may actually be worse than normal sugar for spiking BG. Without injecting insulin it certainly spikes my levels and I really can't justify using insulin for that, so a normal Slimline is my choice with or without gin.
 
rebrascora said:
Myself and many others actively avoid Fevertree because it uses fructose which may actually be worse than normal sugar for spiking BG. Without injecting insulin it certainly spikes my levels and I really can't justify using insulin for that, so a normal Slimline is my choice with or without gin.
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About 4g of carbs per 100ml, 15 calories, so I'm with you on the slimline tonic.
 
That’s worth knowing about - if slimline is available I’ll go for that (The place I was at only had fever tree. Maybe should have gone for scotch and Diet Coke!)
 
Always important to see the coke come out of a bottle or can too so you know it is diet. Those drinks dispensers or the staff using them are not reliable enough to risk.
 
rebrascora said:
Always important to see the coke come out of a bottle or can too so you know it is diet. Those drinks dispensers or the staff using them are not reliable enough to risk.
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Yes. I only drink it from bottles or cans - the stuff from dispensers is usually gross (And I worry about getting the wrong one). Luckily I don’t mind a single malt meat!
 
Sorry, a bit late to this party, but I thought I should mention

www.marstonsbrewery.co.uk

Marston's Resolution 24 x 275ml - Marstons

At last there is one Resolution you’ll want to stick to… Marston’s Resolution, a strong premium ale, double fermented during the brewing process to turn all the sugar into alcohol to make it both low in carbohydrates and calories. Using only the finest hops and barley, it’s great tasting, full...
www.marstonsbrewery.co.uk www.marstonsbrewery.co.uk

I really like this beer, it's more flavoursome than some of the other low carb options and at 4.7%, slightly stronger, a 275ml bottle contains 3.5g of carbs and is only 88 calories.

Now, what I would like to find, is a decent low carb cocktail, which energises 😉, I had my university reunion over the summer and while others moved to sugar based cocktails and kept on partying, I had some neat whisky and started flagging.....
 
My reckoning is that real ales are around 20g carbs per pint, and lagers/ciders around 10g. There is variation, but it seems to work ( mostly!) for me.

I’m not sure how it works for T2s on diet and exercise, but T1s are usually cautioned not to dose insulin for the carbs in alcoholic drinks, because the liver gets distracted processing the alcohol and stops trickling out glucose, which can lead to a drop in BG levels after the initial rise.

My CGM traces and pump have allowed me to develop a vague rule of thumb for adding small amounts of insulin to reduce the BG rise without creating an impending crash later. But the safest thing is just to let it run it’s course, and never have too much alcohol so that you are always compos mentis and keeping an eye out.
 
Regarding the not to dose insulin for the carbs in alcoholic drinks, im type 2 but also take insulin, Lantus and novo rapid, is it the same regarding insulin doseage, often been tempted on a weekend to up my novo rapid dose (dinnertime) before dinner if im going out for a drink after.
 
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