What kind of alcohol and how much is ok in type 2 diabetes

[Anxious 63]

i think moderate amounts of alcohol might be beneficial, or do people disagree

 

[stephknits]

Why not? Especially if you drink low carb options. Wine, gin and slimline tonic.

 

[Anxious 63]

so beer and lager are not so good ?

 

[Anthegg89]

All forms of alcohol are bad for diabetics as they're full of sugar and carbohydrates even the low carb options because they're full of sweetners and chemicals .The only way i can think of to have wine is cooking it with food but that still doesn't take all the sugar out.
Alcohol was drank in medieval times as a form of food as there was not the abundance as there is today, so it's either eat your food or drink your food lol.

 

[Robin]

All forms of alcohol are bad for diabetics as they're full of sugar and carbohydrates even the low carb options because they're full of sweetners and chemicals

I don't think a glass of red wine is 'full of sugar'. The thing about alcohol is, for every unit consumed, the liver is so busy breaking down the alcohol, that it doesn't put out any glucose for that hour. So it does in fact lower your blood glucose. ( not to be relied on for blood glucose control, btw, excess alcohol does have other drawbacks, like liver damage) I have to be wary of overnight hypos if I drink a couple of glasses of red in an evening, but I do successfully factor it in, and enjoy the odd glass or two at the weekend.

 

[Hepato-pancreato]

I’m a teatotaller, but not one who preaches no alcohol is best. If you drink in moderation why It should matter I don’t know.
Everything in moderation is the sensible way.

 

[Matt Cycle]

All forms of alcohol are bad for diabetics as they're full of sugar and carbohydrates even the low carb options because they're full of sweetners and chemicals .

Not true. Zero or negligible carbs in spirits.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

The latest research seems to suggest that there are no health benefits to low or moderate alcohol consumption that outweigh the harm that alcohol may cause.

Having said that, I am happy to drink moderately and try to make sure I have 2-3 dry days a week and aim (ha!) to keep below the current 14u weekly suggestion. I enjoy having a drink every now and then, and would really miss it - though I know several friends who have given up entirely.

 

[Eddy Edson]

David Katz had a nice piece on the latest research: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/any-alcohol-dangerous-your-health-david/

So, yes, alcohol is dangerous to your health. Other writers have highlighted the important limitations of the new study, a meta-analysis of prior studies, and their characteristic neglect in hyperbolic media coverage. Others have also pointed out that the risks reported are actually quite low on average. They have made some very clever and insightful comparisons, too. David Spiegelhalter at the University of Cambridge observed that the level of driving associated with the least risk is also zero. Aaron Carroll in the New York Times noted that there is no entirely safe level for dessert, either.

There is still one important clarification to append, however. Drinking alcohol, moderately, judiciously, and responsibly can still actually lower your overall health risk- depending on who you are. In the new data set, as before, alcohol intake at a modest to moderate level was associated with reduced cardiovascular risk. That finding was generally obscured by the frenzy to report that “no level” of alcohol is beneficial or safe now.

That assertion is supported by the study, but only when applied to a population, not an individual. For a population, the safest level of alcohol intake is indeed zero. But that need not be true of a given individual. Let me use a little math to explain the difference ...

 

[mikeyB]

Alcohol is also toxic to the pancreas as well as the liver. Anyone who has a dodgy pancreas, with CP, say, and needing Creon would be mad to have a drink.

And you can get acute pancreatitis through heavy drinking - or even after a single heavy night. 25% mortality, AP. It’s never mentioned in drinking advice.

I’ve got CP not due to drink, but I don’t.

 

[Anthegg89]

I don't think a glass of red wine is 'full of sugar'. The thing about alcohol is, for every unit consumed, the liver is so busy breaking down the alcohol, that it doesn't put out any glucose for that hour. So it does in fact lower your blood glucose. ( not to be relied on for blood glucose control, btw, excess alcohol does have other drawbacks, like liver damage) I have to be wary of overnight hypos if I drink a couple of glasses of red in an evening, but I do successfully factor it in, and enjoy the odd glass or two at the weekend.

Because the nutrition labeling done by alcohol manufacturers is voluntary we don't see the true contents of their product. Most alcoholic beverages will say 0g sugar but alcohol is sugar, that's how it is made. Wine, especially white, has sugar in it as well as the alcohol compared to a vodka which is just the alcohol.
The food side of diabetes is relatively easy compared to the beverage side which can be a nightmare.

 

[Robin]

Most alcoholic beverages will say 0g sugar but alcohol is sugar, that's how it is made

Yes, but once the sugar is fermented to alcohol, the body treats it differently. It doesn't break it down into glucose, for sure, ( I think it forms acetate, but I'm not a chemist. Eventually some of it forms fatty acids, which your body will only use straight way as fuel if you haven't eaten enough carbohydrate, otherwise it will store it as fat. I'm sure you know this I'm just putting it here for people who may not).

All I can say is, if I took insulin for the alcohol assuming it was the same as sugar, I'd need a paramedic round about 3am. So I wanted to make that clear, lest someone on insulin reads this and thinks they should be bolusing for the alcohol.
Having said that, everyone's individual response to foods and alcohol varies, so maybe for some people, a glass of red would send their blood sugars soaring.