I always wondered what the toll was on drinkin beer vs hard liquor like tequila or vodka...
From personal experience, I've found that drinking beer, espeically one's that aren't light can cause my BG to rise. It's a shame because my favorite beer is Newcastle but it's pretty heavy and carb filled. However simple mixed drinks such as rum and diet, I've found to actually lower my BG or certainly not increase it.
hard alcohol if not mixed with sugary things like juice or pop will lower your blood sugar. so a diet coke with vodka in it will lower your level. there's no carbs in hard alcohol which is why it doesn't raise it, but i dont really understand why it lowers it. beer and wine(if i remember correctly..i rarely drink wine) have carbs which raises your levels.
straight shots of hard alcohol will lower your levels for sure. i still do tequila shots thought haha.
either way you're gonna be lower in the morning so that's something to watch out for.
Agreed. I always mix the drinks with sugar free soday or sometimes a sugar free energy drink which is probably worse for you for other reasons.
As Batts mentions, you do have to be careful and monitor your levels closely, and preferably have someone with you that knows what to do if you go low, because it's definitely something you have to watch out for.
alright nice thanks
alright nice thanks
ive always been better off when i just drink light beer then when i drink hard alcohol
I think every diabetic is different, but drinking beer causes my sugars to go up even if it is a light beer. I will normally drink a mixed drink, vodka and diet sprite. My sugars might be a little low in the morning but other than that I don't really have a problem with it. I just make sure I eat before I drink, and test my sugars through out the night. I of course try to stay away from drinks that have sugar in them, because that will of course raise my blood sugar and give me a headache in the morning!
One night when my friend and i went a little over board with the hard liquor and in the morning I had a hangover and my bs was low.. but if you just watch it then its all good =]
I'm trying to remember how this works. i'm having one of those can't think moments that turn to hours.
It is hard to judge how alcohol will effect you, because multiple things are happening. First the liver is processing the alcohol so it isn't releasing any glucagon in a time of need. That's why you get the lows early the next morning. Second the alcohol coats the surface of the cells which does not allow either insulin or sugar to be absorbed and processed by the cell. The amount of time this lasts is the tricky part to judge. So one or two drinks and everything is fine then you start to get a little buzz and the cells start to absorb what was previously blocked by the alcohol (the insulin you took to cover the drink and the carbs from the mixers or beer, wine). Problem is you never can tell what is going to get absorbed and processed first. And by that time you really don't care. Third given most times you start drinking at night that means the dawning effect is going to be compromised by your liver not having anything to release.
Usually if you are going to drink you have to disregard a period of high blood sugar in order to plan for a low about 6 to 8 hours later. And in addition to having a disignated driver you need a driver who can handle an unpredicted low. So if I go out around 10pm I drink Vodka Collins (vodka, carbonated water, and powdered sugar). So when I arrive back home or at whoever's house around 3am or 4 my blood sugar is high and it is imparitive that I do not take insulin for the high, because I know around 6am my blood sugar is going to bottom out. (If I don't take insulin I usually wake up around 10 back to normal. If I do take the insulin it combines with the liver not releasing and I get a bad low).
The thing is just when you think you know how it is going to react it acts different. nature of the beast. So I just plan for 8 hours of highs when drinking and then after 8 to 10 hours if it isn't back to normal I start medicating then.
i usually just eat some pretzels or something before i go to sleep after a night of drinking. i never drink any sugary drinks though... diet dr. pepper with rum, light beer (i'm pretty sure that michelob ultra has the lowest carb count of any major beer), or vodka and something diet. the perk with the pretzels is that it not only keeps your blood sugar normal when you wake up, but helps with reducing your hangover :) pretzels + a lot of water = no hangover for me.
Hey there,
my friends and I love to go out. Most of the time I am drinking some wine or "stampal" how they are called in bavaria. Pia is one of my best friend's. She has diabetes too and is alway's telling me that drinking is not allowed for diabetes people. What is the matter with her? At night when I come home my suger is quite high... but in the morning the next day it is normal again... so there is nothing to say against drinking, is there?
Greetings Sophia
(I'm quite sorry if my english is not the best...)
Sophia, do they even make "Light Beers" in Germany? Most German wine is pretty sweet too, Riesling and Gevurtztraminer...
:D I just searched the internet because I realy didn't know. There was nothing compatible...
So I asked my dad and he just laughed at me. "You can't drink beer in bavaria without sugar." But beer is not realy mine, only once in a year i'm drinking a "Maß" on the Octoberfest (althrou it is extremly expensive).
I alway's think that the alcohol in the wine put's my sugar down and the sweetnes in it, up. But actually the sweetness is stronger than the alcohol :)
Greetings
What you are thinking is actually right... It is all about the timing of it. The wine will first raise your blood sugar and then later for about 12 to 24 hours lower it...
[quote user="Sophia"]
So I asked my dad and he just laughed at me. "You can't drink beer in bavaria without sugar."
[/quote]
Deutschland hat zucker im bier und fleisch im essen. Germany has sugar in beer and meat in meals :)
I am not much of a drinker. The only alcohol I ever consume is hard liquor. I will have a shot or two of whiskey or brandy every now and then. My sugars definitely do drop a few hours later. I usually eat fruit a few hours after drinking to help from going too low.
this past week i went to my endo meeting because i had the same questions about alcohol. and things like regular beer,whine coolers,grenadine drinks,margaritas,daquiris,or anything with coffee in it isnt good because they have a lot of carbohydrates and sugar. they gave me a list of alcoholic drinks that are safe. light beer is fine to drink and dry wines or wine spritzers. the safe hard liquors are vodka, whiskey, gin, and rum but only mix them with diet sodas or plain club sodas. And my doctor aso said drink a cup of water after every couple drinks to keep you hydrated, because when our sugar goes high we already get thirsty, and alcohol dehydrates the body so drink water too.
so is it really dangerous to drink? because of the risk of a low the next morning? or is it more of a risk of a high at night?
Beer tends to have more sugar and carbs than whole liquor. But if your drinking hard liqour in some kind of mixed drink then it might have more sugar and make you rise really fast. Stick to the tequila shots :)
Interesting topic.
I am more of a beer drinker and definitely notice higher blood sugars when I get home. From what I recall they do tend to normalize in the morning though. I’ll have to keep better track of this, especially because I am about to go on the pump next week.