Balance diabetes and alcohol can be a difficult task.Even in non -diabetic people, alcohol not only affects certain people differently, but different types of alcohol have very different effects on the same person.
When adding diabetes to a drinking night, things can be complicated and even be potentially dangerous.
For people with type 1 diabetes and type 2 who take insulin or other diabetes medications that reduce blood sugar levels, alcohol consumption must be done prudence.
We will see how alcohol affects blood sugar levels, when it can become especially dangerous and how to drink alcohol safely as a person with diabetes.
The reason why diabetes and alcohol is such a complicated combination is because its body essentially considers alcohol as a poison that the liver must processes immediately.
"Because the liver is busy dealing with the processing of alcohol you drank, your body stops digesting and decomposing the food you ate," explains Lisa Harris, CDE and RN at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Il.
"This means that it has a much greater risk of having a low level of blood sugar even hours after eating and drinking, because it took insulin for foods that are not completely digested while alcohol is present."
This is particularly true for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes that are taking insulin or a medication that reduces blood glucose.For type 2 patients who take medications such as metformin, which simply reduces the amount of glucose released by the liver, instead of increasing insulin production, alcohol is unlikely to cause low blood sugar levels.
"Imagine that you take insulin for pizza and shots 5 or more drinks," Harris explains."You could experience constantly recurring minimums, finally, even for 12 hours, because your body stops decomposing the food you are eating and is much more focused on processing alcohol and taking it out of your body."
Meanwhile, however, many alcoholic beverages also contain a lot of sugar.Some beers, dessert wines, cocktails such as cosmopolitans and other liquor -based drinks with mixers such as soft drinks, juices or acidic mixtures have a high sugar content.Trying to determine how much insulin it is possible to dose for sugar in your drink and, at the same time, anticipate a possible abrupt decrease in blood sugar a few hours after taking it is not easy or direct.
Grams of carbohydrates in common alcoholic beverages.
"It's not that people with diabetes can't drink at all," says Harris."I would certainly prefer that my patients take a glass of dry wine or low carbohydrates than a soda."
And when it comes to guessing the carbohydrate content in an alcoholic beverage, Harris says that people often make false assumptions.
“Wine, for example, if it is red or white, it doesn't matter.It is not the color that affects the carbohydrate content, but the level of fermentation because fermentation converts sugar into alcohol."That is why carbohydrates in the wine will not affect their blood sugar as much as the same amount of carbohydrates of a glass of real grape juice."
Let's take a look at the carbohydrate content of common alcoholic beverages, according to Calorie King.
Red wines, for 5 fl oz / 147 ml glass.
Merlot 3.7 grams
Black Pinot 3.4 grams
Shiraz Syrah 3.8 grams
Zinfandel 4.2 grams
Cabernet Sauvignon 3.6 grams
White wines, for 5 fl oz / 147 ml vessel.
Chardonnay 3.8 grams
Pinot Grigio 4 grams
Sauvignon Blanc 2.7grams
Moscato 11.4 grams
Dry Riesling 5.5 grams.
Most dessert wines of 15 to 20 grams.
Sweet liquors, for 1 fl oz / 37 ml
Amaretto Agrio 19 grams
Bailey 7.4 grams
Blue cuacao 7 grams
Cointreau 7.4 grams
Creme de Menthe 22 grams
Grand Marnier 6.4 grams
Kahlua 14.7 grams
Southern Comfort 2.7 grams
Samba 18 grams
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Beer, by 12 fl.OZ / 1 Bottle
Budweiser American Ale 18 grams
Blue Moon 13 grams
Bud Light 6.6 grams
Miller Lite 3.2 grams
COORS LITE 5 GRAMS
Stella Artois 12.8 grams
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Liquors, for 1 fl oz / 37 ml
Most liquors (vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila) actually contain 0 grams of carbohydrates.Some varieties of flavors, such as Smirnoff Strawberry, still contain less than 3 or 4 grams of carbohydrates, which is generally not an amount that you really want to cover with insulin.
Mixers: Remember, the only mixers that do not contain carbohydrates are club soda (also known as SELTZER) and diet soda.Most other mixers, including the tonic and acidic mixture, contain at least 20 to more than 40 grams of carbohydrates per 8 ounces.
Diabetes and alcohol are especially dangerous when ...
Due to the unpredictable effects of alcohol on blood sugar and insulin needs, there are two situations in the worst case for a person with diabetes when it consumes alcohol.