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Jul 21
2008

Mixing Alcohol with Diabetes

Posted by in Untagged 
Summer celebrations are full of social occasions that are a challenge anyone following a weight loss diet -- weddings, lazy BBQs, vacations and neighborhood block parties. If you're diabetic and planning to drink alcohol, you can make smart choices with a bit of advance planning.

Alcohol doesn't have to be off limits if your diabetes is under control. Key phrase: Under Control. Alcohol can make blood glucose too high or too low and interfere with how your diabetes medications work.

If you're following a low carb weight loss program consider the carbohydrate gram counts as well as calories. Alcohol adds up quickly! American Diabetic Association alcohol guidelines suggests daily limits of 1 drink for women, 2 for men.

One drink is 12 oz light beer, 4 oz wine or 1.5 oz hard liquor. Don't have a set of measuring cups with you at the party? Try these visual clues when “eyeballing” portion sizes:

A 4 oz serving of wine is the equivalent of a kid's pudding cup.
An 8 oz yogurt container is roughly 2 "servings" of wine.
A 1.5 oz serving of liquor is only 3 tablespoons (half a pudding cup!)

Keep these tips in mind to blend occasional alcoholic drinks with low carb weight loss:
  • Eat a low carb meal before you drink to prevent low blood glucose.
  • Choose vodka, whiskey, rum, wine or low carb beer. Avoid sugary mixed drinks or regular beer which can cause your blood sugar to skyrocket.
  • Choose low calorie mixers like mineral water, club soda, diet tonic water or diet soda.
  • An ideal low calorie low carb drink is to mix 4 oz of white wine with 4 oz of a low calorie mixer like mineral water or diet lime soda.
  • Measure the amount of alcohol you drink or you're guaranteed to go over the calories or carbs you planned for.
If you have type 1 diabetes and aren’t overweight, count alcohol servings in addition to your low carb meal plan. If you are a type 2 diabetic or are overweight, any alcohol you drink should be a substitution for another food in your low carb meal plan. Be smart, don't forfeit food so you can drink more. Ask your doctor for specific food exchange examples.

Avoid alcohol completely if your blood glucose is out of control, have neuropathy, take medications that react with alcohol or if you've just exercised vigorously.

Test -- don't guess. Alcohol can be tricky with glucose levels.