Looking to celebrate Valentine’s Day with an alcoholic libation? Trying to decide on the best type of alcoholic beverage to serve at your game day party? Or simply wondering if you can even drink alcohol if you have diabetes? Before you decide, it’s a good idea to understand how alcohol can impact your diabetes, and, if you choose to drink, how to drink safely.
When you drink alcohol (no matter the type), your liver kicks into gear to process, or metabolize, the alcohol. By doing so, however, the liver is unable to make and release glucose into the bloodstream. That doesn’t sound like a problem if you have diabetes, but if you haven’t eaten for a while and you also take insulin[1] or certain types of diabetes pills, you run the risk of hypoglycemia[2] (low blood sugar). Also, alcohol can affect your blood sugar for up to 12 hours later, according to Johns Hopkins University[3].
Another potential pitfall of drinking alcohol is that if you happen to have hypoglycemia while you are drinking, your symptoms can make it seem that you’ve had too much to drink. The danger of this is that others around you may not realize that your blood sugar is low and that you need assistance.
Always check with your health care provider about drinking alcohol. They may advise you not to drink (or at least limit the amount that you drink) if you have certain health conditions, including:
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The American Diabetes Association[9] and the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans[10] urge moderation when it comes to drinking alcohol. Moderation means:
A “drink” is:
The best type of alcoholic beverage depends, in part, on what you enjoy drinking. If your tastes run to wine or champagne, consider:
Go easy with sweet wines, which include Port, Riesling, Moscato, Sauterne, and ice wine, as these contain more sugar than drier red and white wines.
If beer[12] is more to your liking, you might consider a light or low-carb beer. Light beers are brewed in a way as to lower the calories and carbs. Most regular beers contain about 15 grams of carb per 12 ounces; a light beer contains about half as many carb grams, and maybe even as few as 2 grams of carb per 12-ounce serving. Some light beers to consider include:
What about no- or low-alcohol beer? It can be an option if you have diabetes and want to skip the alcohol, but you’ll need to keep an eye on the carbs: some brands may only have a few grams of carb, but other can have close to 20 grams per serving.
If a cocktail is more up your alley, steer towards mixed drinks made without fruit juice, regular soda, milk, or ice cream. Here are some options to consider:
There’s always the option of drinking a distilled spirit on its own, either “neat” or “on the rocks” (which means with ice cubes added).
Unfortunately, most alcoholic beverages don’t list the nutrition information or ingredients on their labels, since they’re not required to do so. That’s because alcohol is under the purview of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Labels are optional, but not required. The best way to find out the calorie and carb info on your favorite wine, beer, or mixed drink is to do a search on the internet — the websites calorieking.com[13] and nutritionix.com[14] are good places to start.
Besides drinking responsibly and never drinking and driving, keep these other tips in mind:
Want to learn more about diabetes and alcohol? Read “Drinking and Diabetes: Seven Facts to Know,”[18] “Diabetes, Alcohol, and the Holidays: Tips to Stay Safe,”[19] and “Can People With Diabetes Drink Beer?”[20]
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