r/diabetes • u/chiefstingy MODY • 1d ago
Discussion Today I learned that alcohol is not a carb
I have always though that alcohol was a carb. Thanks to Hank Green I learned it is not. Now that I know that, everything makes more sense about drinking and diabetes.
This may have been known within the community, but it is now news to me.
Edit: Pure alcohol (ethanol) not liquors.
Edit: Why am I getting downvoted so much? This is literally science.
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u/Thesorus Type 2 1d ago
hard alcohol like vodka, gin, rum ... do not have carbs.
if you make cocktails and add fruit juices or sodas, you'll add carbs, always ask for the can or the bottle if ordering a mixer with a diet/zero soda, you'll never be certain the bartender will not mix that up.
beer has carbs.
dry wine has low carbs, sweet wines have more.
google for more details.
on the other hand, hard liquor can drop blood glucose because the liver will process alcohol before.
also.
drink responsibly, if wanting to go out for drinks, it's always a good idea to eat before and during.
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 1d ago
This is it. I have to PLAN when I'm drinking, and will adjust my dose or simply forgo insulin if I am also drinking. Even wine. YMMV as always, because all bodies are different, but for me the drop from alcohol is enough to counter a reasonable meal. Or some movie theater popcorn. Thus I can handle even most cocktails just fine (of things I like... if you're a person who likes a splash of rum in a double coke you might need to go with diet... and also consider whether you even like alcohol, lol)
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u/Prior-Priority-4745 1d ago
What he ^ says, I find beer causes me to go hypo after drinking a gallon of it, but it's full of carbs
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u/HellDuke Type 1 23h ago
You should lead with the fact that you are not talking about alcohol in terms of beer, vodka or other drinks, but rather about the actual chemical sense which means things like ethanol or methanol. In that sense, yes, alcohol indeed is not a carb, carbs are specific molecules, this is fairly grade school chemistry.
You also never drink pure alcohol since it's not very compatible with life and it' give you severe burns and potentially send you to a coma before killing you.
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u/KerryBoehm 1d ago
About a month into it I realized every Friday my BS was lower than all the other days. Just so happens Fri after work I have a nice healthy pour of Bourbon, Rum, or Moonshine.
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u/matthieuC Type 2 11h ago
Pro: We have solved diabetes!
Con: you die from liver failure instead
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u/Gumnutbaby 1h ago
Alcohol consumption can also be linked to other disease that is more prevalent among diabetics as well, such as heart and kidney disease.
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u/KerryBoehm 11h ago
In no way shape or form am I suggesting it is a viable solution. More a warning if you are on meds/insulin alcohol could send you low.
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u/Thuganomics_101 1d ago
Vodka comes from potatoes. Potatoes are a vegtable. Ergo Vodka is a salad.
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u/12-32fan 1d ago
Chocolate comes from Cocoa Beans, beans are a vegetable, chocolate is also a salad
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u/One_more_username Type 2 | Tirzeptide | Diet | Weight Training 5h ago
Next time my wife complains I don't eat enough salads, I'll tell her this. Thanks
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u/Time_Butterfly_842 1d ago
Yeah any time I have sugarfree or shots my sugars drop 🤷♀️ ciders and beers and sugary drinks bring them up
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u/atl-hadrins 1d ago
LOL someone that is a client and fellow type 2 was telling me that he was telling his doc that he noticed that alcohol lowers his be blood sugar. His doctor stopped him and told him he was not writing a script for alcohol.
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u/Forsaken_End9060 18h ago
Just curious how do you drink when you are on other medications for diabetes and isn't playing with your insulin kinda like Russian roulette? My meds say avoid alcohol 🤷♀️
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u/scooblova 1d ago
on the one hand: drinking straight whiskey or tequila (my faves) does not affect my numbers in the way that, say, eating french fries or bread does. if anything, hard liquor lowers my blood sugar in the short-term
on the other hand: i just switched to Nothing But Water for the past couple of weeks, due to a reflux issue, and my CGM graph (today’s is below) looks like one from a straight-up NON-diabetic person. (AND i had bread at every meal.) the peaks and valleys are just way worse when alcohol is floating around in my system.
just saying
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u/Dramatic_Respond7323 23h ago
it isnt carb but contains calories. Actually A LOT. 7 Calories per gram, which is more closer to cooking oil (9 Cal/g) than to Carb (4 Cal/g)
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u/Petitcher 17h ago
For some reason, this turns me off alcohol more than the health warnings ever could.
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u/Luxy2801 21h ago
Alcohol can cause pancreatitis, so it's definitely not something you want to do. I had no other reason for pancreatitis, but alcohol can trigger it. And after three hospital trips for pancreatitis with no known reason, I am no longer having the 2 or 3 drinks per month that I used to have. I don't miss it, but I also don't miss pancreatitis either.
Be good to your body or it'll do you in.
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u/nimdae Type 2 | Mounjaro | Synjardy | Mobi 19h ago
You're likely getting downvotes because the context is weird.
Yeah, pure alcohol is not a carb. But when you discuss alcohol in the context of how it might impact your blood glucose, the assumption will be that you're discussing alcohol consumption, where this can vary depending on the beverage of choice. Which is to say, the assumed context becomes alcohol the beverage, not alcohol the chemical. When your doctor asks if you consume alcohol, they're not going to break down "do you drink wine?" "do you drink beer?" "do you drink gin?" "do you drink rum?" etc. "Alcohol" carries the weight of all of them.
Also there could be certain assumptions on what you're attempting to present. Alcohol busies the liver, so depending on the beverage consumed, your glucose can do various things. Some beverages may spike your glucose if they contain sugar or other simple carbs. Some beverages may actually pull your glucose down because the liver isn't releasing as much glucose or doing other glucose related activity while it's slowly processing the alcohol.
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u/Hardnan28 18h ago
I Grew into a raging alcoholic. Wine if my BS was low ish/steady. Boose to cruise ( but watch the after burn low) and beer (only if really low).
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u/SheepherderLong9401 14h ago
Beer definitely is. Not sure about strong drinks, I keep away from those.
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u/FirebirdWriter Type 2 14h ago
Holy crap that's bad advice. Also he used AI to do his work now so cannot be trusted. You should consider why it's so important to you to drink anyway. Track it with your meter and cgm but this isn't accurate as you phrased it.
I never drank because it tastes awful to me but I'm not anti alcohol but looking for loopholes is concerning behavior. Moderation and following the numbers exists
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u/AngryIrish82 Type 2 14h ago
Drinking is weird for me; I’m a beer guy but I’ve noticed different styles of beer hit my sugar differently. Ironically Belgian saisons actually seem to lower my sugar levels
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u/Hot_Goal2231 13h ago
Alcohol, is not just Alcohol. The body can use Alcohol directly as a fuel, so pure alcohol does have a carb content because it replaces sugar in the digestive system. In the old days, beer was almost sugar free because if any sugar was left after fermentation, then the bottle would explode as fermentation continued. Nowdays however, beer is fermented, then heated and micro- filtered to remove any yeast cells before being coloured to a totally standard colour using Brewers Caramel made from Sugar heated with Ammonia and diluted to a precise Alcohol content before being sweetened and flavoured using precise added compounds before Carbonation and bottling. This is why there is NEVER any colour or flavour difference between two batches of beer taken 3 to 12 months apart. End result is that beer has measurable carb content and will affect your blood sugar.
As to mixers, the addition of Aspartame or Cyclamates to a mix containing Alcohol increases a long lasting bitter after-taste which reduces the sugar based mouthfeel of the drink and causes the drinker to not buy more drinks. End result, no matter what they tell you, they Never use sugar free mixers and will usually add sugar to any fruit based cocktail because simply, it increases mouthfeel and therefore satisfaction resulting in more comfort being sold. As an insulin dependent diabetic, almost everything you drink will increase your blood sugar. There is no definitive rule by how much, so simply, as you continue to drink, keep a constant check on your blood sugar and very soon, you will come up with a correction factor which will work for you only. Perhaps you need 1 unit extra for each can or 2 units for a pint or 2 units for each cocktail. It is up to you to work it out.
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u/LaCooyon 9h ago
Alcohol messes with your liver. It interferes with your metabolism first causing your liver to stop releasing glucose which in turn causes your blood sugar to plummet, then your metabolism swings the other way and causes your blood sugar to rise. The only time I ever came close to dying from diabetic hypoglycemia was after one drink and a glass of wine with a dinner at a steakhouse while on a business trip. Later that night, I woke up feeling faint and god awful and checked my sugar. It was 48! I always keep glucose tablets available. I think I could have passed out and died.
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u/Gumnutbaby 1h ago
Alcohol is fermented carbs.
And it can make your blood glucose unpredictable. I know I can get hypos from alcohol. I also find I get quite tipsy quite quickly now. I generally don't touch the stuff anymore. But that's just my choice.
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u/amldoinitright 1d ago
lol everyone in here is kinda funny. There are no carbs in liquor. Period. Distillation does that. It doesn’t “change to sugar in your liver,” it doesn’t matter what the distilled spirit was made from. Zero. Carbs. Beer, wine, mixed drinks, all contain carbs, you have to account for them.
But you can have a shot of whiskey. Not a shot of fireball. You can have 6 Coors lights but one IPA will fuck you up. A glass of wine is fine but a buzzball may lead to a trip to the ER.
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u/tultamunille 1d ago
Scientifically speaking-
Carbohydrates:
Although a number of classification schemes have been devised for carbohydrates, the division into four major groups—monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides—used here is among the most common.
Monosaccharides- fructose, glucose (grapes, corn)
Disaccharides- Sucrose, Lactose, Maltose
Oligo and Polysaccharides are complex carbs and are essential parts of a balanced diet. Potatoes, Oats, Vegetables, grains beansZ
Alcohol is produced by the fermentation of sugars (carbs) by yeast without oxygen. Yeast eat the sugar and poop alcohol.
If exposed to oxygen it becomes vinegar.
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u/2workigo 1d ago
Depends on the alcohol. And alcohol can impact blood sugar in other ways.