The liver often makes this choice when you drink without eating food—so consider snacking while you sip. This organ stabilizes glucose levels by storing carbohydrates and releasing them into the bloodstream between meals and overnight. It’s also the body’s detoxification center, breaking down toxins like alcohol so the kidneys can easily flush them away. Alcohol consumption can interfere with blood sugar as well as the hormones needed to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Diabetes Medications
They should also keep a closer watch on their blood sugar so they can quickly react if levels fall too low. A person should avoid sweetened liquor or alcohol mixed with sodas or punch. These may be confused with or mask the symptoms of low blood sugar. Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
It is also important to mention that due to the growing popularity of craft beers, the alcohol content of some beers is now higher than 5%. Beverages such as beer and wine can have an alcohol content of 2–20%. Most importantly, if individuals wish to engage in moderate drinking, they should first discuss it with their doctor. The glucose-lowering effect of alcohol is not restricted to group activities for recovery the peak of drunkenness — it actually peaks hours later. As an added complication, there is a substantial overlap between the feeling of tipsiness (or drunkenness) and the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Both conditions can make you feel woozy, wobbly, hungry, tired, or confused.
Alcohol prevents your liver from doing its job
With 4.6 grams of carbs per 12-ounce (360-mL) serving, it provides roughly 50% fewer carbs than a regular Budweiser (11, 12). The 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans define moderate alcohol intake as up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men (7). Diabetes causes lower-than-normal production or function of insulin — the hormone that helps control your blood sugar levels — so blood sugar management is important (1). “You need to know if your medications or any diabetes-related conditions you have could be seriously affected by alcohol consumption,” emphasizes Harris.
Alcoholic drinks can cause both blood sugar rises and blood sugar drops, making it important to think cautiously and plan ahead. However, the liver can't do this and metabolize alcohol at the same time. So it will focus on dealing with alcohol first rather than converting glycogen to alcohol brain fog glucose. However, the carb content may rise significantly if you mix vodka with tonic water — which has 32 grams of carbs per 12-ounce can — or a sugar-containing soda (27). However, you should be aware of the potential for hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar levels, when consuming them. However, their carb content can be virtually the same as that of red wines.
People who frequently consume a lot of alcohol can wipe out their energy storage in a few hours. A person’s overall health plays a significant role in how their body responds to alcohol. People with diabetes or other blood sugar issues must be careful when consuming alcohol. If you have diabetes, you may wonder if you should drink alcohol.
Each alcoholic beverage takes between 1 and 1.5 hours to finish processing in the liver. The more alcohol a person consumes, the higher their risk of experiencing low blood sugar levels. Despite the potential health perks of drinking alcohol, there are some cautions as well. When drinking alcohol is combined with the medications most often used to treat diabetes—particularly insulin and sulfonylureas, low blood glucose can result. While a glass of wine with dinner probably isn’t a big deal, a mojito on an empty stomach at happy hour is. The risk of hypoglycemia is why experts advise people with diabetes not to drink alcohol if their blood sugar is already low.
- When you drink alcohol, your liver has to work to remove it from your blood instead of working to regulate blood sugar, or blood glucose.
- A can of light beer may have only a handful of grams of carbohydrates; a regular beer about a dozen.
- When it is busy doing this, it does not release stored carbohydrates to maintain blood sugar, meaning that blood sugar levels can drop to dangerous levels.
- The same goes for cream liqueurs such as Bailey’s Irish Cream and Kahlua.
People with diabetes who plan on drinking alcohol should check their blood sugar levels before and up to 24 hours after drinking. They should also check these levels at bedtime to ensure that they are stable before sleeping. Type 2 diabetes and alcohol is not always a beneficial combination.
It makes sense, then, that drinking could play a role in preventing and treating type 2 diabetes. The best types of alcohol for people with diabetes are those with a low sugar or carb content. This may happen because your liver can’t maintain basal blood sugar levels while also metabolizing alcohol. This may lead to excessively low blood sugar — and even more so if you drink on an empty stomach (2).
Moderate wine intake in people with diabetes is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease (3, 16). That sort of double impact can cause blood sugar levels to drop to dangerously low levels, a condition known as hypoglycemia. Your healthcare provider will tell you how much alcohol is safe for you to drink.
Vodka soda
If you take metformin, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can increase the risk of a rare condition called lactic acidosis when lactic acid builds up in the bloodstream. This happens because the liver stores carbohydrates and releases them into the blood between meals and overnight to stabilizes blood sugar. The liver is also responsible for breaking down alcohol so the kidneys can flush it out of the body. Moderate alcohol consumption does not raise the risk of type 2 diabetes; however, heavy consumption might. That means that you’re just as likely to have blood sugar issues the morning after drinking.
This alcohol-induced hypoglycemia may have a delayed effect, hitting you after you’ve stopped drinking, possibly after you’ve fallen asleep, or even during the next day. If yours is low, follow your physician's recommendations, such as consuming some carbs to counteract the drop. What's more, when the liver breaks down alcohol, it converts it to fat, which can contribute to weight gain. Excess weight can contribute to the onset of type 2 diabetes, and it can how many homeless people are drug addicts make the condition worse. All alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram, which is more than carbohydrates (4 calories per gram) and only slightly less than fat (9 calories per gram). While there are some diabetes-friendly cocktails, such as the ones mentioned above, traditional cocktails are generally very high in added sugars.
In addition, alcohol consumption may excessively raise or lower your blood sugar levels, depending on the drink and whether you have eaten recently (2). Most diabetes medications work to lower your blood sugar (glucose) levels — and they’re particularly good at the job. Alcohol does the same thing, especially when consumed in larger quantities. That’s why it’s best to talk with your healthcare provider about drinking alcohol when you have diabetes and how (or whether) you can do it safely. Your liver will choose to metabolize the alcohol over maintaining your blood glucose, which can lead to hypoglycemia.
Benefits of Alcohol in Type 2 Diabetes
But some sweet wines and beers have more carbs than others, and the sugars in cocktails, hard seltzers, and similar drinks can make booze extremely high carb. These drinks may prompt a large and rapid blood sugar spike, necessitating the use of insulin (for those who customarily use insulin before meals). For example, studies have shown that for people who have type 2 diabetes, occasionally drinking alcohol may slightly reduce glucose levels. At this point, alcohol can affect blood sugar in ways that are especially important for people with type 2 diabetes.
