Sugar Alcohols Erythritol And The Ketogenic Diet
So, are sugar alcohols allowed on the medical ketogenic diet and modified Atkins diet ? Technically, most sugar alcohols should be counted as regular carbohydrates and kept to a minimum on the medical ketogenic and modified Atkins diets . Although they may affect blood glucose differently in different people, most sugar alcohols have the potential of raising blood sugar. The exception to this rule is erythritol, since it is metabolized differently and does not affect blood glucose. I generally tell my medical ketogenic diet and modified Atkins diet patients that when reading a food label for carbohydrate content, erythritol is the only sugar alcohol that can be deducted from total carbohydrate content. I also tell my patients that sugar alcohol can only be deducted from the total carbohydrate amount if erythritol is the only sugar alcohol used in a product. When other sugar alcohols are used in addition to erythritol, the sugar alcohol content cannot be deducted, so I tell my patients to read the food labels ingredient list carefully.
How Is Alcohol Metabolized In Your Body
First, letâs start with what happens in your body after you drink. A small amount of alcohol is absorbed in your stomach, but most occurs in your small intestine< sup> 2< /sup> . Once absorbed, alcohol moves to your liver, where it is processed with the help of specialized enzymes that break it down into smaller metabolites to remove it from the body.
While most alcohol metabolism happens in the liver, some happens in other parts of your body, including the pancreas. And how well you metabolize alcohol has a genetic component< sup> 3< /sup> , so some people can do it more efficiently or quickly than others.
What Alcohol Does Not Raise Blood Sugar
Alcohol with a low sugar or carbohydrate content is the best choice for diabetics.
Light beers, red and white wines, distilled spirits, and low-carb cocktails are all OK, as long as sugary juices or syrups are avoided.
Traditional cocktails, dessert wines, and cream liqueurs, on the other hand, tend to have higher sugar content, which can cause blood sugar levels to surge.
Whatever type of alcoholic beverage you choose, keep in mind that its not simply sugar that affects your blood sugar control. Its the same with booze. As a result, you should drink in moderation and adhere to the guidelines outlined above.
Certain diabetes drugs, such as insulin and sulfonylureas, can raise your risk of hypoglycemia, which is amplified by alcohol. If youre on medication, check with your doctor to see if and how you can consume alcohol safely.
Don’t Miss: Can Metformin Raise Blood Sugar
Get Help At Nashville Recovery Center
If you have issues with alcohol and blood sugar, it is crucial you get help immediately. The effect of alcohol on diabetes can be extremely dangerous. At Nashville Recovery Center, we aim to treat any and everyone. If you have diabetes and an addiction issue, we can help. Please call us today for more information.
What Is Blood Sugar
Blood sugar, also called blood glucose, is sugar thats carried to the cells through the bloodstream. Blood sugar generally refers to the concentration of sugar in your blood at a specific time.
We get sugar from the foods we eat, which is normal, and its the bodys job to regulate blood sugar levels, so they dont go too high or low. When a person has balanced blood sugar, its called homeostasis.
Throughout the day, its not uncommon for blood sugar levels to go up and down based on when you eat and how your body releases a hormone called insulin. If youve just eaten, your blood sugar levels will go up, and then theyll settle back down. If you have diabetes, however, your blood sugar levels may have to be specially managed.
If your blood sugar is always high, you have hyperglycemia, which can happen in people who dont have a good handle on their diabetes. If your blood sugar is below normal, its called hypoglycemia, and this can happen in diabetics if they accidentally use too much of their medication.
So, what role does alcohol play in all of this and how does alcohol affect blood sugar?
Also Check: Orthostatic Hypotension Diabetes
Diabetes Management: Sugar And Alcohol Guidelines
These facts dont take alcohol or sugar completely off the table when it comes to a diabetes diet. It just means that you need to think about how consuming them will fit into your overall diabetes management plan.
For example, though sugar can rapidly increase your blood glucose levels, experts now believe the total amount of all carbohydrates you eat affects your overall blood glucose level more than the type of carb you ingest. If you want to, you should be able to occasionally substitute a small amount of sugar for other types of carbohydrates in your diet and still be able to stay on track. Just keep in mind that most sweets contain a lot of carbohydrates in a very small serving, and this won’t keep you as full as the complex carbohydrates contained in whole grains, legumes, fruit, and certain vegetables. As a general guideline, Herrick recommends that patients consume 45 grams to 60 g of carbohydrates at each meal.
When it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages, as long as youre not pregnant, you should be able to enjoy small amounts socially, but you should always eat just before or while you’re drinking. Choose a meal or snack that contains protein, and never drink on an empty stomach or when your blood sugar is low. Women should limit themselves to just one drink or less per day, and men should limit themselves to two or less. One drink is equal to a 12 ounce beer, a 5 oz glass of wine, or 1 ½ oz of distilled spirits .
What Are Sugar Alcohols And Are They A Healthy Sugar Swap
In moving toward a healthier way of eating, many people reduce their intake of added sugars.
This has led to a surge in the popularity of sugar substitutes, such as sugar alcohols.
Sugar alcohols are added to foods, including baking mixes, cereals, and ice cream, to give them a sweet taste without the negative side effects associated with regular sugar.
Theyre healthier alternatives to regular sugar, but some people may wonder how they affect the body and whether they cause any side effects.
This article reviews what sugar alcohols are, how they affect health, and the downsides to consider if you choose to add them to your diet.
Read Also: Basal Insulin Side Effects
Its Harder To Make Good Choices
When youre drinking, its simply harder to use good judgment and make good choices, adds Harris. Youre more likely to choose cookies or vegetables, or more likely to eat far more cookies than your body can handle.
Even the morning after a night of drinking, you can find yourself craving greasy, heavy foods. Its also pretty unlikely youll want to exercise that day, too. Even regularly drinking just one or two glasses of wine a night can have a large impact on your motivation to exercise the next day.
Eat Food With Your Drinks
Even if youre eating an entirely low-carb meal, eating a little peanut butter or cheese or mixed nuts with a few glasses of wine can help prevent or reduce the drop in your blood sugar hours later.
Generally, eating a meal with your drinks is critical, and ideally, that meal would contain a few carbohydrates, too. For high-carb meals, you will need insulin for a large majority of those carbs. The more complicated the meal , the more complicated dosing your insulin around that meal with alcohol onboard too will be.
Also Check: How Long Does Metformin Er Stay In Your System
Why Does Alcohol Make Blood Sugar Levels Drop
Alcohol makes your blood sugar levels drop by inhibiting the livers ability to release glucose. Alcohol also creates an initial sugar spike that makes your body process sugar at a higher rate, causing the spike in sugar to be quickly metabolized below what is normal. When these two factors are combined, it makes your blood sugar levels drop after the initial spike in sugar.
How Much Sugar Alcohol Can You Have A Day
There isnt an exact limit on how much sugar alcohol you should eat. But its important to enjoy it in moderation.
This chart will let you know how much sugar alcohol you can eat without unpleasant side effects :
| Sugar alcohol | |
| 0.30 g | 0.30 g |
Folks living with diabetes should get about half their daily calories from carbs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Just keep in mind, diabetes nutrition recs can vary from person to person.
The amount of carbs or sugar alcohols you eat can depend on your age, weight, activity levels, or other factors. Def talk with a doctor or registered dietitian before you make major changes to your diet.
Read Also: What Are The Side Effects Of Metformin 500 Mg
Grams Of Carbohydrate In Common Alcoholic Beverages
Its not that people with diabetes cant drink at all, says Harris. Id certainly rather my patients have a glass of dry wine or low-carb beer than a soda.
And when it comes to guessing the carb-content in an alcoholic beverage, Harris says people too often make false assumptions.
Wine, for example, whether its red or white doesnt matter. Its not the color that impacts the carb-content, but the level of fermentation because fermentation turns the sugar into alcohol. So thats why the carbs in wine wont impact your blood sugar as much that same carbohydrate amount from a glass of actual grape juice.
Lets take a look at the carbohydrate content of common alcoholic beverages, according to the Calorie King.
Red wines, per 5 fl oz/147 ml glass
- Merlot 3.7 grams
Spirits, per 1 fl oz/37 ml
Most spirits actually contain 0 grams of carbohydrates. Some flavored varieties, like Smirnoff Strawberry, still only contain fewer than 3 or 4 grams of carbohydrates, which is generally not a quantity youd actually want to cover with insulin.
Mixers: Remember, the only mixers that dont contain carbohydrates are club soda and diet soda. Most other mixers, including tonic and sour mix, contain at least 20 to over 40 grams carbohydrates per 8 ounces.
How Does Alcohol Affect Blood Sugar
Alcohol affects your blood sugar for as long as it is in your body. Alcohol can cause blood glucose levels to rise or fall, depending on how much you drink. The liver is very important when it comes to regulating blood sugar levels throughout the day. The main function of your liver is to store glycogen, which is then stored in the form of glucose. When drinking, alcohol affects the liver and its ability to release glucose into the bloodstream.
Alcohol is capable of raising your blood sugar. Alcoholic drinks are high in sugar. This can cause your blood sugar to spike. The effects of alcohol on your blood sugar will initially increase as the sugar from alcohol enters your blood, then peak once the maximum amount of sugar in the alcohol has been absorbed. This can take about 1-2 hours. Your body then releases insulin to bring your high sugar level down and inhibits the release of glucose removed from the liver. So your blood sugar will initially spike then decrease.
Once your body has absorbed all the sugar it can from alcohol, it will start to use up the sugar, decreasing your blood sugar levels. Alcohol impairs liver function and can keep your liver from releasing enough glycogen to keep your blood glucose levels from going too low. As the liver inhibits the release of more sugar, your blood sugar levels will lower. This makes your blood sugar low as long as the alcohol keeps impacting your livers normal function.
- Confusion
- Blurry vision
You May Like: Adverse Effect Of Metformin
Take Notes On How Much Insulin You Took For Different Types Of Alcohol
Everybodys a little bit different, so you cant just copy how a friend with diabetes manages their insulin around a glass of wine, says Harris.
For some people, one glass of wine at 9 p.m. can cause a significant drop in blood sugar at 4 a.m. And for others, nothing happens at all! Its crucial that you approach each type of alcohol with an awareness that it might affect you differently than the last type of alcohol you drank.
Beer, for example, varies in its carb-count but those carbs are coming from a very starchy sourcegrain. So you may find that one bottle of beer calls for 1 unit of insulin while two glasses of pinot grigio doesnt require any insulin.
Harris wants to remind us all again to keep track of how many drinks weve had, too, because the more you drink, the more work your liver has to do to process that poison. And that means more time spent with alcohol impacting your blood sugars, too.
Stevia A Natural Sweetener Option
Steviol glycosides are sweeteners derived from the leaf of the stevia plant, which is native to Central and South America. Truvia and Pure Via, both brands of stevia-based sweetener, are calorie-free, and stevia is often used as a sweetener in foods and beverages. According to the 2019 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, published in January 2019 in Diabetes Care, nonnutritive sweeteners, including stevia, have little to no impact on blood sugar. The FDA has approved the use of certain stevia extracts, which it has generally recognized as safe .
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center notes that people have reported side effects, like gastrointestinal symptoms, after eating high amounts of stevia. But to date, there is no solid scientific research to prove these claims.
The FDA recommends an ADI of 4 mg or less of Truvia per kilogram of body weight per day. A 132-lb individual would need to consume nine tabletop packets of the artificial sweetener per day to reach that limit.
Also Check: What Medications Should Not Be Taken With Metformin
How Long Does Alcohol Lower Blood Sugar
Whenever it is in your body, alcohol is affecting your blood sugar. Upon consuming alcohol, you will experience an initial increase in blood sugar. This is occurring as the sugar from alcohol enters your blood. After all of the sugar has been absorbed, blood sugar levels begin to decrease. This process typically takes one to two hours.
Can A Diabetic Drink Alcohol Occasionally
Drinking alcohol might cause your blood sugar to spike or fall if you have diabetes. Furthermore, alcohol is high in calories.
If you must drink, do so only when your diabetes and blood sugar levels are under control. One drink of alcohol should be recorded as two fat exchanges if youre on a calorie-controlled diet. Learn more about how alcohol affects diabetes.
Its a good idea to consult your doctor to determine whether or not drinking alcohol is safe for you.
Read Also: Diabetes Mellitus A1c
Choose Drinks That Are Generally Lower In Carbohydrates
Ordering a sugar-laden cocktail is sort of asking for trouble because youre combining a lot of fast-acting carbohydrates with liquor thats going to potentially cause a sharp drop in your blood sugar hours after drinking.
Instead, choose dry wines , cocktails with sugar-free mixers , lighter beers.
And avoid choices like dessert wines , alcoholic ciders, and cocktails mixed with tonic, sour mix, juice, and soda.
Can No Sugar Alcohol Affect Blood Sugar Levels
Positive health effects from sugar alcohol include the following: It has less impact on blood sugar levels. Insulin may not be needed at all, or only in small amounts, to metabolize sugar alcohol.
Does Sugar-Free Alcohol Raise Blood Sugar? Do sugar alcohols raise blood sugar? Sugar Alcohols are a type of carbohydrate, and they can raise blood sugar. As youll notice in the Nutrition Facts label to the right, sugar-free foods that contain sugar alcohols are not carbohydrate- or calorie-free!
Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Diabetes Blood Sugar? While moderate amounts of alcohol may cause blood sugar to rise, excess alcohol can actually decrease your blood sugar level sometimes causing it to drop into dangerous levels, especially for people with type 1 diabetes. Beer and sweet wine contain carbohydrates and may raise blood sugar.
Does Quitting Alcohol Lower Blood Sugar? The body often eliminates these spikes in blood sugar by turning the sugar into fat, creating obesity, sometimes known as a beer belly. By stopping alcohol use, you will reduce your risk of obesity which, in turn, will improve your blood sugar levels.
Also Check: Is Metformin Bad For Your Heart
Benefits Of Sugar Alcohol For Diabetes
Sugar alcohol is a solid sweet substitute. If eaten in moderation, it can be part of your daily diabetes diet.
The American Diabetes Association suggests you use it in coffee, tea, cereal, or on fruit. But you can also make top-tier baked goods with it too . Youll get the fab flavor you love with a lower risk of blood sugar spikes.
But wait, theres more! Sugar alcohol has less calories than regular sugar. Making the switch could help you keep your caloric intake in check. This might help you maintain a healthy weight, which is hella important if you have diabetes.
Diabetes And Alcohol: How Does Alcohol Affect Blood Sugar
Balancing diabetes and alcohol can be a tricky endeavor. Even in a non-diabetic, not only does alcohol affect certain people differently, different types of alcohol have very different effects on the very same person!
When you add diabetes to a night of drinking, things can get complicated, and even potentially dangerous.
For people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who take insulin or other diabetes medications that lower blood sugar levels, drinking alcohol needs to be done thoughtfully.
In this article, were going to look at how alcohol affects blood sugar levels, when it can become especially dangerous, and how to drink alcohol safely as a person with diabetes.
Recommended Reading: Is Banana Bad For Diabetics