Type 2 Diabetic. Any tips re alcohol

[Lifelongfan]

Love beer at the weekend especially stronge ales and Polish lagers. Trying to improve lifestyle so i can stop taking tablets. Are Red wine & gin better? Have already improved my diet though still eating too much bread. Any tips re a drink at the weekend celebrating an O's win? Only drink at the weekend and is my vice so would prefer not to give up. Not overweight and fit for my age-60

[Admin]

Vodka and Slimline Tonic

[cockhat]

Love beer at the weekend especially stronge ales and Polish lagers. Trying to improve lifestyle so i can stop taking tablets. Are Red wine & gin better? Have already improved my diet though still eating too much bread. Any tips re a drink at the weekend celebrating an O's win? Only drink at the weekend and is my vice so would prefer not to give up. Not overweight and fit for my age-60

If only at weekends in moderation should be fine - a couple of pints not four or five.
Let yourself go too celebrate an O’s win, but that is unlikely to be very often!

[Proposition Joe]

Good job you support Orient rather than Man City.

[Lifelongfan]

Love beer at the weekend especially stronge ales and Polish lagers. Trying to improve lifestyle so i can stop taking tablets. Are Red wine & gin better? Have already improved my diet though still eating too much bread. Any tips re a drink at the weekend celebrating an O's win? Only drink at the weekend and is my vice so would prefer not to give up. Not overweight and fit for my age-60

If only at weekends in moderation should be fine - a couple of pints not four or five.
Let yourself go too celebrate an O’s win, but that is unlikely to be very often!

This is the issue. only at weekends but say 6 pints a time

[BIGRON]

Ive been a drinker many years and had type 2 , I also suffered high blood pressure , the last couple of years I've cut my booze consumption in half and now only normally drink at weekends , i often have a couple of glasses of red wine instead of beer on a Saturday , since cutting down and drinking the red my blood pressue has dropped down and my diabetes has gone im still a fat b*stard though

[Dunners]

6 pints a night at the weekend? And what constitutes a weekend night? Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Even if it's two nights then thats 12 pints. You'll find your easily over any recommendations.

I've also cut out drinking midweek, but I do love a beer at weekends. My preference is Belgian trappist ales or a decent wine. But, even sticking to no more than the equivalent of 2 pints of a 6% ale on three nights seems to undo any good work for the rest of the week.

As Admin has said, a vodka (or gin) with a slimline tonic is your "healthiest" option.

[Lifelongfan]

6 pints a night at the weekend? And what constitutes a weekend night? Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Even if it's two nights then thats 12 pints. You'll find your easily over any recommendations.

I've also cut out drinking midweek, but I do love a beer at weekends. My preference is Belgian trappist ales or a decent wine. But, even sticking to no more than the equivalent of 2 pints of a 6% ale on three nights seems to undo any good work for the rest of the week.

As Admin has said, a vodka (or gin) with a slimline tonic is your "healthiest" option.

Saturday and Sunday. Have never drunk midweek. like red wine and vodka so need to phase out the beer-gutted

[Cheshunto]

I’m type 2 also but luckily have never been a heavy drinker.
I was told to drink skimmed Milk, and eat whole meal bread and not the processed stuff that supermarkets sell.
I have the odd pint of lager or glass of wine but have cut down since retiring and not attending work events.

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

Probably need to have an honest conversation with yourself - if you’re drinking 6 pints in an evening, then what will you do after the second pint if you’re cutting down? Will you leave it there, or are your inhibitions down just enough that you relax your rules to get to the sweet spot?
If the former, then cut down and enjoy two pints. If the latter, you might be better off having a temporary break altogether then reintroducing moderate drinking later

[Proposition Joe]

Feel a bit hungover just thinking about having 6 pints when not going 'out' out. Have to admit, from the OP I thought this would be about swapping out a couple here and there ("a drink", in your words) rather than smashing a dozen pints over 2 days.

[Lifelongfan]

Feel a bit hungover just thinking about having 6 pints when not going 'out' out. Have to admit, from the OP I thought this would be about swapping out a couple here and there ("a drink", in your words) rather than smashing a dozen pints over 2 days.

Maybe 6 tins which is not short of 6 pints really

[Exiled O]

Alcohol spikes blood sugar levels. The reason for this is that the glucose in alcohol is absorbed rapidly. The difficulty is that you get a significant drop in blood sugar levels a while later as alcohol inhibits the ability of the liver to release glycogen (essentially glucose that been converted by insulin so that it can be stored) It's this instability in blood sugars that's the issue. Drinking on an empty stomach makes the problem worse. Some diabetic meds like Glicazide make the pancreas work harder to produce insulin so it's probably best not to drink too much if you're taking this.If you're taking Metformin it's less of a problem. As for which alcohol creates the least problems I'm not sure but I seem to remember that wine is better than beer. There are some very good diets which have a significant positive impact on type 2 diabetes in a couple of months. They do have to be adhered to very closely to get the benefits and some find them a bit of a pain but the results for some people are very impressive.

[Yanzi Gravy]

Alcohol free Guinness is a God send for me as well as all the others on the market. Lost stone in six weeks as less than half calories too.

[Give it to Jabo]

Is it just me or do alcohol-free drinks taste chemically?

[StillSpike]

Is it just me or do alcohol-free drinks taste chemically?

Some of the poorer ones seem to taste of burnt caramel, but Guinness 0.0 is the best of the lot. I can hardly tell the difference (except, of course, that I don't have the impulsive need for another). Spent a day at the Rugby at Murrayfield the other week, and it was all I drank.

[elO]

guinness 0, as said above, is a godsend. Still need to try on tap (the Devonshire and Punch & Judy in Central Ldn serve it). If not to quit entirely, at least to drink fewer calories and units.

[Orientnil]

Hello, I'm another type 2 bloke. If it's of interest, I can report... 'Have given up some of the sugary stuff, don't scoff between meals and take dietician's advice fairly seriously. That said, I have 3 insulin jabs a day, have an auto blood sugar monitor and live safe and well day to day. I like a drink or two in the evening and intend to live long enough to see the Os in the Prem. Best of luck to you.