As 2022 ends, many people will raise their champagne glasses to toast a new year. Today my question is, should diabetics also celebrate with alcohol? Can diabetics drink alcohol?

First, I’d like to say I can’t tell you if you should drink alcohol as a diabetic. This is a personal decision and a serious topic you need to discuss with your doctor or endocrinologist. All I can offer is research, recommendations from two diabetic organizations, and my personal experiences as a diabetic.

American Diabetes Association Recommendations

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the biggest risk of drinking alcohol is hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Alcohol can make low blood sugar worse when combined with diabetic medication such as insulin and sulfonylureas. This is because your liver will metabolize alcohol over maintaining blood sugar levels, which can cause hypoglycemia. In other words, if your liver has to choose between keeping your blood sugar from dropping or processing alcohol, it will choose to process the alcohol.

High-carb alcoholic drinks may not be the best choice to keep your blood sugar from dropping, but eating carbs while drinking is the best solution. Also, keep in mind that moderate alcohol may cause high blood sugar, while excess alcohol can lower blood sugar levels.

Moderate drinking is one drink a day for women and up to two a day for men. That means a 5-ounce glass of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits, which is about 40% alcohol.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Recommendations

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) states to plan if you will dance or be active, which may also lower your blood sugar. You may have to adjust your basal insulin or eat extra carbs. They also recommend alternating between alcohol and water or another non-alcoholic drink (https://www.jdrf.org/t1d-resources/living-with-t1d/food-and-diet/diabetes-and-alcohol/).

To summarize, here are tips for drinking alcohol safely:

  • Never drink on an empty stomach
  • Adjust medication if needed
  • Alternate between drinking water with each alcoholic beverage
  • Test blood sugar frequently
  • Wear a medical alert id and let people you are with know you are diabetic
  • Have glucose tablets or something sweet to reverse low blood sugar

Dangers of Drinking Alcohol as a Diabetic

Occasionally, enjoying alcohol may be ok, but regular consumption may interfere with blood sugar control. This can increase the risk of impotence, peripheral neuropathy, and eye disease (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6761899/).

In addition, alcohol can cause weight gain, high blood pressure, and high triglyceride levels. Long-term use of alcohol can also cause insulin resistance. Another problem is that symptoms of low blood sugar can be mistaken for intoxication such as drowsiness and confusion.

Alcohol Can Make Diabetes Complications Worse

My personal experience is that reducing alcohol has helped my lymphedema and arthritis, which are two diabetic complications. Reducing alcohol has eased the pain in my arthritic knee and the swelling under my armpit caused by lymphedema (https://backtonaturediabetic.com/how-diabetes-affects-the-lymphatic-system/ and https://backtonaturediabetic.com/diabetes-affects-the-musculoskeletal-system/).

Alcohol Alternatives

Indeed, if you like drinking, it may be hard to stop cold turkey, but there are many alternatives. However, there are two issues with mocktails, wine coolers, and low-alcohol or no-alcohol drinks. The first is the high carbs because of their juice content. The second issue is non-alcoholic spirits can cost up to three times their alcohol counterpart. Still, they are excellent alternatives for reducing alcohol consumption.

Non-Alcoholic Spirits

A wine or spirit can only contain a maximum of 0.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) before it qualifies as non-alcoholic.

I have tried a few and here are my recommendations. I must warn you that the spirits do not stand on their own. You can’t use them as shots, but when blended with cocktail mixes or sodas, the flavors come out and they have a slight liquor taste.

Lyre’s Spiced Cane Non-Alcoholic Spirit – Spiced Rum Style

Lyre’s is the Medal recipient of the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. When taken as a rum shot, it tastes like sweet molasses, vanilla, and caramel. When added to soda, the rum-like flavor comes through.

Lyre’s Dark Cane Non-Alcoholic Spirit

The dark rum version is sweet like molasses and has a more rum flavor than the spiced rum style.

Ritual Zero Proof Tequila Alternative

Made from agave, lime, and guava, what I love about this spirit is that it captures the burning sensation of tequila with a spicy finish.

No Alcohol and Low Alcohol Wines

Fre Alcohol Removed Wine

Fre tastes more like juice than wine. The Chardonnay is semi-sweet and tastes like apple pear. If you like dry wine, Fre Red Blend and Merlot taste like traditional dry red wine.

Ariel Dealcoholized Wine

Ariel tastes more like wine. The Chardonnay is light, crisp, and citrusy. Ariel Cabernet Sauvignon captures the dry taste of Cabernet Sauvignon with dark fruit flavors.

Stella Rosa Blue and Red Wines

Stella Rossa contains 5% alcohol (wine usually contains 12%). Both the Blue and Red wines have a sweet flavor with just a touch of alcohol.

To Sum Up The Alcohol Alternatives

Lyre’s rums and Ritual’s tequila flavors come out when mixed with soda or a cocktail mix. However, I would not recommend drinking them as shots. Ariel and Fre are great nonalcoholic wines, but Fre tastes more like juice, whereas Ariel white wines have an authentic dry wine flavor. Finally, Stella Rossa is a low-alcohol sweet wine.  

Dry January

If you want to give up alcohol or reduce the amount you drink, consider taking part in Dry January.

Dry January is when people voluntarily stop drinking alcohol for the entire month. Many do so because of the excesses of the holidays and festivities. They also want to begin the new year detoxing from alcohol. Try abstaining from alcohol and see how you feel. Be a diabetic detective. Do you feel more energetic? Have you lost weight and is your blood pressure better? Do your joints hurt less? You may discover many benefits of reducing or abstaining from alcohol.

Conclusion

Discuss with your doctor if you can drink occasionally or in moderation. Be sure not to drink on an empty stomach, alternate drinking alcohol with drinking water, and test your blood sugar frequently. You may also need to adjust your medication or eat extra carbs. Most importantly, have a plan for treating low blood sugar.

Quote

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right,” Oprah