The rest comes from beverages, ideally including large amounts of water. Ultimately, the body becomes dehydrated as fluid is pulled from the organs and tissues. Keeping on top of your fluid intake can help to support your kidneys and keep your other organs healthy, while at the same time stabilizing your glucose levels. Staying hydrated is vital for general health, and even more so for people with diabetes.
Discover more about Type 2 Diabetes
Dating back thousands of years, wine remains a popular alcoholic beverage, and accounts for 17.4 percent of all alcohol consumed by Americans in 2021. Warehousing glycogen, the stored form of glucose, is among the many tasks your liver performs. The glycogen stays there until your liver breaks it down for release to address low blood sugar. When it comes to alcohol and diabetes, two related factors come into play — how diabetes medications and alcohol coexist in your system and the effect that drinking has on your liver.
6. Wine
When the body is not adequately hydrated, symptoms can range from mild to severe depending on the level of dehydration. Outside of writing, Vann is a licensed professional counselor and specializes in treating military and first responders coping with grief, loss, trauma, and addiction/recovery. She is a trauma specialist at the Farley Center, where she provides workshops on trauma, grief, and distress tolerance coping skills. She regularly practices yoga, loves to cook, and can’t decide between a Mediterranean style diet and an Asian-fusion approach. She received her bachelor’s degree from Trinity University, and has a master of public health degree from Tulane University. Madeline Vann, MPH, LPC, is a freelance health and medical writer located in Williamsburg, Virginia.
- Because artificially sweetened drinks have zero carbohydrates and low calorie counts, the Mayo Clinic says they may be a good alternative to soda and juice sweetened with traditional sugar.
- After all, other aspects of moderate drinkers’ lives may be behind the link.
- We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Health Categories to Explore
Their pancreas secretes insulin to help the sugar enter the body’s cells, where it is used for energy. Alcohol can cause a drop in blood sugar in the several hours after you consume it. This is especially important if you use insulin or other medications that can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Further, the authors stated that people with higher insulin levels at the beginning of the study may have already had metabolic issues not related to their intake of sugar-free sodas.
Making sure you’re properly hydrated is essential for your overall health. If you have prediabetes or diabetes or are at risk of these, skip the sugary sports drinks and go for water (or any of these options) instead. Orange juice is an affordable drink that’s also high in potassium and vitamin C. One cup of orange juice has 110 calories, 2 grams of protein, 1 gram of fiber and 20 grams of sugar, per the USDA. Look for options without added sugar; if you want to reduce the sugar content, dilute your orange juice with water.
- If you have diabetes, you might be wondering if you can safely enjoy an alcoholic beverage, and if so, what the “best” types of alcoholic beverages are to choose from.
- If you’d like to have the occasional drink, talk to your doctor first.
- For someone who has prediabetes or is managing diabetes, Duffy suggests a brand like Ultima.
- And if you often have hypoglycemia unawareness, a condition in which you don’t recognize you’re going low, drinking becomes especially dicey.
- You can add crushed fresh fruit (like berries or citrus) or fresh herbs to your water when the plain stuff starts to feel a little dull.
Drinking ample fluid throughout the day can help support glucose control by flushing out excess sugar in the blood through urine. Your healthcare provider will tell you how much alcohol is safe for you to drink. Depending on your health condition, that may mean no alcohol at all. In some cases, women with diabetes may have no more than one alcoholic beverage a day. Alcohol impairs your liver’s ability to produce glucose, so be sure to know your blood glucose number before you drink an alcoholic beverage. Unsweetened tea and coffee and all sugar-free beverages are good options.
What You Can Drink, Besides Water, When You Have Diabetes
You can also try adding some fresh fruit and herbs to give your drink a delicious twist. Whether you’re at home or at a restaurant, here are the most diabetes-friendly beverage options. Cream liqueurs contain cream, as well as sugar and flavorings, making them a higher-calorie liqueur. They’re often served as an after-dinner drink on their own or mixed with other ingredients into a cocktail. Even a seemingly low-carb mixed drink such as a gin and tonic still contains carbohydrates (about 15 grams) thanks to the tonic water.
These provide around 13 g of carbs, of which 12 g are from sugar, for every 2 oz (60 g) of liqueur. For example, margaritas, piña coladas, and daiquiris may pack 35 to 44 g of carbs per 7-oz (225-mL) drink. If you’d rather have a flavored version, can you drink if you have diabetes go for flavored sparkling water instead of flavored vodka, which may contain added syrups. However, the carb content of your drink may vary depending on what you mix the liquor with.
Beer is a significant source of carbohydrates, so it can impact blood sugar. Depending on the type, it can also be high in calories, so drinking beer may contribute to weight gain over time. Drinking any alcohol when taking diabetes medications can exacerbate this effect as well. So it’s essential to be mindful when consuming alcoholic beverages like beer when you have diabetes.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)