Stumbled on this very refreshing conversation while trying to figure out how others bolus for EtOH, which I enjoy in what I think of as moderation. That is to say, 3-4 nights /week, often one or two beers and I like IPAs and DIPAs the most and I need to treat the first one fully (25 grams) but if I have a second, I dose it as half, and not for the third one at all.
Cocktails — I like a Manhattan. I don’t take any extra insulin because there isn’t much sugar in the vermouth and it’s counteracted by the whiskey!
I also like wine, white (like a Voignier) for socializing, or with dinner. Red less commonly and sometimes I pay for it with a subsequent headache.
Finally: Scotch. Mmmm. . . But I stick with one.
Rereading the above, I’m sounding like a possible problem drinker but do far no family effects, no DUIs, no identified health effects, no job or educational problems so maybe I got lucky. Actually, I know I got lucky because I don’t fight or get sick; if I have a bit too much I simply fall asleep. And only very rarely get awoken by the beep beep beep of the CGM.
Why drink? Sense of relaxed well-being, ease of socializing, taste. . .
But every individual response is different and I certainly won’t judge.
Just read a book called, “Quit like a woman.” A feminist take on recovery from alcohol. She makes a very convincing case that there is no such thing as a healthy way to consume alcohol because it is, in fact (not just her opinion), bad for you, at any amount. Alcohol is poison. She also does a good job comparing the way “big alcohol” has done some of the very same things to market its products that “big tobacco” did, including defending its consumption, and coming up with bogus studies that show that a glass of red wine a day is good for you, or ad slogans “drink responsibly” (there is no such thing) all to foment a society that regards alcohol as socially acceptable and encouraged. It is not. Alcohol is literally poison. I mean, I can’t imaging imbibing on purpose a bit of cyanide or strychnine if taking a little bit at a time could, you know, capture a glow and a buzz.
Totally aside from all the car accidents and other reckless and dangerous things people due when consuming alcohol, there are the very serious health issues that come with consuming any amount of alcohol. My understanding is that Alcohol is the third leading cause of cancer. Finally, the idea of intentionally consuming something that freezes your liver from possibly saving your life if you go low is yet an added reason for those of us with T1D to stay far, far away from alcohol. Its too bad our society condones alcohol at every turn, while being in complete denial about its horrendous cost and lives.