What are your thoughts and advice on drinking we one?
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I don’t regularly drink wine - maybe once or twice a week - but I have had 1 glass at a time and usually stick with Cabernet Sauvignon – and find it does not impact my BG at all. As to whether or not people should drink one or two glasses a day - I know there have been studies that have said both positive and negative things on the topic. Personally, I am unsure, but see no problem “occasionally.”
My $0.02
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I usually limit my drinking of wine to when I eat out. I order the red house wine (often a cab) usually and figure 5 carbs for 5 ounces. I limit it to two servings and usually do OK.
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I love wine. I can drink more than 2;).
I think the recommendations are probably very conservative as to what healthy limits are. Your body has a built in mechanism to tell you if you’ve drank too much-- you feel it the next day.
I make, enjoy, and study wine. I envision my retirement as primarily a pursuit of enjoying great wines of the world in their native habitats.
"Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing."
Ernest Hemingway
From a practical management perspective-- I don’t count carbs for wine or dose insulin for it. I find it has essentially zero effect on my blood sugar unless I over-indulge in which case the next day I would tend to run lower.
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@Sam19—you and my brother would enjoy each other’s company. A few years ago, he and his wife joined a wine coop in Santa Cruz, CA. They participate in all the various stages of production (I was there for a group bottling event once—huge fun!) and get a case or so–I can’t remember exactly. We could sit on his deck and watch the sun sink into the ocean while taste testing a bottle or two…Oh—and I agree with you!
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i joke that wine is “fun” insulin. i drink it at weekends when out for meals and afterwards. and sometimes before. sometimes in excess. i never dose for it or count carbs for it, as it brings my bg down and keeps it there, allowing me to take less insulin for whatever im eating.
it keeps on working as an insulin mimetic the next day if i drink a lot of it, allowing me to basically eat whatever i want with no spike, which is good because i get that hangover hunger and just want to eat everything!
before having t1, i really enjoyed a beer and when going out to a disco, mixed drinks with rum. those days are over, as i cant see bolusing for liquids, unless it is chocolate syrup.
like sam, i think the recommendations are conservative.
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Like @Sam19, I am fond of wine—mostly cabs for me, but I also enjoy a good merlot or Shiraz. I, too don’t seem to need to worry too much about amounts, within reason–LOL–nobody likes to get sloppy and fall down!
And I also have what we call “my magical thinking 3 little bedtime chugs”-----it appears to help settle the dawn phenom for me…
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@pancreaswanted, I think we would get along. 
I have joked that “wine is nature’s insulin” … the joke, of course, being that insulin is nature’s insulin! Ha! Wine tends to help me stay level with a meal or drop me slightly if consumed without food.
I love wine and drink 1-2 glasses most nights. I count the carbs and the calories and it fits right in with my eating plan. I don’t see any advantage to adhering to such a broad and non-specific recommendation… I’m as large as many men, so why should I have 50% the alcohol of them? Basing your consumption off your own nutrition plan/needs, and how it makes you feel, makes more sense to me.
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Thank you so much for your comments and that it actually lowers your big! Gotta luv it. I like 2 glasses of wine a couple times a week. Either out to dinner with friends or at home while testing friends! It is a sure relaxer for me! I just started taking my bGgage on Monday. 110 after lunch, 131 in am, 160 in am., 101 after lunch today! I have been eating a salad for lunch and dinner, only 2 meals a day as I get up sometimes at ten, have coffee and then eat lunch by 11:30-12:00. I used to have trouble with eating salad w my bipolar meds and now metformin.,…and have found I need to stay away from iceberg lettuce! I have lost 19 lbs since Christmas swimming 45 min each and everyday in our Condo indoor pool! (The old YMCA) I live in Michigan close to Lake Michigan and love it!
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I don’t believe the suggested limitations on wine consumption have anything to do with carb content - it is about alcohol which can contribute to hypos by lowering blood sugar levels and about the potential long term complications like getting addicted.
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Similar experience to those above: I do not count any carbs in my wine and do feel its “fun insulin” effect. However, the latter only seems to kick in after I’ve had two full glasses. (I mostly drink strong flavorful wines like good zinfandels, malbecs and mavruds; not sure if the kind matters.)
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I think it mainly matters whether the wine is a sweet dessert wine, or a dry wine. I only drink dry wines, Cabernets, pinots, Sauvingon Blanc, etc. I never bolus for these wines.
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I usually drink Semillon Sauvignon Blanc or Verdelho (a wine made by local vineyards) and have no problem.
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I enjoy wine regularly, probably four or five nights a week, I have two glasses. On occasion I drink more than that. I like dry reds, Zinfandel , Chambourcin, Malbec, though I usually buy Cab Sauv or Merlot to keep on hand. It has little to no effect on my Bgs, unless I overindulge, then I will go low about 6 hours later. My uncle made a very, very tasty cherry wine that sent my numbers through the roof, though I had no idea what the carb content was and kind of winged it.
It does help keep my numbers steady if I have a hearty meal, or a meal with low carbs but a ton of fat and protein. SO and I go to Flemings once or twice year and I enjoy a very good steak and sometimes a lobster tail smothered in fatty sauce with veggies also smothered in butter-y sauce. A glass of wine or two with the meal keeps my numbers in check. Oh my, now I want a Fleming’s steak!!
I really do enjoy the whole wine atmosphere. There is a wine bar within walking distance of me and it’s so much nicer than going to a bar. It has that small town bar feel, but none of the loud, wild bar crowd. Everyone is just a little buzzed and super friendly there.
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I have never had a Malbec or mavrud…is that the brand name or type? Loving the answers here for me!!! Thought I would die from not having a corona this summer. I am a go to wine lover in the winter!
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I drink wine (both red and white) and as long as it’s not a sweet wine I don’t notice any affect on my BG, in either direction.
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Both of those are types. Malbec is most commonly from Argentina (though you could find Chilean too) and Mavrud from East European Balkan countries (for example, Bulgaria, which is not a well-known country of origin in the US but does have some pretty good reds they export).
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For much of my adult life I loved dry red wines. I lived near many great wineries and vineyards in central coastal California. Great Pinot noir, Malbec, Shiraz, merlot I enjoyed but no sweet wines. I have diabetes since 1983 with thankfully no diabetes complications yet. Yet I had no alcohol since 2007. My concern was willpower. Usually I could adjust my pump ratios to handle the carbs and compensate for liver functioning, but with progressive glasses of wine I lost my effectiveness and discipline controlling the carb and cheese snacks that accompanied them. I am not a moralist, but my a1c’s became better when the wine stopped. That is just how my system works. Your mileage may differ. Plus stopping wine reduced interactions with the many medications I am forced to use for heart failure, systemic lupus, osteoporosis, BPH, OCD and numerous areas. The complications overwhelmed my enjoyment. I hope my comments add to your discussion; this is my first submission. Regards to all.
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Yes, I surely can see your reasoning with the many complications that you have. Thank Yuri out for your input!
Hi @ClydeK…Happy to read your input! I think for a lot of us, willpower enters the equation for different items that fit into our comfort zones. When I first went very low carb a decade ago, it was easiest to just not eat any of the things, like rice, that I used to eat mounds of. Gradually, as I got more confident, I carefully experimented and found a Purple Thai Rice that was so rich and flavorful that a small amount with a stir-fry was very satisfying…
I had the snacking problem with wine at first. But gradually found substitute lo-carb snacks that worked. And that keeps evolving. Just a couple months ago, I found a salty snack that didn’t give me a spike—first such in a decade.
I am so sorry, you have so many other difficulties to deal with. Isn’t it an amazing balancing act?! We are Warriors!..For me it is also fibromyalgia, severe arthritis, hypo thyroidism, nasty White Coat Hypertension…
I’m so happy you found us and I truly look forward to getting to know you…I’m here most days, but a little distant right now as I am 3000 miles from home helping to care for an ailing family member. But I’ll be back more regularly in about 10 days…Blessings!
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