# Non Alcoholic Beer & Wine



## Royston46 (Dec 17, 2010)

Can anyone tell me if you have had non alcoholic beer & wine ? I was thinking about getting some in for Xmas ?

Is it OK for Diaetics ? and does anyone know if you can get this from the major supermarkets ?


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## Northerner (Dec 17, 2010)

You can certainly purchase non-alcoholic wine and beer from most major supermarkets. Personally I prefer the real thing, which is fine in moderation for people with diabetes. You do need to check whether you are OK with any meds you might be taking though. As you are pretty new to things you are still at the stage of learning when 'enough is enough' regarding how your blood sugar levels will react to alcohol, so it is a learning process. I avoided alcohol completely for about 3 months after diagnosis, but then decided I didn't like non-alcoholic drinks when I was at the pub (never liked them pre-diagnosis!) so decided to just have ordinary beer and I was fine with it. The thing about alcohol is that it will probably boost your levels initially, but then lower them later as the liver processes the alcohol, so the overall effect is not as severe as you might expect (although people can vary a lot in this!).

As far as I know, low alcohol alternatives still contain carbohydrates and msy even have a higher sugar content than the ordinary stuff.


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## Caroline (Dec 17, 2010)

I used to get a non alcoholic wine called Eisberg which was quite nice, brilliant for drivers but not sure if it is any good for diabetics.

Providing you are not driving, alcoholic wine is fine, I usually have it as with a meal


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## Royston46 (Dec 17, 2010)

Hi Northerner & Caroline

Thanks for the info, I was told that because im on Metformin I was not to drink alcohol but what I thought was if non -alcoholic wine beer or wine was OK I would have some of this at Xmas but if the carbs and sugars are high then I might as well stick to sparkiling water or something.


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## Caroline (Dec 17, 2010)

Quite a few people have wine while on metformin. I think a lot depends on your natural tolerance to alcohol too, and we are all different.


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## Jim23v (Dec 17, 2010)

Royston,

I've recently done a bit of research on this for my own purposes.  Sugar is simply a carb and although there is no sugar in beer depending on the alcohol content (the higher the alcohol content the lower the carbs) there are carbs - I think about 15gms in a pint which in my terms is about one quarter of my meal allowance - however I've been told by my dietitian that I can ignore these carbs because alcohol affects my body in a different   way.  Incidentally I'm on slow release Metformin.  I think you should establish how many carbs there are in the drink you want to try bearing in mind that it should be something that you enjoy and that even low or no alcohol drinks can have say 1% alcohol and if my general rule of the the lower the alcohol content the higher the carbs and the potential for it to act differently to a 'proper' alcoholic drink you need to take care.


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## FM001 (Dec 17, 2010)

Remember once I was antibiotics and was drinking a non-alcoholic beer in the pub, just forget the brand name but it tasted disgusting and was like drinking a cold cup of weak tea.


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## katie (Dec 17, 2010)

If I were you I would ask your doctor why you aren't allowed to drink whilst taking Metformin, as I'm assuming it's going to be a long-term thing and it doesn't look like other people have been told this.


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## martindt1606 (Dec 18, 2010)

Haven't found any non-alcoholic wine thats close to being drinkable, but there are some good largers  - Cobra (especially with curry), becks, warsteiner, heineken.  Also if you're ever in Portugal every brewer has a non-alcoholic option that is excellent.  One word of warning when I could drink I preferred real ale / bitter and would not touch larger.


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