13% alcohol

[Ronman]

I have struggled with Dawn Phenomenom and have tried various remedies such as cinnamon, chromium, eating protein or fat, etc. None of these seems to have any affect on my high morning readings (always 150+). The one that intrigues me is drinking a glass of red wine but lately on these boards I have been reading that the wine has to have at least 13% alcohol in it. That seems awfully high. I can only imagine it would apply to "cough syrups" like Wild Irish Rose and Mad Dog. Is the 13% necessary? Can someone explain why and perhaps suggest a suitable wine to try. Thanks in advance.

[davef]

Ronman,

What meds are you on?

I find that I tolerate Merlot very well and having a glass will help my morning numbers. I don't do it everynight, but when I do it does help.

13% Alcohol is not all that high, look at a good vodka 40-50%!

Pint of Guinness is also up around 12-13%

[morrisma]

Never heard of the 13% requirement but I have found that a glass of cab goes down nicely and helps with DP. Never even checked the alcohol %. I suspect that it's the amount of alcohol (within reason), not the %. I have drunk as little as 2oz & as much as 4. 4 works better.
Mike

[princesslinda]

I have a glass of red wine at bedtime a few times a week (more for HDL than blood sugar). I usually have a glass of cabernet sauvignon, as I like it better than merlot. I'm don't care for the taste of wine in general, but I have seen good results in raising my HDL. I see no difference in my blood sugars though.

[Ronman]

I know that 13% alcohol is not high for whiskey, vodka, and my personal favorite, rum, but it is rather high for wine. As far as my medication, I am on Glimepiride (4mg twice/day) and Metformin (my personal poison which I take 500mg three times daily). I routinely go to bed with readings between 95 and 115 and wake up with readings in the 150- 190 range. Feels like I am starting each day in a hole.

[BrianSCohen]

Ah yes, another fellow sufferer of Dawn Pheno (DP). Yes, in a fortunate stroke of luck, wine does help me. My understanding is that having a glass (or two) of wine late in the evening will engage your liver in processing the alcohol, and when it comes time for the liver dump in the moning, your liver is too busy to get around to the liver dump.

Seriously, everyone is different, it may or may not help. Other things to try include eating a protein or fat snack before bed keeping source of nutrients going all night to deflect the liver dump. I also try to take all my metformin of the day in the evening in hopes of putting of the DP.

I know in my case, my blood sugar rises starting when I first emerge from sleep in the morning and will continue to rise until my first meal. Try testing yourself immediately when your first nudge out of sleep. You may find that a slow emergence from sleep makes it much worse then jumping out of bed first thing and having your first bite of the day.

[Chollyred]

Most table wines here in U.S. have 11% - 14% alcohol content. That's about as much as a grape can generate. Anything over that is usually caused by adding pure grain alcohol to make it stronger.

If you check the label of the bottle, it'll usually say 12.5%, that's within the guideline set by the government (yes, they have a hand in this too).

Some of the table wines in other countries may be as low as 8% due to the length of time and methods used in fermentation. As one wine expert put it "That's why they can drink wine with lunch and still go back to work afterward. Well sort of anyway..."

I don't drink often, but when I do, I like a lighter, fruitier tasting wine like a Merlot or a Pinot Grigio. Some of the cabernets have a heavy, bitter taste to me, and most of the whites an almost sour taste. And unlike a lot of folks, I like my red slightly chilled instead of at room temperature.

I don't keep anything around the house due to an alcoholic step-daughter, but she'll be gone this weekend....hmmmmm....

[Aurora96]

Interesting. I've avoided almost all alcohol (except perhaps one glass a year at New Year's) since going on Metformin. I've had problems with FBG levels for awhile now.

Is it safe to do a glass of wine occassionally on the met?

[tammyc]

Never really drank much alcohol at all but am also a victim of DP.....I am on Lantus (25 u at bedtime) and Metformin twice daily....would a glass of wine be okay for me with my meds? Also, which wine would you recommend for a "green horn" like me? Thanks in advance for the info!!

[Chollyred]

If you're a wine greenhorn, you gotta start like the rest of us did...Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill...:D

Just kidding, that stuff is nasty and is for teenagers...

A friend that worked in a wine shop used to bring me a certain bottle of merlot that was great. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it. He knows my wife likes sweet wine, so recommended Yellow Tail Shiraz. Since I don't drink very often, I haven't tried it yet.

Since being diagnosed as T2, the only alcohol I've had is Michelob's Ultra Amber. It's not bad for such a light beer. Does this also prevent DP?

[princesslinda]

We usually buy either Yellow Tail, Biltmore or Mondavi. In our area, we don't have any vineyards, so I generally go to the Wine & Spirits store and put myself in their capable hands. I tell them the amount I want to spend and they make suggestions. I write down the ones I like best.

I hate to adnut it but I really liked the taste of Lambrusco..can you tell i'm not a connisseur?;)

I had no problems with this while on metformin.

[BrianSCohen]

For diabetics, choose a dry wine, one that contains low sugars. Most dry red wines are quite suitable. My favorite is shiraz, although merlot is also quite good. I really like the australian wines as well, my favorites are Rosemount, Lindemans and Penfolds. A cabernet can be a good wine, although some start to verge on slightly sweet. If you are not ready for red wine, you can start with a white wine, but again select a dry rather than a sweet wine. Although I hear that the 2008 Boones Farm vintage is much heralded, I think it is much too sweet.

[Bevvie]

Hi all

I take 1500mg Metformin per day and Fridays and Saturdays always like to crack open a bottle of fizz (Cava not Champers:mad:). Next morning I get lovely numbers 5-6) come Monday with the absence of Cava I am back struggling to go below 7:eek:. Obviously, can't drink every night as I am sure that would have negative effects, but in my case it works in bringing the ole numbers down.

[art]

I do a drink a day, possibly more .
It really brings down my BS.
And my heart loves it.

seriously, a drink of wine or something stronger isn't going to hurt and just may help.

My doc gave me guidelines when I was on Lanthus and now that I'm on Janumet I follow his orginal guide .
Of course in Vegas I threw almost everything to the wind.

art

[jacobsam622]

I have struggled with Dawn Phenomenom and have tried various remedies such as cinnamon, chromium, eating protein or fat, etc. None of these seems to have any affect on my high morning readings (always 150+). The one that intrigues me is drinking a glass of red wine but lately on these boards I have been reading that the wine has to have at least 13% alcohol in it. That seems awfully high. I can only imagine it would apply to "cough syrups" like Wild Irish Rose and Mad Dog. Is the 13% necessary? Can someone explain why and perhaps suggest a suitable wine to try. Thanks in advance.The reason you should drink wine that is closer to the 13% is that the closer you get to that number the less sugar that is left in the wine sugar is need in the fermentation process. I have brew my own beer before and the more sugar that is added the stronger the beer will be when its finished. Grain Alcohol like Vodka, rum gin whiskey and my favorite Tequila:D have little or no sugar left.

[BrianSCohen]

Jacob,

It is good to hear from another Brewer! I use to brew quite a bit of beer myself. That has dropped off after the big D. Perhaps I should consider restarting. When I looked into the carbs in beer and wine, what I found is that it is a bit more complicated. The remaining carbs in the beer and wine is a function of both the starting sugar levels and the tolerance of the yeast used to ferment. When I made stout and porter beers, they started with a fairly high sugar level, but also used a different yeast strain that was alcohol tolerant. The end result was a beer that packed a serious wallop, but was fairly low carb.

Wine is the same way, and wines that are basically dry have low residual sugar as they have fermented out the residual sugar (sometimes using a secondary fermentation step). The EU has codifed this, saying that wines labelled dry (and similar terms) must have residual sugar content less than 4g/L. That is really not much sugar.