Happy Holidays! When family and friends get together during the holiday season, it usually involves a lot of different types of foods and beverages. When you are living with diabetes, one wrong decision can cause big problems, especially when it comes to choosing what to drink.
This article will help you sort through the most popular drink options so you can choose what works best for you (it even includes drink carbohydrate charts - charts are great!). This includes beer, wine, spirits, mixed drinks and cocktails, shooters, juices, mixers, holiday punch, non-alcoholic drinks and even eggnog.
So at this year's Christmas party or New Year's Eve event, you'll be able to make an informed decision for just about any drink that comes your way.
There are two things to be mindful of when choosing something to drink: the amount of carbohydrate it provides and whether or not it contains alcohol (more on that later).
For non-alcoholic beverages: Select diet sodas, seltzer or club soda instead of regular soda or tonic water. A non-diet soda can contain as much as 49 grams of carbohydrate per serving compared to the zero carbs found in a diet version.
Choose unsweetened iced tea instead of sweetened and avoid the punch bowl. If you like to sweeten your coffee or tea, then it's always helpful to bring your favorite sugar-free sweetener along with you just in case there is none available.
The chart below shows the number of carbs in commonly served non-alcoholic drinks (juices appear later).
| Beverage | Carbs per 8-oz | Carbs per 12-oz |
| Diet Soda | 0g | 0g |
| Regular Soda | 23g | 35g |
| Regular Cream Soda | 33g | 49g |
| Seltzer / Club Soda | 0g | 0g |
| Tonic Water | 22g | 32g |
| Egg Nog | 20g | |
| Iced Tea, Unsweetened | 0.4g | 0.6g |
| Iced Tea, Sweetened | 22g | 33g |
| Fruit Punch (regular) | 13-30g | |
| Holiday Punch with Juice & Soda | 24g | |
| Holiday Punch with Juice , Soda, Sherbet or Ice Cream | 38g | |
| Coffee, black | 0g | |
| Coffee with cream & sugar | 15g | |
| Milk | 12g |
For juice choices, watch out for "juice cocktail" juice drinks, which may be a blend of juices and sweeteners. Tomato juice, V-8 juice and grapefruit juice have among the lowest carbs.
If you plan to drink grapefruit juice, make sure it does not interfere with your medications, such as those for high cholesterol and blood pressure.There are also "light" juices available, including Trop 50 and Ocean Spray Light Cranberry Juice, which have less carbs (see the chart below).
| Juice | Carbohydrate per 8-ounces |
| Tomato Juice | 5g |
| V-8 Juice | 10g |
| Grapefruit juice | 11g |
| Grape juice | 19g |
| Orange juice | 26g |
| Orange juice, light (Trop 50) | 13g |
| Apple juice, unsweetened | 29g |
| Passion fruit juice | 32g |
| Pineapple juice | 34g |
| Pomegranate juice | 32g |
| Cranberry juice, regular | 30g |
| Cranberry juice cocktail | 34g |
| Cranberry juice, light (Ocean Spray) | 11g |
Alcoholic Beverages
Most people with diabetes can drink alcohol safely if they drink in moderation, which means an occasional drink or two. But there are some important points to remember.
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach can cause low blood glucose or hypoglycemia. This is a particular risk in diabetics using oral medications or insulin. Low blood sugar can cause shaking, dizziness, and collapse -- which means that some people may mistake your behavior as drunkenness and fail to offer or seek medical attention.
Some oral diabetes medications, like tolbutamide (Orinase) and chlorpropamide (Diabinese, Glucamide), can cause dizziness, flushing, and nausea when combined with alcohol. It is a good idea to contact your doctor, or even your pharmacist, with questions about the safety of drinking when taking these and other diabetes medications.
If you're going to have a drink, then consider the following information about the carbs in certain types of alcoholic beverages and mixed drinks.
If you want to drink a beer, choose a light beer first. Regular beer would be a second choice and dark beer is not recommended. Many bottled beers provide nutritional information, so you can always ask to see the bottle first.
Both white and red wines provide a similar amount of carbs per 5-ounce serving, between 3 and 5 grams. Dessert wines, however, can contain up to 20 grams.
| Beverage | Carbohydrate |
| Beer, Lite 12-oz | 5 grams |
| Beer, Regular 12-oz | 12 grams |
| Beer, Dark 12-oz | Up to 25 grams |
| Beer, Guiness Draft 16-oz | 17 grams |
| Beer, Non-Alcoholic 12-oz | 5-12 grams |
| Wine Cooler 12-oz | up to 30 grams |
| Champagne, Dry (brut) 5-oz | 2-5 grams |
| Champagne, Spumante 5-oz | up to 10 grams |
| White Wine 5-oz | 4 grams |
| Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio 5-oz | 3 grams |
| Dry Champagne 5-oz | 4 grams |
| White Wine 5-oz | 4 grams |
| White Zinfandel Wine 5-oz | 4 grams |
| Chenin Blanc, Riesling and Semillon 5-oz | 5 grams |
| Dry Red Wine 5-oz | 3 to 4 grams |
| Sweet/Dessert Wine 5-oz | 12 to 20 grams |
| Liqueurs like Amaretto and Kahlua Per Ounce | 17 grams |
| Sambuca, Cointreau, and Bailey's Irish Cream Per Ounce | 5 to 7 grams |
| Vodka Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Rum Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Gin Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Tequila Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Whiskey Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Scotch Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Brandy Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Cognac Per Ounce | 0 grams |
| Southern Comfort Per Ounce | 3 grams |
Unsweetened vodka, rum, gin, tequila, whiskey, scotch, brandy, and cognac have zero carbs. When added to a zero-carb mixer, such as diet cola, you end up with a zero-carb drink.
| Mixed Drink | Carbohydrate |
| Gin and Tonic Per Serving | 15 grams |
| Rum & Regular Cola Per Serving | 15 grams |
| Rum & Diet Cola Per Serving | 0 grams |
| Black Russian Per Serving | 16 grams |
| Bloody Mary Per Serving | 5 grams |
| Fuzzy Navel Per Serving | 38 grams |
| Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Per Serving | 44 grams |
| Kamikaze Per Serving | 15 grams |
| Long Island Iced Tea Per Serving | 10 grams |
| Manhattan Per Serving | 2 grams |
| Margarita, Classic Per Serving | 11-25 grams |
| Margarita, Frozen Per Serving | 12-96 grams |
| Mint Julep Per Serving | 8 grams |
| Old Fashioned Per Serving | 5 grams |
| Martini Per Serving | 0-1 grams |
| Mojito Per Serving | 25 grams |
| Pina Colada Per Serving | 30-50 grams |
| Seabreeze Per Serving | 20 grams |
| Screwdriver (vodka & OJ) Per Serving | 19 grams |
| Sloe Gin Fizz Per Serving | 3 grams |
| Tequila Sunrise Per Serving | 15 grams |
| Tom Collins Per Serving | 3 grams |
| White Russian Per Serving | 16 grams |
Shots, or shooters, are usually about 1-1/2 ounces per serving. Here's what to expect for some of the more commonly served shooters.
| Shots / Shooters | Carbohydrate |
| Alabama Slammer 1.5 ounces | 8 grams |
| Amaretto Sour 1.5 ounces | 19 grams |
| Fuzzy Navel 1.5 ounces | 19 grams |
| Jager Bomb 1.5 ounces | 14 grams |
| Jello Shots 1.5 ounces | 3-4 grams |
| Kamikaze 1.5 ounces | 19 grams |
| Mud Slide 1.5 ounces | 19 grams |
| Gin, Rum, Tequila, Whiskey, Vodka 1.5 ounces | 0 grams |
| Snake Bite 1.5 ounces | 1-2 grams |
| Southern Comfort 1.5 ounces | 3 grams |
More about Diabetes and Alcohol
For everyone, frequent, heavy drinking can cause liver damage over time. But because the liver stores and releases glucose, blood glucose levels may be more difficult to control in a person with liver damage caused by alcohol abuse. Frequent heavy drinking can lead to higher levels of fats in blood, which increases heart disease risk.
Alcohol has calories without the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are essential for maintaining good health. A doctor can discuss whether it's safe for an individual with diabetes to drink. People who are trying to lose weight need to account for the calories in alcohol in diet planning. A dietitian also can provide information about the sugar and alcohol content of various alcoholic drinks.
Last but certainly not least. Don't drink and drive. Depending on how much you weigh, you can be considered an impaired driver after 2 drinks and legally drunk after 3 drinks. If you plan on drinking alcohol, limit yourself and/or find a designated driver.
One drink is considered:
- 12 ounces beer
- 5 ounces of wine
- 1.5 ounces of hard liquor
If you want to estimate your blood alcohol content, then try this Blood Alcohol Content Calculator.
