Alcohol

[claireLLT]

Hi Guys, I'm now on day 4 and according to my scales I've lost over six pounds!! WOO HOO. My main problem is alcohol, i'm not an alcoholic but I have such a hectic life I find unwinding with a drink in the evening helps relieve the stress? Now it's Friday night and no work tomorrow so am going to have a couple of Vodka and diet tonics although I promised myself I wouldn't, the rest of the household has ordered a curry which I won't touch, I'm just thinking that surely a few drinks on a weekend won't hurt as long as I don't eat anything I shouldn't, it's either that or I might cave in altogether? your advice/opinions would be much appreciated. Claire x

 

[Toots]

Hi Hun

Copied from Exante sticky

DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL IF YOU ARE KETOTIC!
Alcohol is a powerful inhibitor of gluconeogenesis. In fact, it forces part of the gluconeogenic metabolic process into reverse. This means that if all the glucose in the blood is being derived from gluconeogenesis then the consumption of alcohol will inevitably cause the blood glucose level to fall. Worse still, the alcohol also stops ketone body production, thus leaving the brain entirely without fuel.
A person who is ketotic is 100% reliant on gluconeogenesis to maintain adequate levels of glucose in the blood. If, under these circumstances alcohol is taken, the person will become disorientated and might lose consciousness, not just from the alcohol, but from low blood sugar. Needless to say, this could be very dangerous, and even fatal.
Alcohol does not have these effects if the glycogen stores in the liver are normal. Under these circumstances the blood glucose level in the blood is maintained by the breakdown of liver glycogen, a process that is not influenced by alcohol. If a person becomes confused under these circumstances it is due simply to the pharmacological effects of the alcohol!

http://www.minimins.com/cambridge-di...n-ketosis.html (Dangers Of Alcohol When In Ketosis)

Hope this helps

xx

 

[BordersGirl]

I would bear in mind the post Toots posted above but personally I have had a couple of vodka and slimline tonics when on this diet on 2 occasions. I felt more lightheaded than I would have normally but I stuck to 2 and felt fine. I'm not recommending it though

 

[stormywave]

Hi, I wondered about this before Xmas as was off on a night out. I checked at work and was told it's very dangerous and that you must eat carbs for at least 24 hrs before drinking or risk coma or worse

 

[BordersGirl]

I'm definitely not advocating drinking stacks - I carbed up before my Xmas night out and the alcohol still wrecked me pretty quickly - but personally I would have 1 or 2 vodkas without carbing up. Purely my opinion tho, and not based on any medical facts.

 

[Cherry-Blossom]

At the end of the day it is going to depend entirely on what your blood sugar levels are running at. I wouldn't advice drinking and bringing your blood sugar levels down however, if you are I would recommend getting a tube of hypostop or similar before hand so that if your blood sugars do drop you have something to quickly boost them.

 

[claireLLT]

Well have had a couple and I'm still alive!

 

[stormywave]

Cherry, I was told that if i drank alcohol while in ketosis, I would be unable to use the hypostop as I would be unconscious.

 

[BordersGirl]

Well I think there must be loads of people who drink when in ketosis as many people do Atkins / low carbing and Atkins actually states the type of alcohol you can have that is appropriate to the diet. It's only a small amount though so it's that old saying 'everything in moderation'. There will be people who have a bad reaction to things though and I guess you won't know if you're one of those people or not beforehand. For example I literally nearly pegged it when I got swine flu last year (3 weeks unconscious in ITU, the works) but thousands have it with no serious effects. If someone had told me beforehand I would be one of the few I would have said that they were off their heads as I wasn't in any of the high risk groups.

 

[stormywave]

That's what I thought having done Atkins in the past and drinking alongside it. Weird huh? All I can say is that's the worried I've seen the consultant in a while...

 

[Plumjuice]

Im not saying its not dangerous, but I have had 2-3 vodka and diet cokes most weekends since starting vlcd and its not effected me badly, I may feel a bit tiddly quicker though so my advise it just stick to the 2-3 mark and be careful x

 

[Bea]

Hi Guys, I'm now on day 4 and according to my scales I've lost over six pounds!! WOO HOO. My main problem is alcohol, i'm not an alcoholic but I have such a hectic life I find unwinding with a drink in the evening helps relieve the stress? Now it's Friday night and no work tomorrow so am going to have a couple of Vodka and diet tonics although I promised myself I wouldn't, the rest of the household has ordered a curry which I won't touch, I'm just thinking that surely a few drinks on a weekend won't hurt as long as I don't eat anything I shouldn't, it's either that or I might cave in altogether? your advice/opinions would be much appreciated. Claire x

Day 6 for me and lost 7lbs....had my first Friday night in a looonnnggg time without my end of week glasses of wine. Hope you enjoyed the couple you had....back of luck with rest of weekend and diet....

 

[Toots]

Oh, I've totally done it myself We're all different tho so thought I would highlight the medical side to be on the safe side

xx

 

[BordersGirl]

Yeah definitely better to let people know the dangers and then the decision is up to them. No way would I be telling someone it's fine for them to drink while on this diet. The decision has to be their own!

 

[GetSetGo]

So glad I don't drink!!

 

[Giza]

Hi Hun

Copied from Exante sticky

DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL IF YOU ARE KETOTIC!
Alcohol is a powerful inhibitor of gluconeogenesis. In fact, it forces part of the gluconeogenic metabolic process into reverse. This means that if all the glucose in the blood is being derived from gluconeogenesis then the consumption of alcohol will inevitably cause the blood glucose level to fall. Worse still, the alcohol also stops ketone body production, thus leaving the brain entirely without fuel.
A person who is ketotic is 100% reliant on gluconeogenesis to maintain adequate levels of glucose in the blood. If, under these circumstances alcohol is taken, the person will become disorientated and might lose consciousness, not just from the alcohol, but from low blood sugar. Needless to say, this could be very dangerous, and even fatal.
Alcohol does not have these effects if the glycogen stores in the liver are normal. Under these circumstances the blood glucose level in the blood is maintained by the breakdown of liver glycogen, a process that is not influenced by alcohol. If a person becomes confused under these circumstances it is due simply to the pharmacological effects of the alcohol!

http://www.minimins.com/cambridge-di...n-ketosis.html (Dangers Of Alcohol When In Ketosis)

Hope this helps

xx

It does help! I had no idea...and I'm not about to find out if I'm one of the few who has a really bad reaction by trying it out! What is hypostop? (How long before newbies stop asking millions of questions?...that's another one!)

 

[stormywave]

Hypostop is a edible gel used to bring diabetics blood sugar levels up swiftly.

 

[BordersGirl]

Hypostop is a edible gel used to bring diabetics blood sugar levels up swiftly.

Does it affect ketosis though? I'm only joking by the way

 

[Giza]

Does it affect ketosis though? I'm only joking by the way

That made me laugh BG! Thanks for the info - I have had issues of v. low blood sugar levels at the start -school nurse confirmed as I was feeling rough so she checked it!- my four a day seem to have solved that issue.