Drinks to stick to (and avoid) if you have diabetes

There are two main forms of diabetes — Type 1 and Type 2, but both result in high blood sugar levels if left untreated.

Liquid calories can be good or bad for your blood sugar and diabetes, but there are a few simple ways you can get the best from your beverages.

Drink more…

Water: It’s recommended that you have between six and eight 250ml glasses of water each day for women and up to nine glasses or slightly more for men.

Milk: When your body wants more than just water, milk is a good option. Dairy plays a key role in a healthy balanced diet and gives your body a strong source of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. Because milk is a low GI product it is ideal if you have diabetes. According to Nutrition Australia, you want to get dairy products like milk into your diabetes management plan.

Drink in moderation…

Tea: Think of it as flavoured water, but the flavour doesn’t have calories and there are a bucketload of antioxidants in tea, especially green tea and herbal tea. The exception here is iced teas that have a lot of sugar added to them. What you’ll want to avoid is adding sugar to your cup of tea, otherwise it doesn’t have the same benefit.

Coffee: There’s a debate about whether drinking coffee is appropriate for those who have diabetes. Short-term effects are said to make it unfavourable, yet over a longer period coffee drinking has been found to be beneficial. If you drink coffee in moderation it can provide an energy boost without the blood sugar spike, but just be sure you don’t add sugar or flavour to your cup.

Pure fruit juice: Fruit juice delivers sugar from the fruit, but does not necessarily deliver the fibre, so you’ll need to only have a small amount of pure fruit juice. Obviously drinking juice on its own can lead to a blood sugar spike, but when you consume it with other foods it’s said to help prevent this.

Consider avoiding…

Soft drink and energy drinks: Soft drinks and beverages with additional sugar can be bad for your diabetes, especially if you have Type 2 diabetes. They provide too much sugar and don’t require a lot of digestion, which can lead to a rapid spike in your blood sugar levels.

Alcohol: It’s best you monitor your alcohol intake. Beer might not contain sugar but it does have carbs and many alcoholic mixers have sugar. If anything, alcohol is said to cause your blood sugar level to drop, which can be bothersome if you are taking medication designed to increase your body’s insulin level. Be sure then to have alcohol with food.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.