Why Alcoholic Beverages are Nowhere to Be Found on the Glycemic Index
Here’s a question often asked: why are alcohol beverages not featured on the
Glycemic Index? Does this mean it’s a-ok to consume them after all?
Firstly, please note that the Glycemic Index or GI is about how fast or slow
carbohydrates are released into your bloodstream. Alcohol can affect your weight
because of the calories they contain; not because of any carbs they have. In
fact, alcoholic beverages have hardly any carbohydrates in them at all!
True, some alcoholic drinks (e.g., vodka, gin, etc.) are made from stuff with
high levels of carbohydrates. However, during the process of creating these
alcoholic drinks, these carbs are already expelled so the finished drinks no
longer contain carbs.
How about wine, you ask? Don’t grapes contain fructose and thus can have a
negative effect on blood sugar levels, anyway? Again, the distillation process
takes care of these sugars. During this process, the sugar is transformed to
alcohol. There will still be traces of sugar in your wine but not enough to send
your blood sugar levels soaring.
Lastly, how about good ol’ beer? During the brewing procedure, the sugars that
are present are taken up by the yeast added to the mixture to produce the beer.
In fact, only about 3 grams of carbohydrates per 100 mm is present in beer.
So you see there are hardly any carbs in alcoholic beverages at all and that’s
why you don’t find them in GI tables. However, they are high in calories and
that is why drinking alcohol in moderation is often advised.
If you have a health condition such as diabetes, drinking alcohol is not advised
anyway so do try to steer clear of them.
Just remember, alcoholic drinks don’t have many carbohydrates in them at all and
that’s why they are not on the Glycemic Index. However, they possess their own
bad trait – calories – so it’s best to not over indulge in them.
