Alcohol-potentiated reactive hypoglycaemia depends on the nature of the carbohydrate ingested at the same time

Alcohol may provoke reactive hypoglycaemia when drunk with a sucrose mixer (gin and tonic) but not in the form of a starch-based beverage. In the present study alcohol-potentiated reactive hypoglycaemia was shown to depend on the nature of the carbohydrate ingested together with the alcohol. When 14 men (9 normal weight and 5 obese) aged between 20 and 50 years consumed a 50 g glucose load together with 50 g ethanol over an hour, their early plasma insulin response was significantly higher and their later fall in plasma glucose significantly lower than after drinking the same amount of a starch solution (maize meal) and alcohol. In four subjects (3 of them non-obese) plasma glucose concentrations dropped below 2.8 mmol/l after drinking the glucose-alcohol solution. Obesity seemed to be associated with features of peripheral insulin resistance. We conclude that the common social custom of drinking alcohol together with a simple sugar mixer should probably be modified.