ABV means alcohol by volume. The strength of alcoholic drinks has increased over the years, with new wines from South America, South Australia and South Africa containing 14% ABV or higher – this means that a bottle will contain approximately 10.5 units and 750 calories, and a large 250ml glass can be over 3 units and 200 calories. The lager is described as dry with a hoppy finish and golden in color. Additionally, some report that the body is watery or overly carbonated. Any sweetness eludes me, and I have a hunch the hop bitterness would be at least moderately strong on the palate. If you have diabetes, and are on insulin or medication that can cause hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose or ‘hypos’), you should be aware that alcohol makes hypos more likely as it stops the release of glucose from your liver, something your liver would normally be doing 24 hours a day. Alcohol can also cause delayed hypos. How clued up are you about alcohol and diabetes?

Just like using smaller plates can help you to eat less food, using smaller wine and beer glasses can help you drink less - try it, it really does work! Yes, it is not going to blow your mind, but it does what it’s suppose to do – be a clean, refreshing, cheap non-alcoholic lager that you can easily find. Some drinkers like the crispness and maltiness of the beer’s taste, but many complain of excess bitterness and a harsh, “overcooked” flavor. Alternate with soft drinks. Shop around if you’re getting fed up with the usual diet soft drinks. There are so many different flavours available including diet pink lemonade, diet cherry cola, diet traditional lemonade and diet pink cranberry lemonade. If you are going to friends for a BBQ this summer bring your own as people often have only the ‘full fat’ variety of colas and lemonade!

Beck's

This early faith in non-alcoholic beer paid off, in the UK at least. Here it’s a staple in the beer coolers of many a pub up and down the country. It still accounts for more than a third of all alcohol-free sold in the UK. According to NHS England, the average wine drinker consumes 2,000 calories from alcohol every month, and the average beer drinker - drinking 5 pints of lager a week - takes 44,200 calories a year, the equivalent of 221 doughnuts.

On the contrary, the hop bitterness is rather subdued – initially, at least. The hop bitterness gets stronger and lingers after each finish. If you’ve ever been on a diet, you’ll know that alcohol rarely features in the menu plans. This is not to say that you can’t have the occasional drink whilst losing weight, just that drinking makes weight loss more difficult. It’s slightly syrupy but the body isn’t too bad. It’s highly carbonated but the foam gives it a creamy – dare I say luxurious – feel as it slips down your throat. This all happened around 2003. And that was still a decade after the Bremen-based brewery created this alcohol-free pilsner-style lager in 1993. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s possible the alcohol content could be higher because labelling rules vary between regions and some countries like the UK allow a small tolerance to what’s shown on the label.We’ve covered ways to prevent a hypo when drinking, and we also have a separate article on alcohol and diabetes. Your diabetes and drinking Contrary to press reports that we should all drink some alcohol for health reasons - who hasn’t read an article claiming red wine is good for your heart? – the evidence simply doesn’t support this. Flavour-wise, it’s a slightly harsh bitterness that hits your tastebuds first and hangs around until well after the sip. There’s none of the sweetness from the aroma, which could have worked nicely with the bitterness.