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In response to your many e-mails concerning alcohol and diabetes, we elected to bring this article forward in our schedule and will run our "Cooking in Parchment" tips in a later issue.
If you have diabetes and you decide that you want to have an occasional alcoholic drink, it is important that you talk with your doctor first to determine if it is safe for you to do so. Alcohol in mixed drinks, wine, or beer can affect blood sugar levels differently, depending on whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the medications that you are taking, the level of your diabetes control, etc.
But, what about cooking with alcohol? This seems to be of concern to some of you as we occasionally call for alcohol in our cooking -- it's an excellent way to add flavor to foods. Most, but not all of the alcohol disappears, or evaporates, leaving few calories.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published the following table of alcohol content in cooked foods. Our dietitian uses this information in determining the nutritional analysis and exchanges of any recipe in which we call for alcohol. You might find the results interesting and helpful in your cooking of other recipes which include alcohol.
| preparation method | percent retained |
| alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat | 85% |
| alcohol flamed | 75% |
| no heat, stored overnight | 70% |
| baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture | 45% |
| baked/simmered, alcohol stirred into mixture |
| | 15 minutes | 40% |
| | 30 minutes | 35% |
| | 1 hour | 25% |
| | 1.5 hours | 20% |
| | 2 hours | 10% |
| | 2.5 hours | 5% |
What if you and/or your doctor decides that you should not cook with alcohol -- what substitutions can you make in our recipes and that of others which call for wine, beer, etc.
In savory dishes for each cup (240 ml) of wine in the recipe, substitute 7/8 cup (210 ml) of fat-free low-sodium chicken, beef, vegetable broth, apple juice, white grape juice, or tomato juice, with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice or vinegar.
In desserts, substitute fruit juice for the wine, adding a dash of balsamic vinegar to the juice.
For orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier, use an equivalent amount of frozen orange juice concentrate plus some grated orange zest.
For coffee liqueur, use double-strength espresso or instant coffee made with 4 to 6 times the amount of coffee normally used.
For brandy or rum, try a small amount of brandy or rum extract, or pure vanilla extract.
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