Fight A DUI

In the past, we’ve covered how the low carb diet can disrupt many DUI tests due to changes in body chemistry, but it’s worth pointing to an article from a Las Vegas DUI attorney stating that Diabetes can have similar results caused by the same changes in body chemistry (specifically ketoacidosis) that many low carb dieters will show.

Ignoring for the moment the inherent inaccuracy of these breath alcohol machines, most suffer from a little-known design defect: they do not actually measure alcohol. Rather, they use infrared beams of light which are absorbed by any chemical compound in the breath sample (including ethyl alcohol) which contains the “methyl group” in its molecular structure; the more absorption, the higher the blood-alcohol reading. The machine is programmed to assume that the compound is “probably” alcohol. Unfortunately, thousands of compounds containing the methyl group can register as alcohol. One of these is acetone. And a well-documented by-product of hypoglycemia is a state called ketoacidosis, which causes the production of acetones in the breath. In other words, the Breathalyzer will read significant levels of alcohol on a diabetic’s breath where there may be little or none. See “Diabetes, Breath Acetone and Breathalyzer Accuracy: A Case Study”, 9(1) Alcohol, Drugs and Driving (1993).

No problem, you’re not diabetic and you eat a standard diet? A normal drop in blood sugar can still cause your BAC to report artificially high on a breathalyzer.

Actually, you don’t even need to be a diabetic to display hypoglycemic-induced symptoms of intoxication. Perfectly normal, healthy individuals can experience temporary conditions of low blood sugar after consuming small amounts of alcohol, resulting in exaggerated but false symptoms of intoxication. Fasting glycemia can exist where a person has not eaten in 24 hours or has been on a low-carbohydrate diet. Production of glucose in the liver is stopped while the alcohol is broken down. Result: the blood sugar level will drop, affecting the central nervous system — and producing symptoms of a person under the influence of alcohol.