Small amounts of alcohol will not hinder your control over diabetes but there are some precautions that diabetics should take to make sure that alcohol can be safely enjoyed. If you are diabetic and are currently treated with either tablets or insulin the main risk that you face with consuming alcohol is that alcohol could make you more prone to hypoglycemia.
Hypoglycemia, which most diabetics already know, is when your blood sugar level drops down to an unsafe level.
The problem is, how is someone going to tell if you are experiencing hypoglycemia or if you are just drunk? Many of the early warning signs of hypoglycemia are mimicked by alcohol. Your friends may not seek help for you until you lose consciousness and maybe not even at that point. Come on, you’ve never seen anybody pass out drunk? Sometimes beer and diabetes don’t mix.
Another problem with a Diabetic consuming alcohol is that if done on a regular basis it can cause you to gain weight. Gaining weight while battling diabetes is pretty much the opposite of what you need to be doing. Weight gain is going to cause a diabetic to lose control over their disease.
Let’s not forget that when you are drunk your judgment could become impaired. This impaired judgment could lead to you eating a whole bunch of things you shouldn’t be eating.
Moderation, awareness and good judgment are key when a diabetic is consuming alcohol. It’s good to remember that just because you may be out having a grand old time doesn’t mean that you are taking a vacation from your diabetes.
You still need to be checking your blood sugar levels and looking for signs that something is not right.
As for moderation, experts consider a sensible drinking limit to be about 3 alcoholic drinks per day. So that's 21 per week. Here’s my question: Can you save up all of your daily drinks for consumption on Saturday night? Joking…kind of.
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