January 6, 2010
How Does Drinking Alcohol Effect Diabetes and Raising Blood Sugars?
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. Despite how I feel this morning after getting wasted last night.
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. Oh, I don’t know, say you’re out on the town and before you know it…last call. Next thing you know you are stumbling into a sub shop that’s open late and stuffing your face with a foot long sub. Not good.
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 being very aware of any early signs that something is not right.
As for the moderation piece, experts consider a sensible drinking limit to be about 3 alcoholic drinks per day. So 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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Jennifer Wnuk
July 31, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Hello. I was just wondering which resource lists experts to consider 3 drinks a day moderate?
Thanks
Ken
August 13, 2007 at 6:12 am
If you do a google search on moderate drinking you will see source after source list 3 drinks per day as a moderate level of drinking.
Thanks for reading.
Michael
September 4, 2007 at 9:52 am
Hello.
Your article is very useful and many diabetics and non-diabetics can benefit from it. It’s a great pity that many cold-hearted people do not care of someone lying on the ground and maybe having an alcohol intoxication or a hypoglycaemia.
By the way – three alcoholic drinks per day is far too much. It is recommended to consume about 0 – 20g (men) and 0 – 14g (women) per day. This is because men require more alcohol than women to achieve the same blood alcohol content. The more you drink, the greater the risk of developing serious problems such as liver disease.
Michael
matty
December 10, 2007 at 4:44 am
if u do a google search and type in binge drinking very good thing come up
Ken
January 10, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Then click on the images tab and there’s even MORE good things. lol
Dede
January 10, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Does anyone know if drinking beer can raise the blood alcohol content in an inslin dependent diabetic? Or can insulin raise the BAC of someone? Thanks.
Ken
January 10, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Dede, yes it could with some people but most will see a slight to moderate drop in sugars. I personally know that if I stick to domestic beers I’m ok. Hard alcohol and practically any shots will raise it up significantly.
I’ve never heard of Insulin raising BAC but I’m searching now to see if I can find anything about that.
Dede
January 11, 2008 at 9:36 am
Ken — thanks so much for getting back to me. I’m really trying to see if someone’s BAC can be incorrect due to their being an insulin diabetic — e.g. if your bs is high, can this be translated into a higher BAC (or if this could happen with a low bs). Many thanks.
JMR
January 13, 2008 at 1:41 am
I would like to know which kind of alcohol may we as diabetics may consume. I would also like to know the reactions of it in your body besides being drunk(after many drinks).
Thanks.
Ken
January 13, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hi JMR, any alcohol we consume isn’t going to be good for us. It’s the amount that we take in that will determine how much damage it does.
I’ve read that 1 glass of wine of beer a day is ok but anymore starts to get into a dangerous situation.
JMR
January 13, 2008 at 1:48 am
Hi, I would like to know which drinks may I consume in order to keep my sugar levels okay.
Thank you.
clarke
February 8, 2008 at 5:55 am
I am not actually suffering from this terrible disease, however, my brother and many of my customers do (I am a bartender) and one of them asked me what kind of vodka they are able to drink, because they had heard this certain vodka was suppose to be like rye whiskey. It is thought around here that drinking rye whiskey with, say water or diet cola, is alright for diabetics. I told him I would do some research for him and get back to him. Well, little did I know what I was undertaking, and it has been only a few hours. I have found many things. One, a shot of vodka a day, may help in avoiding type II. Two, drinking two drinks for men and one drink for women, of liquor or dry wines is not bad. Liqueurs and sweet wines are bad. Three, all liquors are the same because the distilling process removes the sugars(carbohydrates) from the solution, and it is the mixers you have to worry about. Four, liver shuts down glucose production while processing alcohol. So, now I am confused and concerned, I would like to be able to give my customer an honest answer, but also a correct answer. This would also help me to provide better service to all customers that do happen by the place I work. If you could help to correct anything I found wrong, give me more insight, or guide me to more websites it would greatly be accepted since I am just now starting my experience with this affliction.
with thanks,
clarke
Hypoglycemic Alert Dogs
May 19, 2008 at 12:33 am
[...] to the article, these dogs seem to sense a dangerous drop in blood glucose before it begins, allowing the people they work with to prevent an episode altogether. Some dogs [...]
liibzz
July 3, 2008 at 9:05 am
thanx 4 the info
lin
July 15, 2008 at 5:26 pm
My husband is type 2, can someone tell me. If he has a number of beers, about 2 days later (while eating as he should) his blood sugar goes up to the mid 200’s. Has anyone ever heard of this….whats up
Billy Beer
July 26, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Here’s one link for the 3 drinks per day:
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/140/3/I-72
Most countries recommend 2 – 3 as the daily limit (except France, they show 5 as the max).
Billy Beer
July 26, 2008 at 12:56 pm
By the way, here is the relevant quote from the article link above (the authors are basically summarizing information obtained from 32 separate studies on the topic):
“Some findings related to developing diabetes. Nondrinkers and people who drank more than 3 drinks per day had the highest risk for diabetes. People who had one to 3 drinks a day had a lower risk. Other findings applied to patients who have diabetes. Moderate drinking (one to 3 drinks per day) did not have an important effect on blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes. However, this finding may not apply to all patients because the studies were done under special test conditions that differ from normal daily life. Heart disease was less common in people with diabetes who drank moderate amounts of alcohol than in those who did not.”
mark
August 25, 2008 at 4:26 pm
My arm falls asleep alot and i get chest pains alot. I also have a cold and a dry mouth. I am not sure if these are symptoms of diebetes but its been a around for a while now. A couple times I have almost fallen over cause i was walking and got dizzy. It hasnt happened for a week or so but im curious if this might be an effect of diebetes.
ahmed alshalan
February 4, 2009 at 2:31 pm
hello every one, my name s ahmed and i have been diebatic for over 13 years now….dealing with this deasses is a merecale….control it is so hard…am saying that cause i had experenced it my self not to mintion the weakness you feel most of time so what can i do to get back my life? i have diepetes depending on insulin injection… i inject my self with insulin 3 times a day.thnx for reading this.
Ben johnson
September 30, 2009 at 11:25 am
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 1year ago, and have been a heavy drinker for 5 years or more.I struggle to keep my blood sugar normal, due to alchohol and feeding habits. However I recently visited Cuba and drank lots of beer and rum, and ate a lot . The food was simple but tasty, and more importantly, I think, organic, I.e not pumped full of aditives. My blood sugar was as a normal using 4 units of insulin per meal around 7-9. Having returned to uk it then shot up to 16-18. Maybe I sweated all the sugar out, I don’t know, but I would suggest avoiding packaged, prw made foods.I m soon to set up a blog site for diabetics like me, when I do I’ll leave details here and would love some feedback
Ben johnson
September 30, 2009 at 11:34 am
Also, I am a chef, and wondered how people felt about the options in the local supermarkets. I notice a lot of slimmer friendly packaged meals, I would love to see diabetic friendly packaged meals. When I set up my site let me know what u eat, and what u like , and what u can’t eat, and maybe us diabetics can have the food we want, but on a far healthier level. It ain’t so bad, it just involves knowing what we can and cannot do.x
MF
February 15, 2009 at 9:04 pm
It’s 2 drinks/day for men and 1 for women… with a meal… once per week.
!!!
andrea
May 14, 2009 at 3:25 am
I am looking for information on alcoholics and diabetes. My 5year old daughters father has type 1 diabetes I beleive he takes insulin shots as well as pills and he drinks 6-12 beers on week nights after work and 20-30 beers a day on weekends. He has been to the hospital once for I am not sure exactly what happen but I know he had to much alcohol and it affected his blood sugar and spent 4 days in the hospital. I am trying to learn more because I am concerned for my daughter when she is in his care if you have any information to share or know where I can find information would be helpful. Thank you.
Ken
May 14, 2009 at 4:30 am
Andrea, unfortunately you have to deal with this guy and his abuse. I’m sorry for that. But as you know the drinking is NOT good for diabetes as it could raise or lower his glucose level (blood sugar) to dangerous leves and could have any number of effects on him from loss of consciousness and coma to having permanant organ damage/failure.
In my opinion anyone who drinks that much shouldn’t be with a child of course but the problem is compounded with his diabetes.
Ben johnson
September 30, 2009 at 11:47 am
It’s no excuse but alcoholism is an illness that in certain people is easy to develops, but hard to shake off. Also it depends on the individuals nature, but for sure an alcoholic and child care do not mix well. Support and encouragement for even the smallest achievments of an alcoholic are essential
Craig
May 29, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I agree, I am a type 2 and drink a little, BUT anyone who drinks that much shouldn’t be with a child.
kim williams
June 2, 2009 at 6:14 pm
My friend takes oral medication for diabetes. Moderate drinking used to not bother him. There have been several occasions lately where he can not remember anything the next morning. This doesn’t happen all the times but he is very concerned as to why it is now having this affect on him. What could be causing this and why does it happen sometimes and not others. Are there any websites where we can get information on this?
David
July 19, 2009 at 5:57 am
No alcohol is best for a diabetic. That is just common sense folks.
Ben johnson
September 30, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Lastly, for now, diabetes is not the worst illness out there and with the right attention from ourselves and those around us it is possible to live a completely normal life. Love to my diabetic brothers and sisters. Keep your chins up.x
Mike
February 1, 2010 at 2:29 pm
I recently was at a party, ate too much food at around noon, and drank the equivalent of five drinks, (wiskey and diet cola), over a four hour period. After four and one half hours, my B.A.C., was .12.
After 1 more hour, my blood glucose was still over 300. This seems like my B.A.C., should have been much lower, do you have any ideas about this?
Mike
February 1, 2010 at 2:38 pm
I also must add that I have type 1 diabetes,( for about 20 years),
and am currently 60 years old.
NOOB
February 3, 2010 at 4:26 am
Along with everyone else, I have just been diagnosed type 2 Diabetes, it’s my 40th soon and I want to get absolutely steaming drunk, I know all about Alcohol been bad for you, so please don’t lecture me on the evils of it, does drinking whisky, vodka, or Brandy in large quantities reduce sugar levels or not is all I want to know