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Diabetes And Alcohol Consumption

By: Adrian Fletcher It is a shock when you are first diagnosed with diabetes because it is a life changing event. Diabetes has no cure and this means that you will have to treat the disease for the rest of your life.

Treating the disease involves watching your blood sugar levels each day. You may also have to inject insulin or take pills to make your body more responsive to naturally occurring insulin. You should get regular exercise. You must take more notice over what you eat and drink.

Watching what you eat and drink is probably one of the hardest things to get used to when you have diabetes because for most people eating is a very enjoyable experience. However once you have adapted to having diabetes, you will find that meal planning is actually quite easy.

One thing that many people wonder about is how alcohol and diabetes go together or maybe they don't go together. This article will cover diabetes and alcohol consumption. How alcohol affects the body and how you can consume alcohol moderately if you have diabetes.

There is no restriction on consuming alcohol for a diabetic provided it is in moderation. Many alcohol beverages will have lots of calories and sugar in them. This has two effects. It will increase the blood sugar immediately and promote weight gain over the long term. Being overweight or putting on weight increases the chances of having other complications as a result of diabetes. Most doctors will advise diabetics to lose weight or keep their weight within a specific range of this.

When you consume alcohol your liver temporarily suspends making glucose and starts to remove the alcohol from your bloodstream instead. It is estimated to take around 2 hours for one ounce of alcohol to be completely metabolized depending on body size, weight and physical fitness.

During this process there is a possibility that the blood sugar level can become low and the person can become hypoglycemic. If you are hypoglycemic you may feel light headed, lethargic or even pass out. This is the reason why you have probably been told never to drink on an empty stomach.

Alcohol and diabetes can be controlled if you eat a small meal or snack before starting to drink. This will allow the liver to create some glucose and it will enter the bloodstream before any alcohol enters the body. This should ensure that a person doesn't get hypoglycemic. If you take any medication for diabetes then you shouldn't drink until around 2 hours afterwards.

Be temperate with your alcohol consumption. Alcohol has no real benefits to the body in terms of nutrients. For diabetics it will only cause spikes in your blood sugar levels. this is ultimately bad for the body as it will increase the chances of further diabetic complications affecting you. In particular, your circulation will get worse and this could lead to numbness in the feet, damage to the nerves and problems with the cardiovascular system.

A glass of wine with dinner is fine. A few drinks as part of a celebration of some sort is also fine. As you grow used to treating your diabetes you will know how your body reacts in various situations. This can help you to know when and how much alcohol you can consume.