If you live with diabetes, knowing when to drink, how much to drink, or if you should drink any alcohol at all can be complicated and confusing. Become informed and plan ahead to help avoid making last-minute decisions that may derail your diabetes management and your overall health.
You likely take medications or insulin to help manage your blood sugar. You may also take medications for conditions that commonly go hand-in-hand with diabetes, such as hypertension or high cholesterol. It is important to consult with your health care provider to find out if drinking any alcohol will interfere with any medications you take, and if it could potentially worsen any other health conditions that you currently have.
If you can safely have an alcoholic beverage, here are guidelines to keep yourself healthy:
- The recommended maximum limit is 1 alcoholic drink per day for women, and 2 per day for men.
- What constitutes 1 drink? 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, 1 ounce of hard liquor
- Alcohol has a prolonged lowering effect on blood sugar, up to 12 hours after your last drink.
- If you have had one or more alcoholic beverages, check your blood sugar before bed. If it is less than 100mg/dl, have a balanced snack before going to sleep.
- Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach as it can greatly increase the risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
- Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can mimic the symptoms of alcohol intoxication (slurred speech, unsteady gait, drowsiness, confusion), so it would be beneficial to inform the people you are with that you have diabetes, what the symptoms of hypoglycemia are, and/or wear a med-alert bracelet.
It is important to know that habitual, chronic alcohol drinking (more than the recommended daily amount), will make your diabetes and complications from it worse, and will put you at greater risk of developing complications such as retinopathy (eye damage), neuropathy (damage to the nerves of the hands and feet, causing burning, tingling, pain, numbness), kidney damage, increased triglycerides (a type of cholesterol), and uncontrolled blood pressure, among others.
Alcohol can impair your decision-making, leading to poor lifestyle choices such as eating foods that will cause higher blood sugar or cause weight gain, both of which will have an adverse effect on your diabetes control.
If your diabetes is well-controlled, if your provider approves, and if you understand the effects of alcohol on your body and on your blood sugar, the best alcoholic options are light beer, dry wine (less sugar and carbs), and hard liquor mixed with diet soda, tonic water, or seltzer, instead of sweetened beverages.
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All Blogs are written by Professionals in the fields of Nutrition, Human Development and Diabetes.