Can I drink Alcohol?

I just attended a party yesterday and I was being cajoled by some of my friends to take a sip, or at least drink one bottle of beer, or take a glass of Merlo, for good time’s sake. And I said offhand that I could not because it was too risky. But the truth was, I wanted to take a sip badly but I didn’t really know if alcohol can have any harmful effect to someone like me who is under treatment with this disease. I promised my friend to do some further reading on this, and to find out if I could drink once in a while. So, the first thing I did when I got home was to browse the internet and did some further reading on the effect of alcohol to people with diabetes.

I found out that drinking is still acceptable for people with diabetes, provided that you take the proper precaution and in moderation. The American Diabetes Association asserts that alcohol can be incorporated into a diet plan, provided that blood sugar level is already well established and other conditions that aren’t compatible with alcohol consumption (such as pregnancy or certain diabetic complications) don’t exist.

As explained by the American Diabetic Society further, when you drink, your liver stops making glucose so that it can instead clean the alcohol from your blood. Because glucose production is shut down, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) becomes risk for people with diabetes, particularly if you drink on an empty stomach or shortly after taking insulin or glucose-lowering oral medications. And because it takes two hours for just one ounce of alcohol to metabolize and leave your system, the risk continues long after you have emptied your glass.

It is well advised by the American Diabetes Society that for individuals with well-controlled diabetes, alcohol intake should follow the same guidelines the United States Department of Agriculture has established for the general population. This means a maximum of two drinks per day for men and one drink daily for women. In addition, due to physiological changes such as loss of lean body mass that occur as the body ages, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that anyone over age 65 should not consume more than one alcohol drink daily.

One drink is defined as:
12 ounces of regular beer (150 calories)
5 ounces of wine (100 calories)
1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (100 calories)

(One drink equals 2 fat exchanges; regular beer is an additional 1 starch exchange)

There you have it. Next time I see my friend I will tell him that I can still drink, when my sugar is regulated, and in moderation. Thank God I will not be giving up one of the few pleasures I have left.


(Source: American Diabetes Association. Alcohol. (Accessed 4/09/08).