After all, getting medical advice is always a good idea whenever you have questions diabetes and alcohol blackouts concerning diabetes. “You need to know if your medications or any diabetes-related conditions you have could be seriously affected by alcohol consumption,” emphasizes Harris. That means that you’re just as likely to have blood sugar issues the morning after drinking.
You can save your life by drinking slowly
Your body converts food into glucose (sugar) that goes into the bloodstream. When an individual has diabetes, insulin isn’t released or isn’t processed correctly, resulting in too much glucose in the bloodstream. High blood sugar or glucose levels can be dangerous and result in serious health conditions. Your body processes alcohol differently than most foods and beverages. And if you have type 2 diabetes, drinking alcohol may Sober living house have some benefits—such as lowering glucose levels in the blood—and some real risks, like driving glucose levels down too low. Small amounts of beer and sweet wines can be high in carbohydrates, which can raise blood sugar temporarily.
Can you drink alcohol with diabetes?
- If you’d like to have the occasional drink, talk to your doctor first.
- Warehousing glycogen, the stored form of glucose, is among the many tasks your liver performs.
- That means no more than two drinks per day for men and one per day for women.
- Blood sugar management is a priority for people with diabetes.
Alcoholic drinks often have a lot of calories, making it more difficult to lose excess weight. Aside from causing low blood sugar, drinking alcohol can also affect people with diabetes in several other ways. Alcohol can also affect your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar. It can make it drop, especially if you haven’t eaten enough. If you’ve had a big meal and a lot of alcohol, it can also raise your levels too high.
Alcohol and your liver
Over time, you’ll form a team of others who will be there to support you, no matter what. Eat a small snack, such as half a sandwich or an apple with peanut butter, if your blood sugar is low. As an added complication, there is a substantial overlap between the feeling of tipsiness (or drunkenness) and the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Both conditions can make you feel woozy, wobbly, hungry, tired, or confused.
- Make sure you have an eating strategy in place to avoid overeating and over-drinking in social situations.
- At this point, alcohol can affect blood sugar in ways that are especially important for people with type 2 diabetes.
- Avoid drinking on an empty stomach, as this will quickly increase the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream.
- This is because the liver is where excess glucose is stored in a form called glycogen.
After consuming alcohol, always check your blood glucose level to make sure it is in the safe zone. Alcohol can interact with diabetes medications and impact your blood sugar. If you’re living with diabetes, talk to your doctor about how alcohol may impact your condition management plan, even if you only have an occasional alcoholic beverage.
Is it safe to drink alcohol with diabetes?
If you’re counting your carbs to know how much medicine or insulin to take, drinking can complicate your calculations. There are several reasons why alcohol may pose risks to people with type 2 diabetes. The effects of alcohol can be unpredictable, and some individuals will experience them differently than others.
- On the other hand, if you have lots of food and then drink too much, your blood sugar can get too high.
- Certain types of alcohol are especially high in carbs and sugar, even if you drink them straight.
- First of all, alcohol impacts the liver in doing its job of regulating blood sugar.
- If you want to lose weight, you can do it by saying no to alcohol, as most beverages of alcohol are sweet and contain calories.
- Adding alcohol to the mix could make it worse if you already have nerve damage from diabetes.