One10 assessed the effect on troglitazone, a thiazolidinedione, and the other11 evaluated sulfonylurea-related complications. There was no significant difference in the glycemic response to ethanol. She later developed a gastrointestinal bleed related to esophageal varices and decided to quit drinking alcohol.
PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science (ETOH) databases were searched for relevant studies. Once a person consumes it, it is rapidly absorbed by the stomach and small intestine and enters the bloodstream. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. The bottom line is that any person with diabetes who wishes to consume alcohol should first discuss it with a doctor. By Barbie Cervoni, RD
Barbie Cervoni MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, is a New York-based registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist.
Follow Diabetes UK
Sugary alcoholic beverages contain carbohydrates that can raise blood sugar. Even though alcohol on its own is a low carbohydrate, sugary drinks can significantly increase your blood glucose, which is dangerous for anyone with type 2 diabetes. Although early research suggested moderate alcohol intake may reduce the risk of heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes, later evidence challenged this idea.
Third, type 2 diabetes is insidious and develops gradually through pre-diabetes, a stage referred to as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and may in the early stages not be severe enough to give symptoms of diabetes [28]. Studies have shown that alcohol is also protective for IGT [11,29], and it is reasonable to believe that not all participants were healthy at baseline. Hence, it is possible that some had IGT or even type 2 diabetes without knowing, and thus the protective effect may be underestimated.
Assessment of lifestyle factors.
Alcohol consumption in men and women should thus be limited to moderate amounts, and heavy consumption should be discouraged. Moreover, the balance of risk of alcohol consumption on other diseases and health outcomes, even at moderate levels of consumption, may outweigh the positive benefits with regard to diabetes. Dose-response analyses exploring the association between alcohol consumption and incident type 2 diabetes have typically identified a reduction in risk at relatively moderate levels of exposure among both men and women. Heavy alcohol consumption (i.e., 200 grams of pure alcohol, or approximately 16 standard drinks, per day) can cause ketoacidosis in both diabetics and nondiabetics (Wrenn et al. 1991).
For instance, a 12oz can of beer or a 125oz glass of red wine contain 155 calories. These calories don’t provide you with satiety, and you will likely not deduct these calories from your daily calorie needs, so you might see weight gain. There are approximately 37 million diabetic people in the US,¹ with 90-95% having type 2 diabetes. It’s vital to understand the influence of alcohol on type 2 diabetes. Let’s look at how alcohol impacts type 2 diabetes, its risks, benefits, and more. It’s reasonable to feel overwhelmed in social situations that involve drinking—when, say, a friend orders margaritas for the table at happy hour, and you’re left wondering if you should chase down the waiter to swap your order for seltzer with lime.
Interaction With Diabetes Medication
In one study of 275 originally potent diabetic men, heavy drinkers were significantly more likely to develop impotence during the 5-year study period than were moderate drinkers (McCulloch et al. 1984). Based on assumptions regarding the alcohol content of the beverages mentioned in the study, “heavy” drinkers were defined as those who ingested 29 grams of alcohol, or approximately two to three standard drinks, per day. Numerous studies have investigated alcohol’s effects on the control of blood sugar levels in diabetics. Drinking alcohol may affect your blood sugar levels, interact with diabetes medications, and contribute to complications. But drinking a moderate amount of certain types of alcohol, such as red wine, may be safer.
The pancreas, which is located behind the stomach, serves two functions. The first function, which involves most of the pancreatic cells, is the production of digestive enzymes. Those enzymes are secreted directly into the gut to ensure effective food digestion. Two of the hormones can diabetics get drunk (i.e., insulin and glucagon) are potent regulators of blood sugar levels. Both hormones are produced in areas of the pancreas called the Islets of Langerhans, which, quite literally, are “islands” of hormone-producing cells in a “sea” of digestive enzyme-producing cells.
Effects of Alcohol Consumption in the Fed State
These agents act to lower the patient’s blood sugar levels by decreasing insulin resistance rather than by increasing insulin secretion. Accordingly, these medications help control blood sugar levels without causing hypoglycemia. Alongside established lifestyle factors, such as smoking (4), adiposity (5), and diet (6,7,8), alcohol consumption is also thought to play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes. The most recent meta-analysis to have explored the alcohol-diabetes relationship was undertaken by Baliunas et al. (9) in 2009. A systematic search was undertaken, identifying studies that reported a temporal association between alcohol consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes.