Does Diabetes Mean You Have To Give Up Drinking?

Whether you’re clinking glasses for a toast or having a glass of Pimms in the sunshine, having a drink often goes along with life’s rituals, but does your type 2 diabetes diagnosis mean that those rituals have to end? Drinking when you have diabetes can put your wellbeing at risk if it’s not done carefully, but if you pay close attention to your wellness you can still manage to have a beer with your friends

Firstly, ask yourself: Is your diabetes under control? Do you have any other illnesses that could be made worse by drinking alcohol? Do you know how to manage your blood sugar if it dips too low or rises too high? Alcohol can cause significant damage to your wellness if your diabetes is not controlled, other illnesses affect your liver, your heart, or your nerves, or if you don’t know what to do if your blood sugar fluctuates too much.

Also, if you didn’t drink alcohol before you were diagnosed with diabetes, now is definitely not the time to start. According to a large study of nearly 66,000 people with diabetes, the more you drink, the less likely you are to adhere to important self-care behaviours like getting enough exercise, not smoking, eating a healthy diet, and taking your diabetes medications. Diabetes educator Kathy Honick, RN, CDE, advises that you should consult your doctor about how often and how much you drink.

However, according to endocrinologist Robert Ruxin, MD, if you’re healthy and your doctor doesn’t see any reason why you can’t drink alcohol, you should be able to drink in moderation, which means a ‘limit to one alcoholic drink equivalent per woman and two per men, if they’re used to it,’ each day. That means one beer, six ounces of wine, or 1½ ounces of hard liquor.

If you are going to drink, Honick advises taking your glucometer with you so you can monitor your blood sugar levels, making sure your companions know how to recognise the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar and what to do if they see them, and they know to call 999 if you become unconscious. Finally, always wear a medical alert bracelet or some other type of identification that notifies emergency personnel of your diabetes.