The diagnosis of "diabetes mellitus" sounds like a sentence. Patients immediately imagine a life full of restrictions and deprivations - the rejection of sweet and fatty foods, alcohol. How much does this correspond to the real state of affairs and is it so necessary to change our habits rigidly?
Alcohol and diabetes
Diabetics have to adjust to their illness, dramatically changing their eating habits. The patient now can hardly afford to try all the dishes on the festive table, splashing all this splendor with alcohol.
Strictly speaking, strong alcohol, which does not contain sugar and other components dangerous for diabetics, can not in any way contribute to increasing blood glucose - which is what patients with diabetes are so afraid of. Nevertheless, the use of significant amounts of alcohol can have a very negative impact on the health status of a diabetic and in some cases even lead to fatal consequences. Why is this happening?
How does alcohol affect the body of a diabetic?
Understanding of the basic processes occurring in the body of a sick person will help him to learn the principles of correct attitude to alcohol.
So, what happens when ethanol enters the circulatory system? Ethanol with a blood stream enters the liver, where, with the participation of enzymes, it oxidizes and decomposes. Drinking alcohol in large doses can slow down the production of glycogen by the liver, which in the near future threatens the patient with a critical condition - hypoglycemia. The more a person drank, the more delayed will be the state of shortage of glucose. Sudden shortage of sugar in the blood can occur when the patient will be helped by no one, therefore, the fatal end is inevitable.
It is very dangerous to drink on an empty stomach, and also after physical exercises, when the body is already losing its glycogen stores.
Diabetes patients should not consume sweet liquor - these are dessert wines, cocktails and some beers. Sweet drinks increase the blood glucose content, while ethanol enhances the effectiveness of medications taken by the patient.
Alcohol, among other things, strengthens the feeling of hunger, it becomes simply unmanageable. This feast ends with a relaxation of the diet, which is also nothing good, as a rule, does not end there.
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Gender differences do not have diabetes. The consequences of frequent use among men and women are equally sad. The only thing that can be advised to the fairer sex is to reduce the amount of alcohol compared to what a man can afford. The maximum that a woman is allowed to drink is a bottle of light beer a day or half a glass of dry wine. At the same time, it is necessary to determine your sugar level without fail, in order to understand whether this type of drink affects this indicator. As for strong drinks, the maximum allowed for a woman is 25 grams of vodka or cognac.
In type 1 diabetes,
Type 1 diabetes is considered an incurable disease. Patients are insulin dependent, that is, they are forced to stay on substitution therapy with insulin for life. Insulin is injected with injections, the purpose of its administration is to adjust the sugar level.
A portion of a strong drink should not exceed 70 grams. Women, as already mentioned above, the dosage should be reduced exactly half.
So, is it possible to take alcohol with diabetes? Yes, nutritionists do not prohibit alcohol, but it should be taken according to strict rules:
- Alcohol can not be drunk on an empty stomach.
- Drink better after a meal, so as not to disturb the developed diet.
- The dose of commonly consumed insulin should be halved, since alcohol enhances insulin effectiveness, and also lowers glucose levels by inhibiting the production of glycogen by the liver. Using alcohol at the usual insulin, you can get hypoglycemic coma.
- Before you go to bed, you should measure the amount of sugar in your blood and take measures to increase it at an excessively low level.
- Before drinking a patient with insulin dependence is a snack with carbohydrates with a low glycemic index. This will protect the body from jumps of sugar and will not allow you to fall into a state of hypoglycemia.
In fact, patients with type 1 diabetes find it difficult to calculate the right dose of insulin required to cover the amount of carbohydrates contained in alcohol and not lower the sugar to a dangerous limit. Therefore, even in the absence of a categorical ban on drinking, it would be wiser to abandon it.
With type 2 diabetes
With this type of diabetes, insulin in the body is produced in the required amount, but for some reason it ceases to be absorbed by the cells.
Maintaining the body in a state of compensation will help:
- proper nutrition with the restriction of simple carbohydrates, fat and salt;
- reduction in overweight;
- continuous monitoring of blood glucose;
- reception of sugar-reducing tablets.
Unfortunately, not all diabetics follow strict rules and allow themselves to overturn a few glasses, believing that from such a small amount no harm will occur. In fact, with this type of diabetes, alcohol is also dangerous by a sharp drop in the sugar level.
The conditions under which a diabetic with 2 type of disease can sip alcohol, in something similar to those listed above, while some prohibitions are added:
- Any alcoholic drinks containing in the sugar - exclude!
- Alcohol in the stage of decompensation, that is, with irretrievable violation of carbohydrate metabolism, - delete!
- Alcohol on an empty stomach - you can not!
- If the patient is treated with drugs, then their dosage should be reduced in order to reduce the risk of developing hypoglycemia.
Consequences of drinking alcohol
The most terrible option, the probability of which can not be foreseen for sure, is a sharp drop in the blood glucose level of an intoxicated person. Moreover, this state can occur at any time, even in a dream.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the patient, while drunk, simply misses the oncoming symptoms, very similar to the state of intoxication:
- tachycardia;
- confusion;
- sweating;
- nausea;
- dizziness;
- hand tremor;
- headache;
- drowsiness;
- speech impairment.
Nearby relatives or friends can equally misinterpret such signs and instead of providing adequate care to a patient with an attack of hypoglycemia, they simply will not pay him due attention, which will eventually exacerbate the severity of the patient's condition.
With a severe degree of hypoglycemia, a diabetic may fall into a coma, which threatens irreversible pathologies in the work of the brain and heart.
How to combine?
If you can not limit yourself to drinking, then at least try to minimize the harm caused to the body by alcohol. Here it is worthwhile to figure out which one you can drink alcohol with such a disease. Diabetics should choose those drinks, the action of which does not threaten sharp jumps of sugar. It is better to drink a small amount of vodka than a glass of sweet champagne.
At the use of vodka it is necessary to remember some nuances:
- You can drink a small amount - not more than 50-70 grams.
- Before a bite to eat a snack, following your diet.
- After the feast is over, measure the amount of sugar in the blood and take measures to prevent it from falling.
- Adjust the dose of medication.
After meeting all the conditions, one can hope that drinking will pass without excesses.
Those who categorically oppose drinking vodka, you can advise to take a little dry wine on the chest. But in this case, do not get carried away, overturning a glass with a glass. Diabetes patients are allowed to drink no more than 250-300 grams of unsweetened alcohol. In this case, of course, do not forget about the disease and strictly follow the above rules.
On the video on how to combine diabetes with alcohol:
Opinions of specialists
Being invited to the event, accompanied by an alcoholic drink and realizing that it is not possible to refuse temptation, the patient must necessarily consult a doctor on the topic of drinking alcohol. As a rule, a competent specialist with good health and satisfactory indices does not limit the patient to a small amount of alcohol while observing all the rules of reception, since in this case, these things are completely compatible.
Conclusions
A person who has a disease, sometimes it is not easy to limit himself to those products that he has been used to since childhood. But the disease dictates its rules, and in order to avoid the development of complications, it is worthwhile to follow them. The intake of alcohol is not a necessary factor in our life, although it brings some pleasant moments to it. In order that these moments really remain pleasant and do not bear serious consequences, it is necessary to follow all recommendations on the use of wine-vodka products with the diagnosed "diabetes mellitus".Remember - it is better to live a full life, not abusing alcohol, rather than drink once and finish a pleasant evening in intensive care.