• Skin care
• Foot care
• Eye care
• Dental care
• Travel
• Eating out
• How About a Drink?
• Make the Best of Sick Days
• Care of Elderly Diabetics
• Special Concerns of Male Diabetics
• Emotional Factors and Diabetes
• Hugs Help

How About a Drink?

Guidelines:-
1. Discuss the use of alcohol with your physician.
2. Do not drink on an empty stomach.
3. Drink slowly.
4. Avoid sugary, sweet drinks.
5. Make the necessary caloric adjustments to compensate for the alcoholic beverage.
6. If you drink, do it in moderation (never to the point that judgment is impaired).

If you are accustomed to having an occasional alcoholic drink, you may want to ask your physician about the timing of such beverages and the types you can drink safely. Many physicians say it is not harmful for most people with diabetes whose disease is under control to have a drink once in a while. However, remember that alcohol consumed before or during a meal may produce changes in your blood sugar. Alcohol drunk before a meal may cause a drop in your blood sugar. Since alcohol consumed must be calculated into your daily caloric intake, be aware of the caloric content of your favorite drinks. In younger persons with diabetes parental supervision will

Whiskey, Wine and Beer Caloric and Exchange Details*

Alcoholic Beverages Containing No Carbohydrate*

Alcoholic Beverages Containing No Carbohydrate (cont.)

Play a role in consumption of alcoholic beverages. Parents may wish to make their own family habits regarding this matter known to the child's physician. In some cases alcohol use by per sons with diabetes or abuse of alcohol can have serious consequences. If you have been a heavy drinker, you might want to discuss your habits with your health care team, which will assist you in trying to alter your habit to fit the requirements of your dietary therapy for your diabetes.
Also, if you have non-insulin-dependent diabetes and take one of the oral hypoglycemic, alcohol may cause extreme flushing, and you may notice a very warm sensation and some redness or the skin.
If your diabetes is out of control, consumption of alcoholic beverages should be avoided.
Your health care team will give you some general guidelines, from which you can draw the aspects that are most applicable to you. These may include the following.
• If you have certain forms of heart or kidney disease, gastritis (inflammation of the stomach) or pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), you will probably be advised to avoid drinking. Also, if you have high triglyceride levels (certain fats in the blood), you will probably be advised to avoid drinking. Chronic consumption of alcohol can aggravate the condition, which in turn may be a major cause of atherosclerosis.
• If you are not eating regularly, drinking can produce hypoglycemia because alcohol taken while fasting enhances the blood sugar action of insulin and interferes with your body's ability to produce glucose.
• If you are taking oral glucose lowering medications, alcohol can cause a lowering of your blood sugar.
• If you are dieting to lose weight, remember that alcohol provides calories but has little nutritional value. Alcohol should contribute no more than 6 percent of your total calories each day.
• Alcoholic drinks are usually calculated as fat exchanges. Check your meal plan and omit appropriate fat exchanges for the day if you have had a drink. If you cook with alcohol, you do not have to calculate the amounts you use in your meal plan because the alcohol evaporates as it cooks. Few calories remain, making alcohol a good low-calorie flavoring.
• It may be helpful to know that dry wines usually contain moderate amounts of alcohol (12 percent) and have little or no sugar. Very sweet dessert wines and liqueurs have up to 50 percent sugar and should be avoided.
• Keep in mind the dangers of mixing alcohol and medications. You may want to talk to your physician or pharmacist about the advisability of drinking while taking certain prescriptions or over the counter medications.
• Remember that alcohol dependency is generally unhealthy for diabetics and nondiabetics. Alcohol can damage all the vital organs in the body.