Beer and diabetes relate in several ways. First, diabetics must monitor the amount of any alcohols consumed, because most alcohol contains sugar or carbohydrates, which affect blood sugar levels. Beer affects medications used to treat diabetes, and there are times when beer can dramatically lower blood sugar, which proves problematic if a person is incapacitated from drinking and doesn’t realize he has become hypoglycemic. Lastly, beer does not have great nutritional value and consuming it may mean consuming a lot of empty calories that make it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.
Any diabetic has to keep constant watch on blood sugar levels. It is dangerous when sugar levels rise above normal (hyperglycemia), or sink below normal (hypoglycemia). A diabetic uses medication to maintain sugar levels within a safe range, and depending on when beer is consumed, the beer and diabetes connection may mean creating a scenario where a person becomes hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic. On an empty stomach, a beer can dramatically lower blood sugar levels, and after significant eating, one or more beers may raise these levels. Essentially, beer and diabetes are connected in one way because they act together to make it more difficult to control blood sugar levels.
Much of the time the real danger with beer and diabetes is that the beverage may induce hypoglycemia. Alcohol can shut off sugar production in the body and when this is combined with medications for diabetes that do the same, people can end up with dramatically low blood sugar. The symptoms of low blood sugar can be mistaken for intoxication, and the more beer a person drinks, the less likely he or she is to notice the hypoglycemic state to take medications that can correct it. For this reason, doctors recommend that patients not consume much of any type of alcohol in one sitting, or at any time, and they should especially not drink beer on an empty stomach or after taking medication to lower blood sugar.
Diabetics are enjoined to keep healthy diets and maintain a healthy weight. Many people are even able to discontinue medications simply by losing weight. Beer and diabetes have a further connection when it comes to weight maintenance. Beer can have a lot of calories, and sometimes contains more calories than a soda. Just because beer isn’t sweet, it does not mean that it isn’t caloric and an obstruction to weight maintenance. People are better off avoiding it completely, or restricting their consumption of beer and other types alcohol to minimal and occasional use.
There have been some interesting studies on diabetes and beer drinkers, and though some of the studies are several decades old, they do suggest correlation between beer drinking, diabetes and higher earlier mortality rates, when compared to diabetics who principally drank other alcohols like wine. Additionally, significant beer drinking may increase risk for diabetes, if they gain a lot of weight from empty calories. There’s suggestion that beer and alcohol consumption of all other types are best in moderation, whether or not people have diabetes.