Blood Sugar Levels - A Quick Guide to How Much Alcohol You Can Drink Safely!

Having type 2 diabetes means you need to be more careful about your intake of alcohol than you may have been in the past. However, alcohol doesn't need to be avoided completely when you have type 2 diabetes, but you should know how much alcohol you can drink safely and which types of drinks are better for you than others.

Your liver is the key organ in your body involved in processing alcohol... it also happens to be where blood glucose is released. This means when you drink, your liver focuses on eliminating alcohol from your body and, depending on the amount you drink, may not be able to release enough glucose into your bloodstream to take care of your needs.

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Alcohol and Hypoglycemia:

If you imbibe a bit too much, you may find yourself with a drop in blood sugar levels. These can go low enough to cause hypoglycemia, which means there isn't enough glucose in your blood. Too low blood sugars can result in a life threatening situation and, at the very least, cause dizziness and confusion. Since these can also be symptoms of intoxication, no one may know that you need immediate treatment for low blood sugars.

Your slip into hypoglycemia can be even quicker if you take insulin or oral medications for diabetes type 2. It only takes two ounces of alcohol, or roughly 2 servings, to drop your blood sugar levels. One serving of alcohol equals 1 shot of liquor, 5 ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer. Thus, a six-pack of beer is equivalent to six servings.

Most doctors recommend no more than two drinks for men and one for women per day. This is, of course, based on your weight and how much your diabetes is controlled by either diet or medication. If your diabetes is not in the controlled range, (HbA1c level under 7), you should not drink alcohol at all.

Be Selective About Drinks:

Even if you are in the controlled range for diabetes type 2, you still need to be careful about what kind of alcohol you consume. Many drinks loaded with sugar really should be avoided. These include:

daiquiris margaritas, and drinks which are often mixed with ice cream, such as Kahlua, which is a coffee-based liqueur

These types of mixed drinks can easily pile on the pounds or kilograms and if you're like most type 2 diabetics, you are trying to lose weight.

Any drink which contains alcohol is high is calories... higher than calories in carbohydrates by almost fifty percent. Plus, they are empty calories. They contribute nothing at all to your body's nutritional needs. Not only that, most people do not drink alcohol without chomping on foods and snacks that are also "off-diet".

It is really important for you to focus on maintaining the rest of your diabetes eating plan if you want to make room for alcohol. Drinking too much, three or more servings per day, over time can cause liver damage and cause diabetic complications to progress more quickly.

Seek Low-Calorie Options:

So, what are the best choices for alcohol? Choose drinks which are low in calories and lowest in alcohol. These can include using sugar-free mixers and colas with liquor, or light beers and dry wine. Stay away from liqueurs and port wines which are sugar and calorie intensive.

Check with your doctor before drinking alcoholic beverages. You might have different requirements depending on what medications you are taking. People with high cholesterol should avoid drinking entirely as alcohol can block lipid (fat) removal from your body. Try to make your drink last as long as possible by slowly sipping it and having it wash down a healthy snack like light popcorn or raw nuts.

Watching what you drink, to say the least, will help you to avoid passing out with low blood sugar levels.

Blood Sugar Levels - A Quick Guide to How Much Alcohol You Can Drink Safely!

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Alcohol and Its Effects on Breast Cancer

As studies have shown, estrogen is the hormone that fuels 80% of breast cancer cases.
Any type of alcohol, be it beer, wine, spirits or something else can change hormonal levels. It is important to note that it is not the alcohol (in say wine) that protects you, but the flavonoids and antioxidants. What determines risk the the alcohol itself and the quantity in which it is consumed.

As a general rule a safe guideline for alcohol consumption is five ounces of wine, twelve ounces of beer or 1.5 ounces of liquor. That breaks down to around one drink per day. If you have two your risk for developing breast cancer increases by 10%, and having three drinks will increase that risk to 30%.

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In fact this equals smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Regular drinking raises your estrogen level, thereby exposing your breast tissue and can activate the cells to become cancerous.

As a rule, alcohol should be avoided if you are addicted, are or could become pregnant, have a medical condition that is affected by alcohol or re taking any medication that could have side effects when mixed with alcohol.

Studies have shown that women who do not drink alcohol are at a much lower risk for developing breast cancer than those that start. Similarly, those that drink alcohol heavily or to excess ("falling down drunk") consistently (more than two or three times per day) are at a much greater risk.

To minimize the effect of alcohol as a risk factor, the strategy is simple. Drink moderately and not in great quantities, never drink when pregnant. You may even choose to not drink alcohol altogether, instead drinking sparkling juice or alcohol free wine and beer. Ultimately, as we have seen, in very moderate quantities, alcohol can help you decrease your risk, but overindulgence can have the opposite effect.

Alcohol and Its Effects on Breast Cancer

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Dying of Acute Alcohol Poisoning

Randy was a junior in high school. He and his buddy cut school and went to a friend's house to do some serious drinking. Incredibly, the friend's parents were home part of the time and knew (or should have known) what was going on. They had stolen a half-gallon of whiskey from one of their parents' liquor cabinet. They began to drink.

The drink of choice for killing oneself with alcohol is hard liquor simply because it has a much higher concentration of alcohol than beer or wine does. The alcohol builds up in the bloodstream faster, causing deadly poisoning before the side effects prevent or reduce the intake. It is possible to kill yourself with beer, but the lower concentration (6 percent or 12 proof [1 percent = 2 proof]) requires the consumption of much larger quantities. Before a fatal blood alcohol level is reached, the beer drinker may mercifully vomit or pass out. The same is true of wine, which, at 10 to 12 percent alcohol (20 to 24 proof), requires the drinker to consume a larger quantity than hard liquor. With 80 proof whiskey, 100 proof vodka or tequila, 151 proof rum, or 198 proof grain alcohol (white lightning or Everclear), it is a much shorter journey into oblivion. So when you are matching your friend drink for drink, guzzling several ounces of straight whiskey each time, you need to remember one critical fact. You can drink and absorb alcohol much faster than your liver and other tissues can metabolize and get rid of it, so the level is constantly rising. If it reaches 0.4 percent before you pass out, vomit, or somebody stops you, you may just die. Randy did.

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There is a dynamic process going on when you consume alcohol: consumption, absorption, and elimination. Alcohol is absorbed rather quickly and at almost 100 percent efficiency, so consumption is roughly equal to absorption. Elimination is variable, but within a relatively narrow range. The novice drinker can metabolize one to one-and-a-half ounces of alcohol per hour. A veteran drinker, whose liver has had repeated exposures to alcohol and is more efficient, may be able to metabolize half again that much, but there is a limit to how fast alcohol can be cleared from the body. That upper limit may approach two ounces per hour. The blood alcohol level depends on how fast the alcohol is consumed and how strong it is.

When large amounts of highly concentrated alcohol are consumed quickly, the normal stages of drunkenness are passed through, but very rapidly because the drug is being consumed and absorbed at such a high rate. And as a high school junior, you're not an everyday drinker, so your liver is not habituated. It doesn't metabolize the alcohol efficiently. Your friend is the same height, but weighs fifteen pounds more, mostly fat. Because alcohol is evenly distributed in tissues, he can drink 15 percent more than you can for each stage of intoxication.

At 0.1 percent blood alcohol level,you are pleasantly buzzed. You feel lighthearted and happy. You're talkative and funny. All your worries seem trivial, and you have a warm glow. Your lips might feel a little thick, and your balance might not be perfect, but you could probably pass a field sobriety test. You would fail a blood or urine alcohol test and a breathalyzer because the legal limit for alcohol is 0.08 percent. You are feeling good.

At 0.2 percent blood alcohol level as a rookie, you are feeling very drunk. Your speech is slurred, and your walk is quite unsteady. You may see double. You are not as mellow as you were, and you become loud and obnoxious as liquor dissolves normal social restraint. Males may still be able to get an erection, but it probably won't be a great one. And there might be real difficulty having an orgasm. You're just plain drunk.

When the blood alcohol level reaches 0.3 percent, most people pass out. If they are lucky enough to be in a temperate environment, a knowledgeable and caring soul may turn their head to the side to prevent them from choking on or aspirating their vomit. If they are unlucky and pass out alone in the cold, they could suffer hypothermia or freeze to death, as alcohol impairs temperature control and dilates capillaries close to the surface of the skin. They quickly lose their core heat to the surrounding cold and suffer hypothermia.

Unconscious, the drunk may vomit, plugging his airway. Worse, the vomit may be aspirated or sucked into his lungs. The effect of stomach acid and food particles is devastating on lung tissue, causing aspiration pneumonia. If not fatal,it may cause severe scarring and permanent reduction of functional lung tissue.

Randy and his friend shared a half-gallon of whiskey. That's sixty-four ounces of liquor (thirty-two ounces of alcohol), and it killed him. He drank it so fast that he was able to reach 0.4 percent before he passed out, he got sick, or someone stopped him. When he finally did pass out, the alcohol level was so high that it stopped his breathing. Without oxygen, a heart already weakened by high alcohol levels cannot last long, perhaps a minute or two. Then it stops. And tragically, no one recognized what had happened in time to help. So the world lost another young person to alcohol and another bright and promising future that would not be. There was another devastated family, memorial service warning friends about binge drinking, and another obituary chronicling the life of a nice guy, promising student, and gifted athlete.

Dying of Acute Alcohol Poisoning

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Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol poisoning, sometimes called acute alcohol intoxication, is what happens to your body when your liver cannot adequately process all of the alcohol you have consumed. Your liver takes two hours to break down the alcohol in one drink. (That's one 1.5 ounce shot, 5 ounces of wine or champagne or 12 ounces of beer or wine cooler). If you drink more than one drink every two hours, your liver will not be able to process all the alcohol, and alcohol being a depressant, will slow down your heart rate and breathing and lower your blood pressure.

Alcohol poisoning can slow down your vital functions to the point you become comatose or even die. If you do survive alcohol poisoning, you may have to suffer through the pain of having your stomach pumped, or you may have permanent brain damage from the unconscious or comatose state your were in.

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Drinking games, shots and beer bongs encourage the drinking of large amounts of alcohol and increase the chances of alcohol poisoning. Being in an unconscious state also increases your chances of being a physical crime, such as rape or sexual assault.

There are no set amounts of alcohol that will cause alcohol poisoning. The amount each person's body can tolerate depends on the size, weight and chemical makeup of his/her body. Basically, different people experience different effects from the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Just because a person has thrown up does not mean s/he is now sober, that it is safe for the person to start drinking again, or that the poison from drinking too much is gone from his/her body.

If you are with someone who has had too much to drink and passes out (or seems to have fallen asleep):

First, try to wake the person by calling his name or pinching his skin.

Turn the person on her side, so that if she does throw up, she will not asphyxiate on her own vomit.

Never leave the person unattended.

Check the person's skin temperature, color and breathing.

Dial 9-1-1 or call local emergency services in your area.

If your friend has passed out and will not respond, s/he is probably in the beginning stages of alcohol poisoning. Without professional medical treatment, alcohol poisoning can lead to coma and to death.

Alcohol Poisoning

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Beyond Drunk - Alcohol Poisoning

Binge drinking is most often linked to college campus fraternity parties, dorm escapades and athletic event celebrations. Walking down the street on the campus of the University of Wisconsin on our way to Camp Randall Stadium for a football game, we see the young men hanging out dorm rooms, frat houses and apartment buildings, guzzling beer and ten sheets to the wind at 11:00 in the morning. Call it a right of passage, or just something young men in college do, but it has potential for being very deadly. Beyond drunk is alcohol poisoning and the party is over.

Simply put, alcohol poisoning is the body absorbing too much alcohol over a short period of time. The college campus binge drinking is a good example, but it happens just about anywhere, any time. It can also be caused by drinking ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, or methyl alcohol (wood alcohol). Home made alcohol such as moonshine or white lightning can be potentially very dangerous. The body can only take so much. Because alcohol depresses the central nervous system, massive amounts of alcohol, or the wrong kind of alcohol in heavy amounts, not only can cause a person to pass out, but stop breathing as well.

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The slowing of breathing is just one sign of trouble. Before they pass out, a person might have vomiting, be confused or in a kind of drunken stupor, their temperature might drop and their skin might have a "blue" tinge to it. They may experience seizures. Even if all of these symptoms are not present, alcohol poisoning might still be happening. If someone has had way too much and passes out, they may be at risk of dying.

Binge drinking at parties is intentional, but alcohol poisoning can occur quite unintentionally. Take for example the child who drinks a household product like mouthwash, or an over-the-counter medication. Their little system may not handle the ethanol content in those. Other products like rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), or hand sanitizers, or other cleaning products are dangerous. Kids have been known to drink antifreeze.

Most alcohol poisoning cases are, however, from drinking too much alcoholic beverage. Your body can probably handle a 12-ounce beer and eliminate the alcohol from your body in about an hour, if you don't have another beer. But what if you have three or four beers in an hour, which is not at all uncommon? What if you have a few beers each our over several hours? Your blood alcohol content is going to go up. Take this simple fact and accelerate it, as in the case of binge drinking, and you can see the potential for trouble. The body just can't keep up. Even after you stop drinking, your blood alcohol level can go up because the stomach passes the beer into your colon.

So often at college parties where the beer is flowing, maybe people are doing shots, there's always that one person who passes out drunk. "Oh, there's Hal, he's passed out. Let him sleep." His friends don't necessarily think he's in trouble. Maybe he's not, but alcohol poisoning is serious business. One thing to do if you suspect your friend is in trouble is to call 911, or call 800-222-1222, which will connect you to a local poison control center. Just letting him sleep is not a good idea. The help on the phone will guide you through the process and instruct you on what to do. They will probably ask you what he has been drinking, so offer that information. One thing not to do is let your friend vomit. Remember that his central nervous system is depressed and his gag reflex might be impaired. He might choke to death.

Alcohol poisoning requires medical intervention and some of the treatments include oxygen treatment, airway precautions to prevent him from choking and help him breathe, intravenous fluids (alcohol causes dehydration) and even dialysis to rid the blood of alcohol and toxins. If a person has really consumed a lot of alcohol, the first 24 hours of this treatment can be touchy.

The way to prevent alcohol poisoning is moderation. But sometimes "moderation" is a meaningless word. What is moderation? As a guideline, it's one drink a day for women and two drinks for men. It's a 12-ounce beer, or 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of liquor. For an alcoholic, moderation means nothing. People with the disease can't stop drinking and, therefore, are at risk of alcohol poisoning.

The guy passed out at a frat party, or the alcohol abuser who's had a very bad day, or the alcoholic who craves a drink when they get up in the morning, are not in a position to help themselves necessarily, and so it becomes necessary for friends, family and co-workers to assist. They may look like they're peacefully sleeping it off when they're passed out on the couch, but it's only when they don't get up when we realize something was wrong.

Am I my brother's keeper? Yes.

Beyond Drunk - Alcohol Poisoning

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Drinking Alcohol and Women

The impact of alcohol consumption is not equal among the sexes. Women may drink less alcohol than their male counterparts and still suffer a greater negative effect on their bodies. Why? Basically most women are smaller in weight and height than men. Thus, when they drink there is less fluid for dilution, less enzyme production for alcohol breakdown by the liver, and available alcohol can readily hide in fat cells which are more abundant in females that in their male counterparts.

How does this translate for women's alcohol intake? The Dietary Guidelines for America recommend that alcoholic beverages be consumed sensibly and in moderation. The alcohol intake guidelines suggest one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Abstention is an important option, for the hazards of heavy alcohol consumption are well known. Moderation is considered within the standard definition of one drink; which is 12 fluid ounces of regular beer, 5 fluid ounces of wine, or 1.5 fluid ounces of 80 proof distilled spirits.

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What do women need to know? I have heard from my patients that drinking, especially drinking red wine, is good for their hearts. The Nurses Health Study suggests that if women consumed one to three drinks a day, there could be a significant reduction in heart disease mortality. This benefit may be for those already at risk for cardiovascular disease. The supposed benefit of moderate drinking appears to disappear in the absence of underlying risk factors for heart disease. Meanwhile, alcohol consumption increases estrogen levels, which can be associated with increased breast cancer risk. So the question for women becomes will increasing your alcohol intake reduce mortality from heart disease but increase your cancer risk?

Cancer - Naomi Allen, the lead author of the women, alcohol and cancer study states, "These findings suggest that even low levels of drinking increase a woman's risk of developing cancer of the breast, liver and rectum and in smokers, cancer of the mouth and throat." 1 The study surveyed women visiting breast cancer screening clinics, with a seven year follow up, and found that regularly consuming alcoholic drinks increased their risk for cancer. Even one drink of alcohol daily may increase cancer risk in women.

Alcoholic Liver Disease - Women tend to develop alcoholic liver disease faster than men and with a smaller amount of alcohol consumed. Inflammation of the liver (alcoholic hepatitis) occurs more readily in women, which can lead to death from cirrhosis.

Brain Disease - Heavy drinking is often associated with loss of brain function, atrophy, and reduction in mental ability. Sellers' study, "Unique Effects of Alcoholism in Women," describes how the impact of alcohol on the brain is similar for both genders but less time of exposure is needed for damage in females. She cites how changes in the brain's sensory, motor, and intellectual functions are more pronounced in females with less alcohol exposure than in their male counterparts.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can increase the risk of congenital damage to the developing fetus. Infants born to heavy alcohol exposed mothers are at risk for growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, and neurological conditions. Low birth weight and an increase in spontaneous miscarriage are also noted with alcohol exposure during pregnancy.

The Bottom Line - More research is required to fully understand the impact of alcohol in women. Our current knowledge of the female body physiology and the loud signals from research studies suggest that the health consequences of alcohol in women can pose significant problems. We can no longer assume that a long history of repeated intoxication is the only requirement for organ damage. I strongly urge women to look at their risk factors for illness, their family histories and then discuss these issues honestly with their health providers. Health survival is PREVENTION.

1 Allen N, et al, Moderate Alcohol Intake and Cancer Incidence in Women, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2009, 101: 296-305.

Drinking Alcohol and Women

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Alcohol and Diets - How Does Drinking Affect Your Diet?

So you've committed to making the lifestyle change and have changed your eating habits for the long term. Or maybe your going on a short diet to shed a few extra pounds because spring and summer is on the way and you want to see if that swimsuit from last year still fits. But you also enjoy a drink or two with friends and neighbors. How will drinking affect your diet plans? Here are a few key point to remember when mixing alcohol and diets.

Since you're going to have an alcoholic drink, ORDER A DISTILLED PRODUCT like vodka, gin, or whiskey on the rocks or with a diet soda mix, a low-carb beer, or a glass of dry red or white wine. If you are on a low-carb diet, any alcoholic beverage with less than 7 carbohydrates per serving is considered low-carb, and remember that one serving of alcohol is 12 ounces of beer (not a six pack!), 5 ounces of wine (that's the small glass, not the goblet), or 1.5 ounces of a distilled spirit (that's definitely much smaller than my typical serving size!).

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If you're going to have a couple of drinks, START WITH A GLASS OF WATER. Actually, don't stop there. Have more water between drinks but remember, the USDA recommends no more than one serving of alcoholic drink per day for women and two drinks maximum per day for men. Alcohol tends to dehydrate people - one of the reasons why you have the hangover in the morning - so drinking plenty of water before, during and after your one or two drinks will help keep you hydrated.

If you're drinking wine and know the carbohydrate count for the brand, CONSIDER A WINE SPRITZER. Mix 2.5 ounces of wine with an equal amount of seltzer or soda water and garnish with a thin slice of lemon or lime. Now you can enjoy two drinks for the carb count of a single serving of wine!

Now here's where we really get into how alcohol affects your diet. There is a fuel hierarchy that your body uses for energy sources. ALCOHOL COMES FIRST IN THE FUEL HIERARCHY, followed by fat, protein, and then carbohydrates. WHEN YOU DRINK, YOU STOP THE WEIGHT-LOSS PROCESS. Sorry, but it is true. Your body needs between 1 and 2 hours to burn off a serving of beer, wine, or distilled spirits. Once the alcohol has been processed, your body will revert back to utilizing fat, protein, and carbohydrates for energy. Simply put, THE MORE YOU DRINK AND THE MORE OFTEN YOU DRINK, THE SLOWER YOUR WEIGHT LOSS.

Which means if you're working hard all week with your diet and exercise routine, eating right and taking your nutritional supplements, but then party like mad on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights then you are at best, just maintaining your weight. If you're not in the diet and exercise routine during the week, but still partying, then you're probably gaining weight due to the empty alcoholic calories. Moderation is the key.

Alcohol and Diets - How Does Drinking Affect Your Diet?

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