Diabetes FAQ » Diabetes Q&A » My husband is a type 2 diabetic he is grossly overweight and he is trying to diet and eat properly. However, he seems to be unable to kick his beer habit, though now he only drinks on the weekends. He says he needs to relieve his stress. Is beer drinking affecting his diabetes? Can he still drink beer or does he have to eliminate it completely?

My husband is a type 2 diabetic he is grossly overweight and he is trying to diet and eat properly. However, he seems to be unable to kick his beer habit, though now he only drinks on the weekends. He says he needs to relieve his stress. Is beer drinking affecting his diabetes? Can he still drink beer or does he have to eliminate it completely?

The thing is beer and alcohol are everywhere in our society. People drink at parties, clubs, and dinner with friends, ball games. and even in the privacy of their own home. Some people do like to whine down at night with a beer or two. Many people are social drinkers and some are heavy drinkers, how much beer your husband drinks will have a bearing on how it affects his system and his diabetes.

Your husband will have to look at the following factors:

Is his diabetes controlled?

Has he consulted his doctor about drinking beer and does he have any diabetic complications such as high blood pressure or diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage).

Finally how much does he know about the relationship between diabetes and drinking beer?

Alcohol and the effect on your body

Alcohol will move rather quickly into the blood stream, it takes about 5 minutes for the alcohol to metabolize in the stomach and the alcohol can already be measured in the blood. In 90 minutes the alcohol in the blood stream will be at its highest level.

The liver is responsible for breaking down the alcohol once it enters the body, but the liver takes much more time than it takes for the alcohol to enter the blood stream. When you are drinking more than the liver can process, the blood carries the alcohol to various parts of your body such as the brain, and when that happens you get the “buzz” feeling.

The possibility of hypoglycemia

If a diabetic is on pills to control sugar levels or is taking insulin shots, the problem is that alcohol lowers blood sugar levels and this can be a problem for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients. So what your husband will have to do is eat a meal while he is drinking if not, than at least have a snack to offset the affects the alcohol in his blood stream.

The liver will normally control the effects of low blood sugar by changing stored carbohydrates in the body into sugar to level off the low. However, since alcohol is a toxin the liver is going to want to fight the alcohol first and clear it from the blood stream and so it doesn’t do its normal job of converting carbohydrates into sugar while it is battling the alcohol. This is how sugar levels can drop really low in the meantime. It just takes the consumption of two ounces of beer or alcohol on an empty stomach to result in sugar low.

Another thing to watch out for is drinking and exercising at the same time. Exercise will automatically lower blood sugar. Normally that is a good thing for a person with type 2 diabetes, but because the alcohol is going to lower the blood sugar and then the exercise on top of it, it will cause a bout of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels.) If your husband just played a game of ball, or worked when fair deal of exercise is involved, and then comes home to have beer or drops off to get one somewhere on the way home, his body is still reacting from the exercise hours later. The effects of exercising which normally converts sugars into energy will be taking glucose from the blood to the muscles and that in turn lowers your blood sugar level.

Finally the diabetic pills for type 2 diabetes is already lowering the blood glucose level which is needed to bring the blood sugars down. Your husband will need to eat in order to offset or try to offset the affects from the beer or alcohol.

The risks for low blood sugar levels, is less of a risk if your husband’s blood sugar levels are controlled and he does eat something when he drinks. He should also limit himself to 2 beers. He should also check his blood sugar levels before he goes to bed and he should eat a snack just to avoid a possibly blood sugar reaction during his sleep.

Do not mistake glucagon shots for giving to control high insulin as a safeguard for drinking. They have no affect on alcohol induced low blood pressure because the liver is not operating as it should as explained above.

Your husband should also know if he is on a special diet to help decrease his weight, adding alcohol to his diet is not going to help weight loss it will add empty calories.

Alcohol is not recommend for people with high blood pressure, or suffering with nerve damage and can put the diabetic at risk for eye problems worst if three or more drinks per day are consumed. Also diabetics with a high cholesterol count should not drink either.

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