If you’re one of those who enjoy drinking a glass of red wine with dinner, there may be a bonus beyond the enjoyment of sipping and enjoying that glass at night.
While light drinking is usually not dangerous, too much alcohol can make diabetes harder to control and put your health at risk. With a few precautions and careful management, people with diabetes can also enjoy a drink.
A two-year study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine states that drinking a moderate amount of wine can be good for your health.
The researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reported that over two years, red wine helped improve signs of cardiac health by modestly increasing levels of HDL cholesterol and lowering overall cholesterol.
According to nytimes.com:
Israeli researchers randomly assigned 224 patients, all alcohol abstainers with well-controlled Type 2 diabetes, to drink 5 ounces of either mineral water, white wine or red wine with dinner. All followed a Mediterranean diet without calorie restrictions.
After two years, compared with the water-drinkers, those who drank red wine had increased their HDL (or “good”) cholesterol by about 10 percent, and significantly decreased their ratio of total cholesterol to HDL. These positive changes did not happen in white wine drinkers.
There were two beneficial effects in all the wine drinkers: Triglycerides and fasting plasma glucose levels decreased significantly in both groups compared with the water-drinkers.
Keep these in mind if you have diabetes and plan to drink alcohol such as red wine:
- Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach. Always eat some form of carbohydrate (not too much) with your drink, such as crackers, bread or pretzels.
- Avoid sweet wines, which can contain high amount of carbohydrates.
- Carry glucose tablets or another sugar source. Glucagon shots may not work in cases of hypoglycemia that are due to alcohol.
- Sip your drink slowly.
- Test your blood glucose 1 or 2 hours after drinking and again before going to bed.
- Talk to your health care provider.
- Always carry identification that says that you have diabetes.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Never drink and drive. Designate a safe driver, call a taxi or use a car service such as Uber or Lyft.
The American Diabetes Assn. leaves it to individuals to decide whether to consume alcohol in moderation. But many physicians caution those with diabetes about alcohol consumption, which can add calories, complicate glycemic control and derail self-discipline.
If you are on diabetic medication, make sure you check in with your health care provider to insure any medication that is prescribed does not have contraindication to alcohol consumption.
Source:
cbsnews.com
latimes.com
nytimes.com