Alcohol

Alcohol is a carbohydrate - and a highly concentrated one, with many drinks having more or less sugar content than sodas. It also makes some of the deteriorative affects of diabetes worse. This is why it heads up the menu section on things that complicate diabetes.

The kinds of carbohydrates in alcoholic drinks tend to be absorbed very rapidly. They also contribute strongly to insulin resistance. The term "beer belly" did not come about accidentally.

It is true that I have never been a proponent of drinking alcoholic beverages. I feel that if you really want to have a good time, you'd want to remember it in the morning. I associate with people who never drink, and they don't require any kind of mind alteration other than clean laughter, so I have never really seen the attraction in drinking. I also feel that too much of the physical and mental abuse that occurs in the world has its beginnings in the bottom of a glass - I feel this way due to exposure to many wounded people in my life.

Where diabetes is concerned though, it has a number of negative affects, and is the number one cause of pancreatitis, which is also a cause of diabetes. Alcohol, like diabetes, destroys the body cell by cell. It does it in a little different way, but the end result is the same.

The last issue I have with it is that drinking enough to alter perception is a dangerous thing for a diabetic to do. It can result in life threatening highs or lows in blood sugar levels because of mismanagement.

No, I don't have a soapbox. But I do feel that alcoholic beverages are not a necessity, and that for a diabetic, use of them is risky at best, downright dangerous at worst.

Written by Laura Wheeler, Owner of Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc.