Relying on a single assessment may alcoholism introduce exposure misclassification and may not fully capture the dynamic nature of alcohol consumption and its impact on T2DM. Additionally, our analysis focused on average daily alcohol consumption, and we were not able to account for the potential impact of heavy episodic drinking. To our knowledge, there is not enough epidemiological research available to incorporate this question into our dose-response analyses. We conducted four sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of our findings. First, we restricted the analysis to studies that used objective measures to assess the outcome (i.e., laboratory findings, medical records, or registries).

• Your body processes alcohol differently than most foods and beverages.
• When a person consumes alcohol, the liver begins to break it down.
• It addresses some of the risks as well as some of the benefits of drinking alcohol when you have type 2 diabetes.

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For men, we did not find an indication of a dose-response relationship between alcohol use and T2DM (Fig. 2A; for model selection, see Supplementary File 6). While the linear model fit the data best, there was no increase or reduction of the risk at any level of alcohol consumption compared with lifetime abstainers. For women, the restrictive cubic spline showed the best fit, describing a J-shaped dose-response relationship (Fig. 2B and Supplementary File 6). We identified a minimum reduction of 31% in the risk of T2DM (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.64–0.74) at 16 g of pure alcohol per day compared with lifetime abstainers.

Alcohol can cause hypoglycemia

But even those who have type 2 diabetes who take medication may be vulnerable to hypoglycemia unawareness, even though their blood sugar levels are more likely to skew high than low. That sort of double impact can cause blood sugar levels to drop to dangerously low levels, a condition known as hypoglycemia. Alcohol can interact with diabetes medications and impact your blood sugar.

What other dangers does alcohol pose for people with diabetes?

Symptoms may include severe tiredness (fatigue), mental confusion, and dizziness. To make sure you get the correct medical care for hypoglycemia, always carry a card, wear an ID bracelet, or wear a necklace that says you have diabetes. Because even moderate alcohol consumption can adversely many aspects of health, the negatives seem to outweigh the positives. To determine how much and how often you can safely consume alcohol with diabetes, always consult your doctor. They can provide personalized advice to keep you healthy and ensure that alcohol does not interfere with any prescribed medications. This tends to lower your blood sugar while you’re drinking, especially if you’re not eating.

Popular Alcoholic Beverages including carbs per serving

A drink serving is 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, or 1.5 oz of hard liquor such as scotch, gin, tequila, or vodka. Cocktails that are mixed with juice, mixers, or sugary sodas can spike blood sugar, especially if you drink too much. We included some articles that determined exposure and cases via self-report, and the studies did not account for temporal variations in alcohol use. Fifty-five studies, and one secondary data source, were included with a combined sample size of 1,363,355 men diabetes and alcohol and 1,290,628 women, with 89,983 and 57,974 individuals, respectively, diagnosed with T2DM. Furthermore, if you have been drinking heavily, there may be a risk of hypos for up to 16 hours (or even more) after you have stopped drinking. Some sources (including Diabetes UK ) advise strict carbohydrate management, perhaps even chips or pizza, if a large amount of alcohol has been consumed.