Question: to drink or not to drink beer with type 2 diabetes is rhetorical, as it has only one answer for the person who was diagnosed with this. The problem is that after the verdict of the endocrinologist, the patient, as a rule, does not feel any special painful sensations, because of which he must limit himself to something.
Of course, if obesity, excessive thirst, constant going to the toilet, led to dizziness and loss of consciousness, then the diagnosis of diabetes, explaining these conditions, the threat of stroke and death, removes questions about alcoholic beverages for any sane person.
Preventive examinations and tests when applying for a job, medical education and an increase in the cultural level of the population make it possible to detect diabetes mellitus two by elevated blood sugar at a time when diabetes does not give external manifestations of the disease. “Increased sugar” is perceived as something typical of the category “salt deposits”, “overweight”. There is a diagnosis, but no pain, so why worry ?! Another thing is ARI, the flu, the manifestations of which are obvious - headache, fever and even vomiting.
Alcoholic traditions and plentiful feasts (even if it is a beer table) in our country fundamentally differ from a disease such as the second type of diabetes, in which the pancreas ceases to produce insulin in the proper amount and there is a violation of carbohydrate metabolism. Blood sugar can reach values \u200b\u200bof 20-30 mmol / l without visible pain.
Numerous international studies have shown that with a glucose content in the blood above 10 mmol / L, the irreversible destruction of blood vessels in all internal organs begins without pain. With the uncontrolled course of the disease, there is a threat of stroke, blindness, gangrene of the legs.
Sugar requires compliance with a whole system of measures to compensate for pancreatic insufficiency:
An analysis of this system leads to the conclusion that a certain lifestyle is necessary, which is the basis for type 2 diabetes.
Taking even a small amount of alcohol, whether it is beer or wine, causes an increase in appetite. The habit of satisfying oneself is difficult to overcome, and especially after the libation. The alcohol contained in beer initially increases blood sugar. To this is added sugar from the food eaten to satisfy the hunger that has arisen.
After a while, the diabetic has a sharp decrease in blood sugar, often leading to hypoglycemia. Checking whether it is possible to take sugar-lowering drugs with beer with diabetes, it is easy to lose consciousness (up to a diabetic coma). A diabetic in a state of hypoglycemia looks like a drunk and causes condescending smiles in those who do not know about the dangerous diagnosis.
A harmless glass of beer or a glass of wine for a healthy person can cause irreparable harm in type 2 diabetes in the form of a painless destruction of a capillary vessel in the kidney, eye and any internal organ. Let it be for a minute, a second, but life will become shorter, and terrible diagnoses closer. This is the answer to the rhetorical question: is it permissible to drink beer with type 2 diabetes.
The history of beer dates back hundreds of years. During this period, the nutritious drink not only has not lost its popularity, but has gained even more fans. It is brewed in almost all countries of the world, and it is rather difficult to calculate all its varieties. Thanks to beer, some nations developed real beer traditions that marked the beginning of beer festivals and carnivals.
It is no secret that beer in a sense is also a healthy drink, since it has properties that positively affect the human body, in particular, it contributes to its rejuvenation. Unfortunately, people who have high blood sugar should monitor the amount of beer consumed, following the advice of doctors. And they recommend drinking beer no more than 300 ml for those who are not yet sick with diabetes, but blood tests show an increase in blood sugar. In such an amount of beer, the carbohydrates contained in it will not be able to increase blood sugar, since their effect is compensated by the alcohol in the beer.
For those who already have diabetes, it is best to forget about beer and alcohol, because with a combination of beer and insulin, an attack of hypoglycemia can occur (blood sugar drops sharply), which in itself is quite dangerous, as it can lead to death of a person .
But yeast positively affects the human body and especially who is sick with diabetes. Doctors even prescribe brewer's yeast to prevent and treat many diabetics. They consist of 52% protein, contain fatty acids, valuable vitamins and essential trace elements. Thanks to this composition, metabolic processes are normalized, and with it the state of the liver and blood formation improve. Yeast contributes to the correction of proper nutrition, which is so important for patients with diabetes who are required to comply with food restrictions.
Brewer's yeast has become popular as a prophylaxis and treatment of diabetes not only in our country, but also in many countries of Europe. They are actively used in almost all medical institutions.
Alcohol in diabetes of the second type may not immediately show its negative effect, unlike the first type. But the consequences, which may appear somewhat later, are irreversible and extremely destructive for the human body as a whole, and especially for the pancreas.
It should be noted that non-alcoholic beer is not as dangerous for diabetics as its alcoholic counterparts. It is best to opt for special diabetic beers.
After diagnosing diabetes mellitus, it is quite difficult for a person to change some addictions, for example, refuse to use foam. Everyone knows that in small quantities beer is good if it is made in accordance with all standards. But let's take it step by step.
At an early stage of diabetes, the consumption of a foamy drink is allowed, but in strictly dosed quantities. Before leaning on beer, learn the most important subtleties.
It is allowed to consume a foamy drink with a more complicated course of diabetes, but only if the glucose levels in the blood are in a stable state. With frequent surges in sugar, beer intake should be excluded so as not to harm. As in the previous case, study all the nuances.
Diabetes mellitus can be a serious reason not to drink. The disease is accompanied by slow metabolic processes and poor elimination of toxins from the body. Therefore, a diabetic is more likely to experience intoxication than others.
Is diabetes and beer compatible?
In recent years, the concept of “glycemic index” is increasingly found in publications on the nutrition of people with diabetes. Today, such a universal rule is widely used that the choice of products with a low glycemic index allows you to clearly control your blood sugar and successfully monitor your well-being.
However, many nutritionists indicate that the glycemic index is averaged, and that they are not able to reflect the individual's perception of certain foods by the body. There are also a number of products for which the glycemic index cannot be calculated unambiguously. In particular, they include beer, including non-alcoholic. Nevertheless, some books on diets assign beer a high glycemic index - 110, referring to the content of maltose in beer, thereby allegedly proving the "undeniable" harm of this drink to diabetics. But is beer harmful?
In order to understand, you need to understand how the production methods of non-alcoholic beer affect its composition, how the glycemic index of beer is calculated and what is the nutritional value of this product.
Why production technology matters
For the production of non-alcoholic beer, there are two main methods: the suppression of fermentation and multi-stage membrane filtration, which implies the careful removal of the fortress from the finished beer.
In the first case, special yeast is used that does not completely ferment malt sugar into alcohol. On the one hand, such a beer does not really contain alcohol, but it will contain carbohydrates, and its glycemic index will be high. But this method is rarely used in large breweries.
The second one used by large brewing companies is the removal of a fortress from an already prepared beer, in which all sugars are fermented to alcohol and carbon dioxide (membrane filtration). Microscopic holes in the membrane pass alcohol molecules in one direction due to osmotic pressure. Thus, the beer becomes non-alcoholic, but all other components of the drink remain in place. In this case, the glycemic index of non-alcoholic beer will be low, including because it will practically not contain carbohydrates.
How is the glycemic index of beer calculated?
To calculate the glycemic index of most food products, a rather complicated laboratory technique was used, proposed in 1981 by David J. Jenkins from the University of Toronto. Making recommendations for the diet of patients with diabetes, the scientist measured the concentration of glucose in the blood after consuming one portion of the product containing 25 or 50 grams of carbohydrates.
But this method is practically not applicable for testing beer, because this drink contains on average 3-4 grams of carbohydrates per 100 ml. For the purity of the calculations, the experiment participants would need to drink more than 2 liters of beer in 15 minutes, which in itself is not safe. That is why among authoritative sources there is no single indicator of the glycemic index of beer. Even one of the most authoritative sources of glycemic index data, the University of Sydney, was not able to collect enough volunteers for the experiment to get an accurate result. Therefore, the data that you can find in the tables are theoretical, "calculated".
How to determine if diabetics can drink non-alcoholic beer
We found that due to the ambiguity of the assessment, the glycemic index cannot be a single measure for compiling a diet of diabetics both in terms of individual indicators of each patient and in connection with the shortcomings of the methods for calculating this index. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to a more traditional approach - a low-carb diet, which allows you to adjust your nutrition plan without strict restrictions. Such a diet involves consuming no more than 30 grams of carbohydrates per day. Given that, on average, 100 grams of non-alcoholic beer contains only 3.5 grams of carbohydrates, then even a patient with diabetes can be limited to a jar of non-alcoholic beer with a volume of 300 ml without any harm to health.
Doctors categorically do not recommend drinking any alcohol to people who have high blood sugar. As for beer, the daily dose of this drink should not exceed three hundred milliliters. But is this a recommendation for people who have already developed diabetes? Can I drink beer with type 2 diabetes or not?
Alcohol is not recommended for people with diabetes. This is due to the influence of such drinks on the level of glucose in the bloodstream. After drinking alcohol, the blood sugar concentration decreases, because of which hypoglycemia develops. Of particular danger is the use of alcohol on an empty stomach, that is, on an empty stomach.
Therefore, drinking alcoholic beverages during long breaks between eating food, or after physical exertion, which led to the expenditure of kilocalories that were previously ingested, is not recommended. This will further aggravate hypoglycemia. The effect of alcohol on the body is individual. Each person reacts differently to different doses of alcohol. It is not possible to establish any common standards suitable for all patients.
How alcohol affects a diabetic’s body depends not so much on the type of strong drink as on the amount of ethanol contained in it. It is this substance that has a negative effect on the patient. Due to its presence in all alcoholic beverages, it is recommended that persons suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus completely eliminate their use. To understand the reason for this, it is worth considering the effect of alcohol on the body.
After drinking strong drinks (with the exception of wine and beer), there is an instant drop in blood sugar. Drinking is always accompanied by a hangover. It may be invisible to a healthy person, but it is difficult for patients with diabetes. The fact is that cleansing the body of alcohol is accompanied by an increase in glucose in the bloodstream. To avoid problems, the patient will have to take a drug that lowers sugar levels.
When all alcohol leaves the body, glucose levels will stop rising. But, since the patient previously took the drug to lower sugar levels, the concentration of this substance in the bloodstream will begin to decrease again. This will lead to the re-development of hypoglycemia.
Thus, the main danger of alcoholic beverages is the inability to maintain a balance of substances in the body after their use. This is an important factor for any diabetic, which in itself is a reason to give up alcohol. In addition, similar drinks also:
Another problem with alcohol is delayed hypoglycemia. The essence of this phenomenon is that signs of low blood sugar appear only hours after the fact of taking an alcoholic drink.
The problem is insidious, because delayed symptoms do not provide the opportunity to correct the situation on time.
Thus, the effect of alcohol on the patient's body is negative. Even small doses of alcoholic beverages lead to the development of hypoglycemia and the inability to adequately control the concentration of sugar in the bloodstream. But beer is a kind of unique drink. It contains yeast, a very effective remedy for diabetes.
Brewer's Yeast Diabetes Efficiency Recognized Worldwide. This applies to both Europe and the Russian Federation. This is an excellent tool not only for the prevention of this disease, but also for its therapy.
The composition of this tool contains:
These components positively affect the metabolic processes in the body. In addition, they favorably affect the human liver and his circulatory system. More importantly, brewing yeast can be used to adjust nutrition. Given the need for special diets, this circumstance makes them indispensable for patients.
During the day, take no more than two teaspoons of yeast. Before taking the product, you need to properly prepare it. You can do this according to the following recipe:
After preparing this "cocktail", it should be consumed three times a day. Such actions stimulate the liver to produce insulin in the amount necessary for the normal functioning of the body.
Among patients, there is an opinion that the content of brewer's yeast in beer allows you to consume this drink. In a way, this is true, beer is an exception and can be taken by people suffering from diabetes. But at the same time, it contains ethanol, which negatively affects the body.
Therefore, in the first place, it is necessary to abandon this drink as a way of preventing the disease.
You should carefully consider the composition of this product. So:
Thus, beer is a fairly high-calorie drink. In addition, if we mean classic light beer, then the alcohol content in it is 4.5%. These circumstances distinguish this drink against the background of other types of alcohol and make beer use acceptable for diabetics. However, there are two general recommendations for patients who love beer:
These recommendations are based on the above composition of the drink. It contains a large amount of carbohydrates and a low level of alcohol. Carbohydrates increase blood glucose levels. Alcohol - to its lowering. The dose described above is optimal so that the sugar lowered by ethanol returns to normal due to the consumed carbohydrates. This circumstance excludes the possibility of sudden spikes in sugar. But how beer affects blood sugar when consumed in large doses is difficult to predict. Therefore, such an idea should be abandoned.
Despite the effect described above, beer is still an alcoholic beverage. Therefore, when using it, you must adhere to certain rules. So, for people suffering from type 1 diabetes, it is recommended:
With an unstable blood glucose level, it is recommended to completely abandon the use of beer.
Patients with the second type of diabetes must comply with the following rules for taking beer:
Compliance with these rules is especially important for patients with the second type of disease. The fact is that the consequences of taking a drink in such people appear later, respectively, it is more difficult to correct them.
Does adherence to these rules increase the chance of avoiding hypoglycemia? Yes, but you still need to be prepared for the possible consequences of drinking beer. Among them:
Similar side effects of drinking beer are individual and are not apparent to everyone. But after taking the drink, it is necessary to carefully control the level of glucose in the bloodstream. People suffering from diabetes are not recommended to drink this type of alcohol too often. It should be limited to a few glasses a month. The best way out for a diabetic is to completely abandon beer.
Thus, despite the fact that beer contains brewer's yeast, it is not recommended to consume it for people suffering from diabetes. Even if the patient decided to drink this drink, he should clearly follow the above recommendations and be prepared for the possible consequences of the decision.