Alcohol that diabetics can eat and alcohol that should never be consumedDirector of the Medical Food Research Institute Kyung-sil Lee

What diabetics should pay attention to when drinking alcohol

If your fasting blood sugar is controlled below 126 mg/dL and your glycated hemoglobin is maintained at least below 7.0%, two glasses for men and one for women are the appropriate amounts. Of course, you shouldn't eat it every day.

So, which alcohol should you choose? Once you have diabetes, beer is a no-no. Since beer is a grain liquor, it also contains sugar. And when you compare the calories of alcohol, it's the best. It's best not to drink alcohol, but if you have to, choose spirits.

Also, diabetics should not consume alcohol on an empty stomach or immediately after exercising. Alcohol has two effects. Immediately after drinking, it relaxes the blood vessels, so there is a risk of low blood pressure and low blood sugar, and after a few hours, it peaks and becomes hyperglycemia and high blood pressure. It has a lot of influence on blood pressure and blood sugar fluctuations. And on a different note, when your blood pressure goes back and forth, it can cause arrhythmias. Therefore, it is important to remember that alcohol should be avoided because it has adverse health effects in many ways.

Why are most alcoholics skinny?

In fact, if you look at people who are alcoholics, there aren't many fat people, and they're almost all thin. But what these people have in common is that they have belly fat. The reason for this is that if you drink alcohol for a long time, you lose muscle. Also, the calories of alcohol itself are not something that our body can use. So, when alcohol enters our body, we increase our appetite in order to store more calories and store them in the form of fat in various parts of our body.

You put fat in your pancreas, you put it in your muscles, you put it in your liver. This is called ectopic fat, and if you have ectopic fat, your muscles will not function and you will have fatty liver, and it will get worse and worse. Therefore, if you have diabetes, you should abstain from alcohol even more.