In the eyes of most friends, drinking alcohol is positively related to the risk of diabetes, and the strong evidence is the health education for diabetic patients by specialists: almost all doctors will warn diabetic patients to limit alcohol or abstain from alcohol. There are many reasons for this suggestion: first, alcohol is a high-calorie food, and 50 grams of alcohol (about 1) provides more calories than a bowl of rice, which runs counter to the principle that diabetics need a low-calorie diet; Second, the ability of diabetic patients to mobilize hepatic glycogen is weakened, and alcohol will further inhibit the mobilization and decomposition of hepatic glycogen, which is more prone to hypoglycemia. Severe hypoglycemia will cause irreversible damage to the brain, which is far more harmful than hyperglycemia. So, does this mean that the guidance of specialists is wrong? Of course not.
Presumably, many friends have heard that a small amount of drinking is good for health. However, this view has not been affirmed by the medical community. For patients who have no drinking habits, doctors do not recommend relying on drinking to maintain their health, but the research on the relationship between drinking and health has been going on. A study from Britain shows that drinking alcohol is not necessarily harmful to health, and we may benefit from it. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between drinking and diabetes. The subjects involved were 3 12400 drinkers, mainly white people in Europe and America. After years of research, they concluded that reasonable drinking can reduce the risk of diabetes.
However, this conclusion has many limitations.
First, drinking time occurs during meals, rather than drinking alone. Studies have shown that drinking alcohol at meals can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 14% compared with drinking alcohol alone, but drinking alcohol alone has not found evidence of benefits.
Second, alcohol consumption needs to be limited. Studies have shown that alcohol consumption will have an important impact on the risk of diabetes. Heavy drinking will undoubtedly increase the risk of diabetes, but moderate drinking will significantly reduce this risk. The so-called moderate drinking means that the daily alcohol intake of men is less than 28 grams, and that of women is 14 grams.
The third type is limited to special alcohol types. Liquor, red wine and beer have different effects on health. The conclusion of this study is that drinking red wine is associated with a lower risk of diabetes, while drinking white wine and beer is associated with a higher risk of diabetes.
Therefore, drinking wine does not necessarily increase the risk of diabetes. Moderate drinking at meals, 300 ml for men and 0/50 ml for women, may reduce the risk of diabetes. Of course, this conclusion does not mean that drinking alcohol will reduce the risk of diabetes. Studies have shown that alcohol intake does not reduce the risk of diabetes. If we look back at the limitations of the conclusion, we will find that there is a very important factor, that is, wine. There are many antioxidants in wine, which are not found in liquor and beer. Perhaps this ingredient in wine is the main factor that is beneficial to us.
Of course, even so, we still don't recommend friends who don't have drinking habits to drink, because the main group of this study is white people in Europe and America, and whether it is applicable to our Asian population needs more research to confirm. Secondly, drinking alcohol has many effects on health, and the income of alcohol may have adverse effects on metabolic indexes, which may increase the risk of diseases such as hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and alcoholic fatty liver to varying degrees. In particular, the effect on blood lipids is negatively correlated. Drinking alcohol will increase the risk of hypertriglyceridemia. In addition, alcohol has long been listed as a primary carcinogen, which not only affects metabolism, but also increases the risk of liver cancer, intestinal cancer and other tumors to varying degrees. Therefore, the current research does not recommend drinking alcohol to prevent diabetes. Friends who already have diabetes need to pay attention to drinking:
First, the principle is abstinence or alcohol restriction. Drinking alcohol is not recommended for diabetics at present. If they drink alcohol, they have to calculate the energy contained in alcohol. It can be found that there is nothing wrong with the guidance of specialists, but not all patients have such strong self-control ability. The key to control is to reduce the intake of rice and other foods while drinking, so as to control the intake of total calories and reduce the impact on blood sugar and metabolism.
The second is to insist on a reasonable amount of drinking. At present, it is suggested that women should not drink more than 15g per day, men should not drink more than 25g, and drinking times should not exceed twice a week. Compared with abstinence, such guidance strategy is more easily accepted by the majority of friends. If you need to drink, wine is a more reasonable choice.
The third is to pay attention to preventing hypoglycemia. The guidelines clearly point out that alcohol can induce hypoglycemia, especially to avoid drinking on an empty stomach. Therefore, diabetic patients should eat something before drinking, and at the same time, they should chew slowly and try to avoid binge drinking mode to reduce the adverse regulation of alcohol on blood sugar.
To sum up, drinking alcohol has many effects on health, but drinking alcohol does not necessarily increase the risk of diabetes. Related research shows that drinking red wine during meals should not exceed 300ml for men and150ml for women, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Even so, drinking alcohol is not recommended, because alcohol is a primary carcinogen, which will affect many metabolic indicators, including blood sugar. The reduction of diabetes risk in this study may not be due to alcohol, but may be due to antioxidants in wine, and the conclusion of this study may not be applicable to Asians. Patients with diabetes should be more cautious when drinking alcohol. The principle is still to limit alcohol or abstain from alcohol, strictly limit alcohol intake, and pay attention to preventing hypoglycemia.
Thanks for reading!