Avoid Alcohol and Avoid Diabetes
Diabetes is a modern day health epidemic that we should avoid in any way possible, and one of the contributing factors in the development of diabetes is drinking too much alcohol.
Diabetes can develop from an hereditary condition, but sufferers of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can substantially improve their health outcomes if they avoid drinking too much alcohol.
Diabetes is a battle fought primarily outside of the public attention, and although we are aware of the correlation between type 2 diabetes and adverse lifestyle choices, there is often no public recognition of the private battle waged by stricken individuals. The hidden battle against diabetes is often fought within the homes of unfortunate people who are unable or unwilling to control their lifestyle behaviors. And the battle is also fought in our hospitals and medical clinics, where the outcomes of the scourge that is known as diabetes will inevitably lead.
Whether diabetes sufferers are struck down by the type 1 hereditary infliction of the pancreas, or the type 2 variation brought on by poor lifestyle choices, the disease becomes a battle to maintain good health.
The battle against diabetes is just like the battle against alcohol
The reason I wish to bring this to public attention is that drinking too much alcohol is commonly associated with the onset of diabetes, or can be shown to contribute to the negatives effects of diabetes, and therefore, the battle against alcohol can be seen to be synonymous with the battle against diabetes.
The reason I refer to the fight against diabetes as a battle is because often the diabetes sufferers feel the continual pressure to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite the negative impacts of the disease on their health. The pressures to maintain a good lifestyle, the pressure to keep high health standards, the pressure to diet, and the pressure to avoid alcohol, are just some of the symptoms of the ongoing battle for survival. But all of these external pressures can often place stress upon the individual to an extent that alcohol is often used and abused as a source of escape from the stress.
The Problem with Alcohol
This is the problem with alcohol, whereby we often see alcohol as a harmless way of finding relaxation and happiness in our lives, when in fact, the opposite is true, and drinking to much alcohol is actually the cause of many health problems in the first place.
Medical advice to sufferers of diabetes is to eliminate smoking and avoid drinking too much alcohol as the primary changes to lifestyle in order to improve the individual’s chances of battling diabetes.
Why Should we Avoid drinking too much alcohol?
Diabetes causes an alarming range of life threatening illnesses, stemming primarily from the body’s inability to metabolize sugar in the blood stream.
We are probably all aware that a diabetic patient requires insulin injections on a daily basis, and this can lead to the situation whereby a diabetic cannot skip meals, for fear of have a “hypo” or too much insulin. But really this is just part of the daily struggle to balance insulin and sugar levels in the blood. The real war is waged over the longer term, whereby long term sufferers battle with more severe internal complications.
The problem with excessive sugar in the blood stream is the damage inflicted on all of the major organs in the body, due to cardiovascular damage of the large blood vessels. In addition, diabetes causes damage to the small blood vessels which impacts on the nervous system, the eyes, and the reduction in circulation in the extremities, in particular to the feet. Diabetic patients are at extreme risk of amputations of the feet and lower leg due to infections and ulcerations that do not heal like normal patients.
Whilst all this seems overly dramatic, the impacts on the daily lives of diabetes sufferers is very real, and becomes a daily battle, for those trying to avoid the impacts of diabetes and to try to live normal lives. Diabetes leads to high blood pressure, kidney disease, brain damage, nerve damage and circulation issues. The problem with all of these severe complications is that they are not all easily recognised, and can be undiagnosed until more severe symptoms arise. These conditions lead to a higher rate or mortality for diabetes sufferers.
Yes – diabetes is a silent killer, and tobacco and alcohol are contributing factors to the severity of the disease.
How can we avoid diabetes?
There is no cure for diabetes. So we need to know how to avoid diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes can only be managed with daily injections of insulin, and stringent management of blood sugar levels, diet and exercise levels.
Type 2 diabetes is avoidable with careful lifestyle choices, with healthy eating habits, regular exercise and avoiding tobacco and alcohol. Once established, type 2 diabetes can be regulated either by medication or daily injections of insulin, but also requires careful lifestyle choices for fear of worsening the condition and degrading the health of the sufferer.
So the obvious implication here is that we improve our lifestyle choices or face the alternative of medical intervention and increased diabetic implications.
What if we can’t avoid the implications of diabetes?
If we cannot avoid the onset of diabetes through healthy lifestyle choices, we face the harsh reality of diabetic implications, which to put it bluntly, equates to an increased risk of mortality. If you don’t manage diabetes by making the appropriate lifestyle choices, it will kill you.
Some of the simplest and easiest ways to manage and control the disease is to choose healthy options such as a good diet and avoid drinking too much alcohol.
How much is too much alcohol?
The recommended amount of alcohol is no more than two standard drinks per day, with one or two days each week being alcohol free. If this sounds overly restrictive to you, then beware that these are not restrictions, these are guidelines for healthy people, and if you suffer from diabetes, you may have to consider further reducing or avoiding alcohol altogether.
Now this is starting to sound even more severe! But the facts are that alcohol is a severe contributor to diabetic symptoms, and the very nature of alcohol, is at the heart of the problem. We tend to enjoy one glass of alcohol, followed by another and another, until our resistance and avoidance mechanisms are completely broken, our good intentions around diet disappear, and all the hard work in battling the diabetes is lost. Drinking too much alcohol is not a good lifestyle choice, and can directly lead to diabetic complications which worsen your long term prognosis.
This is the vicious cycle that is caused by drinking too much alcohol, when we seek happiness and enjoyment in life, but end up with a negative impact on our health. And the problem is often hidden behind closed doors, where diabetes sufferers battle in silence against this killer disease.
Avoid alcohol and Avoid Diabetes
In fact, there are many anecdotal reports from hospitals and diabetes clinics who report that diabetes is continuing to grow as an epidemic, with thousands of people diagnosed with diabetes each year.
But diabetes is just the name given to sufferers. How about the health implications such as heart attacks, strokes and amputations that happen every day? Hospitals are increasingly forced to treat increasing numbers of ulcerations and run-away infections. Doctors are forced to perform more and more of amputations involving diabetic patients. With most amputations occurring on lower limbs, medical professionals are urging people with diabetes to carefully consider their lifestyle choices, such as avoiding junk food and drinking too much alcohol.
So the key to staying happy may actually be to avoid drinking too much alcohol, and in this way you can move a long way towards making the proper lifestyle choices for your longer term health.
Avoid alcohol and live longer
If the motivation to avoid drinking too much alcohol is proving difficult, then the alternative for diabetes sufferers is a higher risk of life threatening complications such as heart attack, stroke and poor circulation. Even those who do not suffer diabetes need to consider that the implications of drinking too much alcohol can have negative consequences on our future health and well-being.
“Everyday, there are growing numbers of diabetes patients who undergo a diabetes related amputation … it is to be one of the biggest reasons to avoid alcohol.”
Although the temptation is to look for happiness with a glass of alcohol, the opposite is true, and the long term implications do not bring happiness.
‘I never thought it would happen to me’
Here is an example of the awful complications of living with diabetes. This picture shows the aftermath of diabetic complications of infections and ulcers that do not heal properly. Due to the nature of reduced circulation and poor healing, simple and avoidable wounds can lead to incurable infections, and ultimately to amputation, if the infection cannot be stopped.
Here is a perfect example of why we should avoid alcohol and avoid diabetes, because behaviors that we pick up when we are younger may cause complications as we get older. As this unfortunate sufferer states, “Knowing what I know now, I wish I knew how to stop drinking – I never thought it would happen to me”.
Don’t let it happen to you
Instead, we need to focus on maintaining health lifestyle choices, such as diet and exercise. We need to focus on all aspects of our health such as mental health and well-being. We need to seek alternatives to locking the problem away behind closed doors.
The message is clear, medical intervention cannot be relied upon to improve your lifestyle outcomes. Sure medical intervention can arrest the symptoms in the short term, but those battling diabetes, as well as those wishing to avoid the implications of diabetes (that means everyone!) need to make appropriate lifestyle choices to increase their individual long term health. Are you able to avoid drinking too much alcohol if your life depends on it?
