• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kids at Risk For Diabetes

Registered Nurse, Diabetes Educator, CDE, Obesity, Children, Youth, Lifestyle

  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • My Video Lectures

Alcohol and Diabetes a Deadly Combination

12/01/2020 by Julie RN DCES 2 Comments

Alcohol and Diabetes a Deadly Combination
Pin
Share
Share
Tweet

I know alcohol is never recommended in children under the legal age. But teens often have access to alcohol, so it is important for them to understand the effects on their blood sugar. This is particularly important when parents are preparing their children for college. I worked in a college town and many students end up in the ER with blood sugar problems.

So many people with prediabetes are in denial. This is especially true in teens. But that doesn’t mean they are exempt from the side effects of uncontrolled blood sugars. Parents need to take an active role in educating their young adults in the problems of alcohol before they head to college…..

Alcohol Can Adversely Effect The Body’s Ability To Regulate Energy

As you know, excess alcohol effects your liver functions. Your body’s energy regulation actually starts in the liver. That is the reason doctors use Metformin as the first medication with prediabetes. Improving the function of the liver by 20% will improve blood sugars by 80%.

Initially alcohol could raise your blood sugar (particularly with beer), but alcohol works in the liver to prevent stored sugars from being released. So it can actually cause low blood sugars during the night while you sleep. It is important to eat a snack of protein and carbs before going to sleep. It is even more important to not sleep in late in the morning (like most college student tend to do).

What You Should Do

Set an alarm, and if you can, check your blood sugar and eat breakfast! Then if you want to go back to bed, no problem. The main problem is that your blood sugar could go too low while you’re “sleeping it off”. That feeling of being hung-over may actually be low blood sugar.

Also, please feel free to email me if you have questions that aren’t answered here!

How Alcohol Affects Blood Sugar

Low Blood Sugar Symptoms

The side effects from low blood sugar looks similar to drunkenness. This is a dangerous situation. Symptoms of low blood sugar without diabetes include:

  • Paleness
  • Headaches
  • Shakiness or trembling
  • Blurred vision or Dizziness
  • Lack of energy or fatigue
  • Poor Coordination
  • Irritability, anxiety, agitation
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Excess sweating or perspiration
  • Problems concentrating, confusion
  • Decreased consciousness or loss of consciousness

This is really important with kids that are going to college. They will drink alcohol. So educate them about it.

Any questions, send me a message at Julie@kidsatriskfordiabetes.com.

http://www.healthclop.mailto:Julie@kidsatriskfordiabetes.comcom/low-blood-sugar-without-diabete

Filed Under: Children, Diabetes, Prediabetes, Uncategorized Tagged With: alcohol and low blood sugar, low blood sugar, prediabetes and alcohol effects, teen education

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. vurtilopmer says

    11/11/2019 at 1:39 pm

    Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was searching for!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Back to School Preparations - Kids at Risk For Diabetes LLC says:
    12/19/2017 at 8:38 pm

    […] When appropriate, it is very important for parents to educate their child about the effects of alcohol on blood sugars. I have seen so many diabetic college student in the emergency room. If you don’t know the dangers of alcohol abuse with diabetes, I encourage you to educate yourself and your child. For more information, see my blog post on alcohol and blood sugars. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Featured Posts

7 Causes of Infertilty, and possible solutions.

7 Causes of Infertility

Preconception health matters! Especially when you are trying to get pregnant and you have either gestational diabetes or prediabetes. Go to my website for more info about my 30 Day Virtual Gestational Diabetes Course. www.kidsatriskfordiabetes.com

Prediabetes & Birth Defects

Prevent PCOS

Stages of Motivation refers to the process of deciding and then acting on your decision to make lifestyle changes, to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes...

Stages of Motivation

Before Footer

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in