Celebrating the New Year with Alcohol

Hi all!

The Joslin Diabetes Center put out a blog post today with some guidance for those of us who choose to celebrate with a tasty beverage or two on NYE.  Just thought I'd share!  :)  Be safe and have fun, no matter how you choose to celebrate. 

http://blog.joslin.org/2010/12/celebrating-the-new-year-what-you-should-know-about-alcohol-and-diabetes/

"Set a limit and adhere to it. Everyone, but especially those with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, should consume no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks daily for men."

So if you're going to do this, what's the point?  Two drinks would just get me warmed up!

I think it's awesome they are giving tips..but one drink a day for a woman? really? lol not in my books!

other than that, they are good tips! Thanks for sharing :)

DDrumminMan

"Set a limit and adhere to it. Everyone, but especially those with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, should consume no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks daily for men."

So if you're going to do this, what's the point?  Two drinks would just get me warmed up!

lol well for some people two drinks is enough. i have a friend who will likely throw up and have to go home after two drinks! but to each their own. personally, i START with a bottle of white wine or three drinks. haha

Yeah, number 1 wasn't realistic, for me, either.  ;)  But the rest were pretty good.

Number 1 was why I switched off of alcohol as my intoxicant of choice and on to something else (and better without the BS concerns).

I have read this in a diabetes magazine as well, but not until after I experienced a really low day (for me) that were not "true" lows...in fact, I thought I might drink more often to lower my blood sugar (just kidding!) But if I have 1 or 2 drinks it is definitely not enough and it doesn't lower my b.s. at all, it takes 7 to 8 hard liquor drinks with no carb mixers to get me to the point I have some low sugars! I once did that on a business trip and woke up still drunk AND low and boy, the two together made it extremely difficult to remain upright for a shower that was much needed before venturing to the lobby restaurant for breakfast! Needless to say I've not had that much since!

I wish I had adhered to step 1 last night. I think I was overserved.

That 1 drink/2 drink rule is hilarious.

And posting that for New Year's Eve...that's like posting that as advice for your 21st birthday.

Ideen

That 1 drink/2 drink rule is hilarious.

And posting that for New Year's Eve...that's like posting that as advice for your 21st birthday.

I'm glad someone else said it.  It sometimes seems to me like everyone within the medical community who works with or writes about diabetes has somehow managed to be completely shielded from any kind of exposure to harm reduction public health models...  It's been shown in so many populations and with so many health conditions that the best way of promoting more positive health choices is to meet someone where they're at and help them minimize the most important risks at hand.

In this case, the kind of behavior that this article is effectively saying is unmentionable (having more than 1-2 drinks) isn't even something that's stigmatized within the general population - in fact, it's reinforced on so many levels in pop culture.  But it just goes without saying that all of us with diabetes are going to be able to reject all of those social stimuli, on New Year's no less, so there's no need whatsoever to put information out there about how to stay safe if you happen to have more than 1-2 drinks?  Really?

i drank 2 mt. dews and loads of water on new years. it's possible to not drink :o)

I actually didn't drink either - I stuck to Diet Pepsi (and then a regular one when Jim's arrow took a nosedive).  :)  It was still a very fun night!

Well of course it's possible to not drink, and that is great for anyone who makes an informed decision that that's what is best for them and is able to stick to it.  My point was only that it's at least as possible, in fact I would say more likely, that someone will drink more than 1-2 drinks in a night at some point in their life, New Year's being as likely a time as any.  I think responsible medicine is preparing people to make the most responsible choices under less than ideal circumstances, not saying "don't do that" to adults and expecting them to obey.

If someone isn't planning to drink, then they don't need an article like this.  If they're planning to drink any more than this says is acceptable, they'll probably stop reading as soon as they see that and assume it won't be useful/will just make them feel shameful.  And if they genuinely try to follow this article, and slip and have one extra drink, then they may just assume that they've already failed and beat themselves up about it - and feeling like you're a lost cause while drinking heavily is almost a surefire way to end up drinking even more for most people.  When, the reality is, you can drink more than this article allows for and still in all likelihood staying safe and not suffering any longterm health consequences, but when you cross that threshold that's when you most need to be prepared.

I figured out how to drink relatively safely on my own and I don't think I'm that much worse for wear, but in a world of so much information I think it's a shame that anyone should have to.

Well unfortunately I read this after New Year's Eve :P But I mostly stuck to Skinny Girl Margaritas.. only like 3 or 4 carbs per serving, yum!

I agree, John.  You said it in a lot fancier way than I was thinking, but I get what you're throwing down.

I met my 2 drink quota by the time dinner was over on NYE so I had already been doing wrong by that column.  It definitely needed a "If you choose to drink more, be careful to...watch out for..." portion so it could actually be relevant in the real world.