So is drinking acceptable if you have diabetes? The answer is yes, in moderation, providing that you take the proper precautions. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) asserts that alcohol can be incorporated into a diet plan, provided that blood sugar control is already well established and other conditions that aren’t compatible with alcohol consumption (such as pregnancy or certain diabetic complications) don’t exist.

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Washington, Mar 3 (ANI): Regular moderate alcohol intake is associated with greater bone mineral density (BMD), say researchers.

In an epidemiological study of men and post-menopausal women primarily over 60 years of age, scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University found that BMD was significantly lower in men drinking more than two servings of liquor per day.

The results suggest that regular moderate consumption of beer or wine may have protective effects on bone, but that heavy drinking may contribute to bone loss.

“Previous research suggests that moderate alcohol consumption in older men and post-menopausal women may protect against BMD loss, a major risk factor for osteoporosis,” said Katherine L. Tucker, PhD, corresponding author and director of the Dietary Assessment and Epidemiology Research Program at the USDA HNRCA. “Our study also looks at the possible effects of the three alcohol classes, beer, wine and liquor on BMD,” Tucker continued. “We saw stronger associations between higher BMD and beer drinkers, who were mostly men, and wine drinkers, who were mostly women, compared to liquor drinkers,” the expert added.

The study has been published online February 25 by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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A number of studies are showing that moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, can have similar heart healthy effects as are attributed to wine, including making men 30 to 35% less likely to have a heart attack than those who abstain.

“Wine is still on moral high ground,” says Charlie Bamforth, chair and professor of the department of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis, “but beer deserves just the same acclamation.”

As to the tired argument that beer contains no nutritional value…

Red wine has more antioxidants than beer in the test tube—but studies show that antioxidants in beer may be more effective in raising blood levels of antioxidants. In fact, drinking beer is better than eating a tomato when it comes to raising blood level’s of ferulic acid, a potent antioxidant that scientists say may help fight heart disease, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Beer also contains B vitamins, particularly folate, which may help protect against heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and various cancers.

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AND HERE

Could a pill that’s designed to treat type 2 diabetes also be the first anti-aging drug? The pills are based on a substance in, of all things, red wine.

HINT: I’t’s resveratrol. Wash it down with a glass of Malbec from Chile and dance the night away!

Is drinking acceptable if you have diabetes? The answer is yes, in moderation, providing that you take the proper precautions. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) asserts that alcohol can be incorporated into a diet plan, provided that blood sugar control is already well established and other conditions that aren’t compatible with alcohol consumption (such as pregnancy or certain diabetic complications) don’t   exist.

How It Works

When you drink, your liver decreases its ability to release glucose so that it can instead clean the alcohol from your blood. Because glucose  production is shut down, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) becomes a risk for people with diabetes, particularly if you drink on an empty  stomach or shortly after taking insulin or glucose-lowering oral medications. And because it takes two hours for just one ounce of alcohol  to metabolize and leave your system, the risk continues long after you’ve emptied your glass. (Please note: There’s about 0.6 ounces of alcohol in a standard drink but for reasons beyond my comprehension, health writers and nutritionists refuse to acknowledge this, and instead, scare you with the higher number).

A Two-Drink Maximum

For individuals with well-controlled diabetes, alcohol intake should follow the same guidelines the United States Department of Agriculture  (USDA) has established for the general population. This means a maximum of two drinks per day for men and one drink daily for women. (A  higher alcohol intake is allowed for most men because women have a lower body water content then men and also metabolize alcohol more  slowly.) In addition, due to physiological changes such as loss of lean body mass that occur as the body ages, the National Institute on  Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that anyone over age 65 should not consume more than one alcoholic drink daily.

One drink is defined as:

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Carb Counts Are Included In The Book - Why Guess?

Here’s a guy who gets it. It’s all about Moderation, not Deprivation. No one’s advocating chugging a sixer and then hitting the gym. But how can you realistically make room for a beer or two if your don’t know the calories, carbs or even Weight Watchers POINTS? Real easy; pick up a copy of “Does My BUTT Look BIG In This BEER? Nutritional Values Of 2,000 Worldwide Beers” on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or download a PDF of the book on this site.

BTW,  Check out Steve Turano’s website, Body Performance TV at

http://www.BodyPerformanceTV.com/.

 To paraphrase an old expression, “You need a score card” just to keep up with what might be on the labels of your favorite bottles of wine.

Just some of things you have to keep an eye out for are;

1. The brand name (obviously)

2. The class of wine (sparkling, carbonated, fruit, etc.)

3. The alcohol content (a lot of “ifs,” “ands” and “buts” here)

4. Who and where bottled

5. Quantity

Other things to be considered;  vintage dating option, sulfite declaration, the health warning label, dietary info (actually allowed during a temporary ruling made years ago and ignored by the industry)…

READ MORE AT “THE PROFESSIONAL FRIENDS OF WINES.” The site gives a detailed look at what vintners have to deal with in bringing their product to market and why any revision of current labeling laws probably has them reaching for the bottle.

What's in my wine? asks Brits.

 Although no one claim this a “secret” in the wine industry, there’s more behind the making of good quality, clear wines than simply crushing the grapes and waiting for wild yeasts to finish the business. There’s the additional step of including additives to wine to properly finish it off, in some case, to add more flavor to the wine.

“Among the additives which can be added without listing are clay, acid, artificial yeasts, enzymes, sugar, gelatin, and charcoal. Eggs and a milk protein called casein can also be used, while another permitted additive is the fish bladder extract, isinglass,” says the European Union.

And this “problem” is also occuring in the U.S., making the finalization of what to include (and not include) on wine labels just one more problem that the Alcohol Tobacco Tax And Trade Bureau (TTB) will have to contend with.

Malcolm Gluck, the wine critic and author of The Great Wine Swindle, has campaigned on the issue of including additives to be listed on wine bottles in Britain, and with globalization taking hold in the wine industry, it’s to be expected that this will become an issue on this side of the pond too.

“This is a very good move,” says Gluck. “The wine industry insists on this romantic notion that wine is just crushed grapes and it continues to peddle this line, in a subliminal way and sometimes quite overtly.”

Wine producers argue that many of the additives are actually substances that the wine passes through or that are removed from wine prior to bottling.  But John Corbet-Milward, from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, goes right to the biggest issue, the one that has not only smaller-sized vinteners, but also brewers complaining of…additional costs.  “This variance and the need to translate materials into 27 languages means precise labelling for wine covering full ingredients is estimated at one billion Euros over three years. This cost would have to be borne by consumers or by producers. The reality is that many smaller producers would stop selling products in smaller markets. Consumer choice would be diminished.”

But in the filtering process, can anyone assure consumers that all additives are removed? These substances below are all approved by EU authorities for use in the production of wine. Some of them are used in the winemaking process but are not found in the finished product:

tartaric acid

calcium tartrate

betaglucanase

lactic bacteria

ion exchange resins

potassium ferrocyanide

calcium phytate

lysozyme

dimethyldicarbonate

urease

oxygen

lees

oak wood

sulphur dioxide

calcium sulphate

sucrose

yeast cell walls

carbon dioxide

ascorbic acid

citric acid

copper sulphate

charcoal

diammonium phosphate

ammonium sulphate

ammonium sulphite

ammonium bisulphite

thiamine hydrochloride

polyvinylpolypyrrolidone

calcium tartrate

calcium phytate

lysozyme

dimethyldicarbonate

argon

nitrogen

potassium bisulphite

potassium metabisulphite

gelatin

plant proteins

isinglass

casein

potassium caseinate

ovalbumin (egg white)

lactalbumin,

bentonite

silicon dioxide or colloidal solution

kaolin

tannin

pectinolytic enzymes,

sorbic acid or potassium sorbate

potassium tartrate

potassium bicarbonate

calcium carbonate

carbon dioxide

acacia (gum arabic)

calcium alginate

potassium alginate

allyl isothiocyanate

yeast mannoproteins

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