Diabetes Week 2019 - June 10 -16

Today marks the first day of Diabetes Week 2019.

Many people are unaware of the links between alcohol and diabetes. Alcohol Health Network can help you to plan a campaign for your workplace that promotes a positive, healthy conscious approach to alcohol that alligns with your exisiting health & wellbeing calendar. 

Alcohol can effect the likelihood of our developing Diabetes Type 2 in 3 ways:

• Heavy drinking can reduce the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which can trigger type 2 diabetes. 
• Diabetes is a common side effect of chronic pancreatitis, which is overwhelmingly caused by heavy drinking.
• Alcoholic drinks often contain a lot of calories – For instance, one pint of lager can be equivalent to a slice of pizza. So drinking can also increase your chance of becoming overweight which raises your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

We know that women who drink more than 6 units a day and men who drink more than 8 units a day are at greater risk of Type 2 diabetes. 

Sticking to within NHS lower risk drinking guidelines will help your employees stay healthy.

Tips to keep your drinking within NHS lower risk guidelines:

• Try not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week - this the best way to keep health risks from alcohol to a low level. Try spreading your drinks over the week and have a few alcohol-free days too. 
• Keep track of what you’re drinking. Use Drink Checker's Drink Diary to track not only your units but the calories you're drinking, and how much you're spending on alcohol.
• Keep an eye on the abv or alcohol by volume of your drinks. The higher the abv, the higher the strength and the higher the calories from alcohol. Sticking to lower abv is a good way to cut down.
• What does 14 units of alcohol per week look like? - about 6 medium (150ml) glasses of wine or 6 pints of lager per week. The strength of your drink counts too - choose a low strength drink to reduce the risk.

If you'd like to find out more about how we can help you to promote alcohol awareness in your workplace, please do get in touch.

020 3151 2420  hello@alcoholhealthnetwork.org.uk

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We offer Alcohol Awareness Training for Line Managers, Health Champions and HR, as well as Alcohol Health Roadshows, Alcohol-Free Drinks Tastings, Drink Checker, our online self assessment website and Print materials.

Alcohol Health Network launches a free resource for Employers - Drink Checker Work

For Employers who want to offer their employees the opportunity to check their driking and receive brief feedback and advice, Drink Checker Work is ideal. A free version of our Drink Checker tool, Drink Checker Work carries articles on alcohol which deal with issues specific to workplaces and lets people know when their drinking is potentially putting their health at risk.

www.workplace.drinkchecker.org.uk

For more infomration on how Alcohol Health Netowrk can help your business prote alcohol awarenss and reduce alcohol harm, do get in touch.

hello@alcoholhealthnetwork.org.uk

020 3151 2420