The relationship of alcohol consumption to the incidence of Hypoglycemia

Introduction: Alcohol can be interpreted as an organic compound that contains a hydroxyl functional group and is often consumed by some people in the form of a drink. In several studies it was noted that someone who consumes alcohol continuously for one month or more can cause a decrease in appetite. Decreased appetite can later cause hypoglycemia which occurs because glycogen reserves in the liver are depleted due to alcohol inhibiting gluconeogenesis. This study aims to determine the relationship between alcohol consumption and the chance of hypoglycemia in a person. Method: Article searches were conducted on Google Scholar, PubMed, Researchgate, and Sciencedirect databases, with the keywords Alcohol, Hypoglycemia, and Glucose. Keywords are used together with Boolean operators (OR and AND) to combine searches. The search was carried out on full text of national and international journals using index limits for the last 10 years (2012-2022). The article is included if it is related to the correlation of alcohol consumption with the incidence of hypoglycemia. Results: From the results of previous studies, it is known that hypoglycemia can occur more frequently after being given the simultaneous consumption of alcohol and glucose than after consuming alcohol alone. Simultaneous alcohol together with glucose induces reactive hypoglycemia. Conclusion: This review shows that there is a relationship between alcohol consumption and the incidence of hypoglycemia.