AA has no rules except Rule 62, which states in pertinent part, “There are no rules.” So what is it about AA that suggests that it’s okay to ply the membership with cookies, cake, candy, and doughnuts? In a considerable way, these treats make AA meetings dangerous for me to attend.

You see, I have Type 2 Diabetes and I got that way from going to AA meetings. I am aware that, responsibility for not picking up (a brownie or Tootsie Pop) rests solely with me. Therefore, when I went from having a Glycohemoglobin level of 5.7% prior to rehab to 6.5% after three months sober, it was no one else’s fault but my own.

For those who aren’t diabetic, and without getting into technicalities any more than necessary (lest my brain hurt), a normal Glycohemoglobin level is 5.6% or lower. At 5.7%, I had been a borderline case before I became involved in the fellowship.

Using the old, let’s substitute a new addiction for an old one, I decided it would be okay to eat all the sweets I wanted since, after all, it was an AA meeting and, since I was receiving nourishment for my soul, I might as well nourish the rest of me as well.

Therein lies the rub; I gained a ton of fat weight and came perilously close to having to go on diabetes medication. Fortunately, I was able to come back from that precipice and, after using some extraordinary willpower, I managed to revert back to 5.5%, which is not diabetic.

Technically, once labeled diabetic, you are always a diabetic. I guess it’s kind of like being an alcoholic, right? No matter how long you are sober, you will always be an alcoholic.

Having only a limited amount of time in recovery, I have been to enough meetings to know the ostensible reason sweets are available at AA meetings. Alcohol is primarily sugar; when alcoholics stop drinking, eating sugary products can help alleviate the compulsion to drink by replacing that sugar with food that many consider benign. Unfortunately, though, many alcoholics are budding or even full-blown diabetics by the time to get to AA. Teaching alcoholics to eat sweets may seem like a good idea, but it could actually do put them in a position that is just as life threatening as alcoholism.

To some, having diabetes may seem preferable to alcoholism but I wonder whether that viewpoint is entirely sound. Let’s not forget that you can die from diabetes too. Before that happens, diabetics may have symptoms that include coma and amputations, heart disease, and premature death (by as much as 10 years for Type 2).

Diabetes is a leading cause of death in all industrialized nations. Overall, the risk of premature death of people with diabetes is twice that of people who do not have diabetes. Prognosis depends on the type of diabetes, degree of blood sugar control, and development of complications. ( http://www.emedicinehealth.com/diabetes/page11_em.htm, Retrieved 7/14/2011)

After realizing that I may have been helping myself down a different road to death, I decided to do something about it. I started bringing fruit to meetings for others and myself. Additionally, I went to group business meetings and asked if their group conscience would allow them to supply a small amount of fruit for those who wanted something a little healthier. Every group agreed to buy fruit in lieu of other foods that were higher in fat and empty calories. While fruit isn’t available all the time, it is available sometimes and that’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

If you are an alcoholic, and you haven’t been checked for diabetes, you owe it to yourself to have the blood work done and find out. If you are a diabetic, ask at your group’s next business meeting if they might consider buying some apples or such for those who still feel that they need a little sugar in their systems to help remove the compulsion to drink. In the long run, you might be glad you did.

Peace out,
M