Investigators found that for current drinkers, drinking alcohol, most notably wine, with meals is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle, and Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2022. “The message from this study is that drinking moderate amounts of wine with meals may prevent type 2 diabetes if you do not have another health condition that may be negatively affected by moderate alcohol consumption and in consultation with your doctor,” said study author Hao Ma, MD, PhD, a biostatistical analyst at the Tulane University Obesity Research Center in New Orleans, in a release.
Moderate Drinking May Have Health Benefits for Glucose Metabolism
Previous studies have focused on how much people drink and have had mixed results, but very few studies have focused on other drinking details, such as the timing of when alcohol is consumed, said Dr. Ma. There is evidence that moderate drinking may have some health benefits, including on glucose metabolism, he added. A study published in October 2015 in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that in people with T2D, the ethanol in wine (especially red wine) played an important role in glucose metabolism, and that moderate wine intake modestly decreases cardiometabolic risk in people with well-controlled diabetes. However, it’s unclear whether glucose metabolism benefits would translate into a reduction of type 2 diabetes, notes Ma. “In our study, we sought to determine if the association between alcohol intake and risk of type 2 diabetes might differ by the timing of alcohol intake with respect to meals.”
Study Followed Over 300,000 People for Over a Decade
To specifically examine the effect moderate drinking may have in developing new-onset type 2 diabetes, researchers followed a total of 312,388 healthy current drinkers without T2D at baseline from UK biobank. The UK Biobank is an international health and research resource that contains blood, urine, and saliva samples along with detailed health information for research on a wide range of illnesses from over a half million people. The average age of participants was 56 years old, slightly more than half of the adults were women, and 95 percent were white and of European decent. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between the timing of alcohol intake with respect to meals and risk of T2D. Cox regression method is a way that scientists can explore certain variables (such as developing diabetes) over a period of time to estimate the risk of a certain event.
Drinking Wine With Dinner Was Associated With a Reduction in Type 2 Diabetes Risk
During the nearly 10.9-year follow-up period, the authors found the following results:
8,598 of the adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes. Drinking alcohol with meals was associated with a 14 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared with consuming alcohol without eating food.The potential benefit of moderate drinking on type 2 diabetes risk was evident only among the people who drank alcohol during meals, although the specific time of meals was not reported.While a higher amount of wine intake was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a higher amount of beer or liquor consumption was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
These findings should be interpreted with some caution, says John Buse, MD, PhD, chief of the division of endocrinology at UNC Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who was not involved with the research. “Just because two behaviors are linked in a population, it does not mean that one behavior causes the outcome,” he says. The full study has not yet been published, and based on the available abstract, it’s difficult to know if the authors controlled for many of the variables that could impact the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, says Dr. Buse. The authors also acknowledge that the makeup of the participants is a limitation of the study; since almost all were white adults of European descent, it’s unknown whether the findings can be generalized to other populations.
How Drinking Wine or Other Alcohol May Impact Diabetes
The flavonoids and other antioxidants (ethanol can act as an antioxidant) in wine can protect the heart and blood vessels from the damaging effects of free oxygen radicals produced by the body, according to the American Heart Association. This is particularly true for people with diabetes because they have been shown to have a high production of free oxygen radicals. However, excessive drinking can increase the risk of high blood pressure, and people with diabetes are already at high risk, per the AHA. Although the authors of this study suggest that drinking alcohol, particularly wine, with meals is associated with lower risk of diabetes, the bigger effect of wine than beer or spirits may be related to other factors, such as eating a Mediterranean diet, rather than caused by ethanol intake per se, says Buse.
Should You Drink Alcohol for Health Benefits?
Alcohol consumption is linked to short- and long-term health risks, including motor vehicle crashes, violence, sexual risk behaviors, high blood pressure, obesity, stroke, breast cancer, liver disease, depression, suicide, accidents, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The more a person drinks, the greater the health risks. For some cancers and other health conditions, the risk increases even at very low levels of alcohol consumption — less than one drink daily. The CDC recommends that adults who do not drink alcohol should not start. People who do drink alcohol regularly should talk with their doctors about the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation, advises the agency. “I advise people that moderate alcohol intake is generally associated with good health. If they want to drink alcohol, they can, but that they should not drink alcohol because they think it is good for them,” says Buse. “For people at risk of developing diabetes or managing diabetes, calorie intake is arguably the single most important factor, and moderate alcohol intake almost always brings substantial calories,” points out Buse. The average glass of wine contains between 120 and 130 calories per glass, according to Wine Spectator. People who have overweight or obesity are at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
If You’re Going To Drink, Moderation Is Key
“A key for those who already drink alcohol is moderation,” said Ma. Moderate drinking is defined as one glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage daily for women and up to two glasses daily for men, per the CDC. What, exactly, is “one drink”? In the United States, a standard drink contains 0.6 ounces (oz) or 1.2 tablespoons of pure alcohol, according to the agency. That’s the amount typically found in a 12-oz beer with 5 percent alcohol content, a 5-oz glass of wine with 12 percent alcohol content, or a mixed drink with 1.5 oz of 80 proof liquor (such as vodka, tequila, or whiskey).
