A glass of wine with dinner can
reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 14%.
There's a lot of misinformation out there about wine's potential
heart-health benefits. According to the American Heart Association's (AHA)
recently updated dietary guidelines, alcohol use should be limited for heart
health. Its recently published research states that no amount of alcohol is
good for your heart. On the other hand, the Mediterranean diet, known for its
heart-health benefits, occasionally advises a glass of red wine. In addition, a
new study from the AHA has found that drinking wine with meals is associated
with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. So is alcohol, after all,
beneficial for health?
The study, presented at the American Heart Association's
Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle, and Cardiometabolic Health Conference2022, looked at health data from over 312,400 adults who consume alcohol to see
if moderate drinking is related to type 2 diabetes onset. Participants in the
U.K. Biobank self-reported their alcohol use between 2006 and 2010, and
researchers followed up for nearly 11 years. According to the press release,
moderate drinking is one glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage for women
and up to two drinks a day for men.
Participants did not have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or
cancer at the start of the study. Of those who participated, the average age
was 56 years old. A little more than half of the participants identified as
female, and 95% were caucasian adults—one significant limitation of the study.
At this time, it's not known if these findings can be generalized for others.
About 8,600 adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes during
the follow-up term. According to the study, in comparison to those who consumed
alcohol without food, those who drank alcohol with meals had a 14 % lower risk
of type 2 diabetes.
Is alcohol good for your health?
The study doesn't necessarily mean that you should mix yourself
with a cocktail every night. The main takeaway is that, in some cases, choosing
wine over beer or liquor could be the better option. The benefits of consuming
wine were only found for those who drank while eating food and were most common
for those who had wine over other types of alcohol. Higher consumption of beer
or liquor was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
Additionally, more research needs to be done to determine how
specifically drinking wine with a meal can impact the risk for type 2 diabetes.
According to Robert H. Eckel, M.D., FAHA, a past president of the AHA who was
not involved in the study, the dinner's time of day and nutritional value of
the dinner with wine.
"The effects of alcohol consumption on health have been
described as a double-edged sword because of its apparent abilities to cut
deeply in either direction—harmful or helpful, depending on how it is
consumed," said Hao Ma, M.D., Ph.D., study author and biostatistical
analyst at Tulane University's Obesity Research Center in New Orleans, in a
press release. "Previous studies have focused on how much people drink and
have had mixed results. Very few studies have focused on other drinking
details, such as the timing of alcohol intake."
Dr. Ma added that moderate drinking has previously been linked to
health benefits such as glucose metabolism, but not precisely reducing type 2
diabetes. "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 concerning meals," he said in the press release.
According to the press release, alcohol consumption has long been
linked to long-term health risks such as high blood pressure, obesity, stroke,
breast cancer, liver disease, depression, and more.
"These data suggest that it's not the alcohol with meals but
other ingredients in wine, perhaps antioxidants, that may be the factor in
potentially reducing new-onset type 2 diabetes. "While the type of wine,
red versus white, and validation of these findings and mechanisms of benefit
are needed, the results suggest that if you are consuming alcohol with meals,
wine may be a better choice," according to Dr. Eckel in a press release.
Moreover, wine consumption should not be used as the primary means
of preventing type 2 diabetes. Dr. Eckel told Prevention that other lifestyle
factors are crucial in staving off type 2 diabetes, including nutrition,
physical activity, sleep, tobacco use, and body weight.
The final verdict
According to the AHA, adults who do not currently drink alcohol
should not start drinking, and those who do drink should do so in moderation.
Ultimately, work with your healthcare provider to determine if swapping in wine
for an alternative alcoholic beverage is something you should consider (if you
already choose to drink).
"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," Dr. Ma said in the
press release.
To help prevent type 2 diabetes, Dr. Eckel said Prevention keeping your weight in check is the most critical factor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend adults older than 18 get 150 minutes of physical activity a week.