New study shows the timing of alcohol consumption could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
CHICAGO — A new study suggests having wine with your dinner could have health benefits not known before.
Researchers at Tulane University found that drinking wine with a meal cuts the risk of type two diabetes by 14%. They say it’s due to all of the anti-oxidants that in the wine – especially red wine, this according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, lifestyle, and Cardiometabolic health Conference 2022.
The study followed more than 300,000 people for more than a decade. The average age of participants was about 56 years, slightly more than half of the adults were women and 95% were white adults.
But they do say it only works if you have wine with a meal and in moderat6ions, as opposed to sipping Cabernet at cocktail hour.
The analysis found:
- During an average of nearly 11 years of follow-up, about 8,600 of the adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes.
- Consuming alcohol with meals was associated with a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to 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 collected in this study.
- The beneficial association between alcohol drinking with meals and type 2 diabetes was most common among the participants who drank wine vs. other types of alcohol.
- Consuming wine, beer and liquor had different associations with type 2 diabetes risk. While a higher amount of wine intake was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a higher amount of beer or liquor was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.