Drinking Reduces Diabetes Risk

People who drink three to four times a week are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who never drink, Danish researchers suggest.

Wine appears to be particularly beneficial, probably as it plays a role in helping to manage blood sugar, the study

They surveyed more than 70,000 people on their alcohol intake – how much and how often they drank, according to BBC.

But experts said this wasn’t a “green light” to drink more than recommended.

And Public Health England warned that consuming alcohol contributed to a vast number of other serious diseases, including some cancers, heart and liver disease.

“People should keep this in mind when thinking about how much they drink,” a spokeswoman said.

Prof Janne Tolstrup, from the National Institute of Public Health of the University of Southern Denmark, who led the research, said: “We found that drinking frequency has an independent effect from the amount of alcohol taken.

“We can see it’s a better effect to drink the alcohol in four portions rather than all at once.”

After around five years, study participants were followed up and a total of 859 men and 887 women group had developed diabetes – either type 1 or the more common type 2.

The researchers concluded that drinking moderately three to four times a week reduced a woman’s risk of diabetes by 32% while it lowered a man’s by 27%, compared with people drinking on less than one day a week.

Findings also suggest that not all types of alcohol had the same effect.

Wine appeared to be particularly beneficial because polyphenols, particularly in red wine, play a role in helping to manage blood sugar

When it came to drinking beer, men having one to six beers a week lowered their risk of diabetes by 21%, compared to men who drank less than one beer a week – but there was no impact on women’s risk.

Meanwhile, a high intake of spirits among women seemed to significantly increase their risk of diabetes – but there was no effect in men.

They found that drinking moderately a few times a week was linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disorders, such as heart attack and stroke.

But consuming any amount of alcohol increased the risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases, such as alcohol liver disease and pancreatitis.

H.Z