Wine indicates better protection against Type 2 diabetes than other alcoholic beverages

The current meta-analysis is the first to explore the relationship between different types of alcoholic beverages and the risk of type 2 diabetes. The results showed that moderate wine consumption decreased the risk of type 2 diabetes significantly.

Several epidemiological studies assessed the association between the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, so far, it was not clear whether different types of alcoholic beverages vary in their effects on type 2 diabetes. Researchers from several Chinese university institutions thus carried out a meta-analysis of 13 prospective cohort studies that assessed the effects of specific types of alcoholic beverage on the risk of type 2 diabetes. This included 397,296 study participants and 20,641 cases of type 2 diabetes. Relative to no or rare alcohol consumption, moderate wine consumption was associated with a significant lower risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas beer or spirits consumption indicated a slight but non-significant trend of decreasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. The dose-response analysis showed a U-shaped association with the peak risk reduction of 20 % at 20-30 g alcohol / day with wine.

Huang J, Wang X, Zhang Y. Specific types of alcoholic beverage consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig. 2017 Jan;8(1):56-68.

For more information about this article, read the scientific abstract here.