The key word here is "moderate." To that I would add "remarkable." Writing in the May 2005 issue of Diabetes Care, a team of researchers in the Netherlands reports on a meta-analysis of 15 studies that examined the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The individual studies were conducted in several countries, including the U.S., Germany, Finland, Japan and the UK. All of the studies were published over the past decade and involved nearly 12,000 subjects with type 2 diabetes. The subjects were followed for an average of 12 years each. Results showed that moderate drinkers may have a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people who don't drink. But that's not the remarkable part. The remarkable result from this study showed that people who don't drink at all have approximately the same risk of developing type 2 diabetes as people who drink heavily. One of the researchers, Lando L. J. Koppes, M.D., told Reuters Health that drinking patterns proved to be a key factor. Those who drank less than 48 grams of alcohol per day fared better than those who didn't drink at all during the week, but binged on the weekend. (A typical drink in the U.S. contains about 12 grams of alcohol on average.) Unlike many other studies that have examined the effects of alcohol, wine did not produce the healthiest benefits. In fact the type of alcohol consumed - whether beer, wine or hard liquor - had little effect on the results. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute Source: "Moderate Drinking Appears to Cut Diabetes Risk" Reuters Health, 3/17/05, reutershealth.com | 
