COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Drinking a glass of wine or beer several times a week may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
The research was published in the journal Diabetologia. It sampled more than 70,000 people in Denmark from non-drinkers to heavy drinkers.
The findings suggest that men who drank 14 alcoholic drinks a week had a 43 percent lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes than non-drinkers. Women who had nine drinks a week had a 58 percent lower chance than non-drinkers.
Hard liquor had no such effect on men and would increase the risk of diabetes for women, whereas wine appeared to provide benefits for both men and women. Beer appeared to be beneficial to men but had no effect on women.
"Drinking frequency was important, as those who were drinking three to four times per week had lower risk as compared to those drinking only once per week — regardless of the total weekly amount," said Janne Tolstrup, an author of the study and a professor of epidemiology with the University of Southern Denmark's National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen.
However, U.S. health experts said they wouldn't recommend people drink more based on this study as it did not provide a proven explanation of a link between alcohol consumption and diabetes.
