Moderate Drinking May Help Lower the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Reasonable, moderate drinking as opposed to binge drinking
Going back to the study, people who had the lowest possibility for diabetes were those who drank alcohol reasonably—and a little more than moderate—levels. Men who took 14 drinks per week had a 43 percent lower possibility of diabetes than men who did not drink at all; women who took 9 drinks per week had a 58 percent lowered risk.
The timing of those drinks is also important. Drinking 3 to 4 days a week was associated with the biggest risk reduction. For women, very irregular drinking (less than one day per week) was also linked with slightly lower diabetes rates, when compared to being a lifetime abstainer.
“For the same total weekly quantity of alcohol, spreading it out on more days is far better than drinking it all together,” said lead author Janne Tolstrup, professor of epidemiology and intervention research at the University of Southern Denmark’s National Institute of Public Health, in an email.
