Drinking a glass of red wine per day may well be a way to manage and control diabetes. At least the research didn’t conclude that it causes diabetes so that’s a positive !
The research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague in early May concerned a long-term, randomized controlled trial in Israel whereby moderate intake of red winein combination with a healthy diet helped improve the metabolic profile of type-2 diabetic patients. One suggestion is that it might also help reduce diabetes in those people at risk from the condition.
Iris Shai, MD, PhD, from the Ben-Gurion University in Negev, Israel, with colleagues from other institutions analysed data from the CASCADE trial. This is a 2-year study of 224 patients with diabetes who had been abstaining from alcohol.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups to drink either a mineral water, white wine or red wine (150 mL serving) with dinner each night for 2 years. All three groups followed a non-calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet and participated in group sessions with clinical dietitians. The subjects had their diet and alcohol consumption monitored using validated dietary assessment tools to provide as complete a record as possible.
Participants who drank red wine increased their High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and apolipoprotein A-I levels while decreasing the ratios for total cholesterol versus HDL, triglycerides versus HDL and two proteins, ApoB-100/ApoA-I (P < 0.05 for all; vs. mineral water). Incidentally, HDL might be considered ‘good cholesterol’ which prevents low-density lipoprotein (LDL) having too great an impact. High LDL is linked to blocked arteries, heart disease and stroke.
Genetic testing revealed that approximately one in five participants were fast alcohol metabolisers whilst slow alcohol metabolisers who drank wine, were found to have better blood glucose control than those who metabolized it quickly.
The results suggest that non-alcoholic components of red wine have an added beneficial effect over white wine. In addition, the study seems to demonstrate an effect on lowering glucose levels in participants with a slower alcohol metabolism that supports a causal role for alcohol in blood glucose control. Potentially, red wine may then lower the cardiometabolic risk.
One word of caution: potential health benefits only apply to small amounts of red wine. Drinking more than a glass or two a day of red wine is clearly linked to an increased risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.
Professor Iris Shai, lead author claimed:-
“This first long-term large scale alcohol trial suggests that initiating moderate wine intake, especially red wine, among well-controlled type-2 diabetes patients, and as part of a healthy diet, is apparently safe and decreases cardiometabolic risk.”
Numerous studies in recent years have linked moderate consumption with lower levels of bad cholesterol and better heart health, and it has even been suggested as an explanation for the so-called ‘French paradox’. In fact the country has low heart disease rates, despite rich diets heavy in cheese and red meat although this may due to the way deaths from heart related conditions are reported in the country. It is also thought that one agent, resveratrol found in red wine is the main component responsible for those various benefits. This too is questioned though because of a number of studies which suggest a small effect due to this component.
Dr Alasdair Rankin, director of research for Diabetes UK also warned:
“The evidence that red wine can help improve management of diabetes is extremely weak and any potential health benefits from drinking alcohol would be outweighed by the well-known side effects, such as weight gain.”
“What we do know is that a lot of us already drink more alcohol than is good for us, so most people with type 2 diabetes should in fact be actively trying to reduce their alcohol intake, not increase it.”
Shai, I., et al. (2015) What is the effect of wine intake in type 2 diabetes and does the wine color matter? Presented at: European Congress on Obesity; May 6-9, Prague.
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