A drink a day may reduce a man's diabetes risk

October 16, 2001 in Diabetes & Diabetes Prevention, Men's Health

A drink a day may reduce a man's diabetes risk

 


Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston found that men who consumed one or two alcoholic drinks daily had a 36% lower risk of diabetes over 12 years, compared with men who did not drink and with men who were lighter drinkers. Findings were similar when it came to beer, white wine or liquor.

Heavy drinkers (equivalent to roughly equivalent to three or four 12-ounce cans of beer, three or four 5-ounce glasses of wine, or three or four shots of hard liquor) were 39% less likely to develop diabetes, although there were few men in the study who consumed this much alcohol, the researchers note.

The study findings also indicate that drinking on at least 5 days of the week provided the best insurance against developing diabetes, even when the amount of alcohol consumed was minimal. Men who drank no more than twice during the week did not have a lower risk of diabetes.

The results support those of earlier studies showing an association between moderate alcohol consumption and a lower risk for some chronic disorders, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

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