Drinking wine with meals may reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, new study suggests

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Drinking wine with a meal may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. “Very few studies have focused on other drinking details, such as the timing of alcohol intake.” He added: “The message from this study is that drinking moderate amounts of wine with meals may prevent type 2 diabetes if you do not have another health condition that may be negatively affected by moderate alcohol consumption and in consultation with your doctor.” During an average of nearly 11 years of follow-up, around 8,600 of the adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes. He said: “This data suggests that it's not the alcohol with meals but other ingredients in wine, perhaps antioxidants, that may be the factor in potentially reducing new-onset type 2 diabetes. “While the type of wine, red versus white, needs to be defined, and validation of these findings and mechanisms of benefit are needed, the results suggest that if you are consuming alcohol with meals, wine may be a better choice.” The study authors acknowledged a number of limitations in their research, including that most of those participating were white adults of European descent who reported their own alcohol intake.