Controversy poured over red wine claims
New research suggesting red wine can help improve the management of Type 2 diabetes has been described as “extremely weak” by Diabetes UK.
A study has claimed a glass of red wine each night with dinner in people with well-controlled Type 2 diabetes can improve metabolic profiles over two years.
However, Dr Alasdair Rankin, Diabetes UK Director of Research, said: “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.
The evidence that red wine can help improve management of diabetes is extremely weak
“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. Currently, the best way to manage Type 2 diabetes is by taking prescribed medications and maintaining a healthy weight through regular physical activity and a healthy balanced diet that is low in saturated fat, sugar and salt.”
The study was performed in Israel by Professor Iris Shai, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and her Israeli colleagues, with collaboration of Professor Meir Stampfer, Harvard School of Public Health, USA, Boston, MA, USA, and colleagues from University of Leipzig, Germany. It was presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity in Prague.
The authors sad: “This first long-term large scale alcohol trial suggests that initiating moderate wine intake, especially red-wine, among well-controlled T2D, and as part of healthy diet, is apparently safe and decreases cardiometabolic risk. While the genetic interaction supports specific causal roles for ethanol, the red-wine’s superiority suggests that non-alcoholic constituents of red wine could be having a positive impact.
“The differences found between red and white wine were opposed to our original hypothesis that the beneficial effects of wine on lipids are mediated predominantly by the alcohol. Yet, the differential effects in patients with the genetic variation for alcohol metabolism on their blood sugar control support a causal role of alcohol on blood sugar control. Thus, genetic profiling may assist in identifying patients with Type 2 diabetes in whom moderate wine consumption may induce greater clinical benefit.”