Could Red Wine Decrease Cardiometabolic Risk in Patients with Diabetes?

Patients with type 2 diabetes could improve their cardiometabolic health and by consuming a daily glass of red wine, according to a recent study.

In the past, researchers have found less type 2 diabetes manifestations among moderate drinkers. However, due to the lack of long-term studies, the exact risk-benefit ratio is still controversial.
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For their study, researchers assigned 224 patients, at random, to consume 150 mL of mineral water, red wine, or white wine with dinner for a 2-year duration. During the study period, all study groups followed a Mediterranean diet.

Researchers evaluated the glycemic and lipid control profiles of patients and measured blood pressure, medication use, symptoms, liver biomarkers, and quality of life.

Overall, 94% of patients yielded follow-up data at the 1-year mark, and 87% had data by 2 years.

Compared to those who only consumed mineral water, those in the red wine group had higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (0.05 mmol/L to 0.06 mmol/L) and a lower total cholesterol ratio (0.27).

The authors observed no differences in blood pressure, adiposity, drug therapy, symptoms, quality of life, or liver function except for an improvement in sleep quality in both of the wine groups compared with those only consuming mineral water (0.040).

“This long-term randomized, controlled trial suggests that initiating moderate wine intake, especially red wine, among well-controlled diabetics as part of a healthy diet is apparently safe and modestly decreases cardiometabolic risk.”

The complete study is published in the October issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

-Michelle Canales Butcher

Reference:

Gepner Y, Golan R, Harman-Boehm I, et al. Effects of initiating moderate alcohol intake on cardiometabolic risk in adults with type 2 diabetes: a 2-year randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2015 October [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.7326/M14-1650.