Drinking a glass of red wine every
night may help people with diabetes to manage their cholesterol and protect
their hearts, a new study has found.
In a trial of more than 220 type 2
diabetes patients assigned a standard Mediterranean diet, those who were also
allowed one 150ml glass of red with dinner ended up with higher levels of
so-called ‘good cholesterol’ than those who drank white wine or mineral water.
People with diabetes are more
vulnerable to developing heart disease than the general population.
They often have low levels of good
cholesterol, or HDL, which helps remove ‘bad cholesterol’, or LDL, and is
thought to protect improve heart health, possibly protecting against heart
attacks and strokes.
In the study, which was carried out
over the course of two years, people who drank red wine saw “modest” increases
in HDL. Those who drank either wine and were genetically predisposed to
metabolise alcohol well also had better blood sugar control.
The Israeli researchers behind the
study said that genetic profiling could be used to identify type 2 diabetes
patients who might benefit from moderate wine-drinking.
Research into the health benefits –
or lack thereof – of red wine remains controversial territory.
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’ – the fact the country has low heart disease rates,
despite rich diets heavy in cheese and red meat.
It is thought that the effect may be
caused by an, as yet unidentified, ingredient of red wine – a theory backed up
by the latest findings, which found red wine was, overall, more beneficial than
white.
However, research into the chemical
resveratrol – believed by some to be the mystery ingredient – concluded last
year that mortality rates were no lower in those who consumed more of it.
Doctors have also emphasised that
drinking any more than moderate amounts of red wine – more than a small glass
or two a day – is still considered very bad for health, particularly raising
the risk of heart disease and some cancers.
The findings from the new diabetes study, carried
out by researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel,
alongside experts from Harvard School of Public Health and Leipzig
University, are being presented at the European Congress on Obesity in
Prague this week.
The authors, led by Professor Iris Shai, said:
“This first long-term large scale alcohol trial suggests that ini¬tiating
moderate wine intake, especially red-wine, among well-controlled type 2
diabetes patients, and as part of healthy diet, is apparently safe and
decreases car¬diometabolic risk.
While the genetic interaction supports specific
causal roles for [alcohol], the red-wine's superiority suggests that
non-alcoholic constituents of red wine could be having a positive impact.”