The study indicated that consuming moderate amounts of alcohol (no more than 14 grams per day for women and 28 grams per day for men), especially wine, with meals was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“The effects of alcohol consumption on health have been described as a double-edged sword because of its apparent abilities to cut deeply in either direction — harmful or helpful, depending on how it is consumed,” said study author Hao Ma from the Tulane University.

Alcohol consumption is linked to short- and long-term health risks, including motor vehicle crashes, violence, sexual risk behaviours, high blood pressure, obesity, stroke, breast cancer, liver disease, depression, suicide, accidents, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism.

These health risks increase as the amount of alcohol an individual drinks increases. For some cancers and other health conditions, the risk increases even at very low levels of alcohol consumption — less than one drink daily.

For the study, the researchers involved 312,400 and examined the effect moderate drinking may have related to new-onset type 2 diabetes among all study participants over about 11 years (between 2006 and 2010).

The analysis, presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2022, found that during an average of nearly 11 years of follow-up, about 8,600 of the adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes.

Consuming alcohol with meals was associated with a 14 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to consuming alcohol without eating food.