Drinking a glass of wine at dinner every night slashes your risk of getting diabetes, according to a new study.

       But having a bottle of beer or two with your evening meal was found to have the opposite effect and increase a person’s risk.

       Scientists from New Orleans used data from more than 300,000 people in the UK Biobank project and found that over a decade of follow-up around 8,600 participants developed type 2 diabetes.

       When analysing the drinking patterns of the study participants, the researchers found that moderate drinking with meals was associated with a 14 per cent lower risk of diabetes.

       A moderate intake was defined as one glass of wine a day for women, and two glasses a day for men, or 14 and 18 grams of pure alcohol, respectively.

       There was no benefit for avoiding diabetes when it came to alcohol unless it was specifically with meals, and it was more common for wine drinkers than ale lovers.

       “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,” said Dr Hao Ma, study lead author from the Tulane University Obesity Research Center.

       “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.

       “Previous studies have focused on how much people drink and have had mixed results. Very few studies have focused on other drinking details, such as the timing of alcohol intake.”

       Findings are still preliminary

       Dr Ma added that past research has shown a small amount of alcohol may help the body regulate glucose, but scientists had never confirmed if the improved blood sugar regulation from alcohol reduces diabetes risk.

       The findings are preliminary, and are yet to be peer-reviewed and they were only on Thursday presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2022.

       The data add to a growing debate over how small amounts of alcohol can have some positive benefits.

       Experts universally agree that excessive intake or binge drinking have devastating consequences for health, but the picture is less black and white for a small daily tipple.

       Overall, consuming alcohol with meals was significantly associated with a 14 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes, but this figure takes into account wine, beer and liquor.

       When the researchers stratified it by alcohol type, they found that more than 200 grams of alcohol a week from wine alongside meals — equivalent to two glasses a day — slashes the risk by more than 20 per cent.

       But the same amount of alcohol from beer actually increases the risk of diabetes by about five per cent.

       Dr Robert Eckel, a past president of the American Heart Association and Emeritus Professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who was not involved with the study, said: “These data suggest 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.”