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Postmenopausal
women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol may be less likely
to develop diabetes, according to researchers at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the National Cancer Institute.
High blood
levels of insulin and decreased insulin sensitivity are risk
factors for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Women who drink
one to two alcoholic drinks daily respond better to insulin
and have lower levels of insulin in their blood, according
to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association.
Researchers
assessed 51 healthy postmenopausal women who rotated through
three eight-week treatment sessions where they consumed no
alcohol, had one drink daily or two drinks daily, and followed
a diet to maintain their body weight. Each glass of alcohol
contained 15 grams.
Investigators
found that insulin levels were nearly 20 percent lower in
the women consuming two drinks per day compared with the levels
in women who drank no alcohol. Levels of triglycerides, a
fat linked with development of heart disease, were approximately
10 percent lower in the women who had two drinks each day
compared with women who drank no alcohol.
Sensitivity
to insulin rose by approximately seven percent in the women
consuming two drinks per day. Blood glucose stayed constant
in all three groups of women. There were no differences observed
in the results seen between women of normal weight, overweight
or obese women.
"Consumption
of 30 grams per day of alcohol (2 drinks per day) has beneficial
effects on insulin and triglyceride concentrations and insulin
sensitivity in nondiabetic postmenopausal women," concluded
the researchers.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of May 19, 2002
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