Researchers from The Netherlands and Spain published the results of two different studies this week. Both are revealing more health benefits linked to moderate alcohol consumption. The Dutch team showed protection against Type 2 diabetes, while the Spanish team found that drinking reduces the chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The study done by the National Institute for Public Health and Environment and other Dutch research centers found that adult onset diabetes was less likely to occur in those who drink alcohol moderately, versus those who don’t drink at all. Moderate consumption is one drink per day for women and two for men.
“The results of the investigation show that moderate alcohol consumption can play a part in a health lifestyle to help reduce the risk of developing diabetes type 2,” a contributing scientific research group TNO said in a statement according to Reuters.
For this study, a healthy lifestyle was determined by being a healthy weight, exercising, eating a balanced diet and not smoking. The findings showed that those who maintained at least three of these four criteria gained the diabetes reduction benefits from alcohol.
The researchers in Spain also took lifestyle into consideration. Healthy practices, in addition to the alcohol, appear to be common ground between the two studies.
The Spanish study’s result, published in the May issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, showed that the onset of Alzheimer’s was reduced among those who drank moderately, yet who were otherwise healthy.
The most benefits were found among non-smoking women, even though conclusive associations linking smoking, itself, to an increased chance of Alzheimer’s was not found.
HealthDay reported the study’s lead author, Ana M. Garcia, from the University of Valencia’s department of preventive medicine and public health, as saying ”Our results suggest a protective effect of alcohol consumption, mostly in non-smokers, and the need to consider interactions between tobacco and alcohol consumption, as well as interactions with gender, when assessing the effects of smoking and/or drinking on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.”
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