Moderate consumption of alcohol beneficial on insulin and triglyceride levels in nondiabetic women.(Brief Article)

2002 JUN 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nondiabetic postmenopausal women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol can reduce insulin concentrations and improve insulin sensitivity, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Michael J. Davies, PhD, and David J. Baer, PhD, of the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether daily consumption of low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol influences fasting insulin and glucose concentrations and insulin sensitivity in healthy, nondiabetic, postmenopausal women.

The researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial of 63 healthy postmenopausal women at a clinical research center in Maryland between 1998 and 1999. Participants were randomly assigned to consume 0, 15 g/day (one drink), or 30 g/day (two drinks) of alcohol as part of a controlled diet. Each woman received each amount of alcohol for 8 weeks, followed by a 2-5 week "washout" period between each treatment sequence. All foods and beverages were provided during the intervention.

A complete set of blood samples was collected and analyzed for 51 women who completed all diet treatments. The researchers found that, "Consumption of 30 g/d of alcohol compared with 0 g/d reduced fasting insulin concentration by 19.2% and triglyceride concentration by 10.3%, and increased insulin sensitivity by 7.2%. Normal weight, overweight, and obese individuals responded similarly. Only fasting triglyceride ...