Diabetes mellitus is an insidious, chronic disease which results from the body's inability to produce sufficient insulin to metabolize and regulate blood sugar. Untreated, it can cause serious disability and death. People with the condition can suffer from numerous complications including blood vessel damage (resulting in poor circulation which can cause chronic sores and the need for the amputation of toes and feet), nerve damage, increased risk of heart disease, blindness and kidney failure.
Records from ancient Rome show that at least 1,600 years before the advent of insulin therapy, doctors prescribed small amounts of wine to help control diabetes. While physicians of that era may also have prescribed batwings and newt's eye, wine is one ancient treatment that seems to have held up to the scrutiny of modern science.
A study jointly conducted by the University of Pittsburgh's Departments of Epidemiology, Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nephrology along with the Department of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital and the Department of Surgery at Montefiore Hospital, both of Pittsburgh, found that the people least likely to suffer diabetic complications were those who consumed at least one alcoholic drink per week.
The study, published in the July 1990 issue of Diabetes Care, said, "Alcohol is known to induce hypoglycemia [low blood sugar] and has been shown to improve glucose tolerance in both diabetic and nondiabetic subjects, although this is far from a consistent finding ... Other potential benefits might include alcohol's vasodilator and other cardio-protective effects."
While the Pittsburgh study confirms numerous earlier studies, the authors urge caution because the lower consumption of alcohol among those with complications may be a result of them deliberately restricting intake because of their complications. It's worth noting here that studies showing the cardio-protective benefits of moderate consumption were similarly criticized because critics felt that the control group -- abstainers -- contained a large number of people who abstained because they were in poor health. Subsequent studies found the criticism was unfounded.
Significantly, recent research into the mechanisms of the cardio-protective benefits of moderate consumption have shown a possible like to insulin in nondiabetic study subjects. A study of more than 1,000 British women, published in the January 1992 issue of the British Medical Journal, confirmed the lower heart attack risk among moderate alcohol consumers and noted that those same people had lower peak levels of insulin.
While the body requires sufficient levels of insulin to regulate blood sugar, high peak levels can increase blood fat and cholesterol levels and may play a role in increasing heart attack risk, but the data so far is inconclusive.
It is known, however, that alcohol metabolism does not involve insulin and occurs completely outside the glucose-insulin cycle. Dry table wines, particularly red wines, contain negligible amounts of sugar. However, sweeter wines such as white zinfandel, port and dessert wines, along with most liqueurs and sweet mixers for liquor cocktails have substantial sugar content which must be considered. The carbohydrates in beer must also be factored into a diabetic's insulin-glucose tolerance considerations.
Because treating diabetes is such a vital life-prolonging task, diabetics should always consult with their physicians about alcohol consumption. A little may be good, but you should not make that decision without medical advice.