Moderate Drinking Can Fend Off Diabetes in Women

Good news for you ladies who like a little bit of wine and a lot of carbs: A new study shows that middle-aged women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol but eat a large amount of refined carbohydrates are 30% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than women who eat similarly, but don’t drink. Refined carbs, of course, include such maligned foods as white bread and sugary drinks, Reuters notes.

Researchers tracked 81,827 women, all of whom were initially diabetes-free, for 26 years. Of those, 6,950 developed the disease, but moderate alcohol intake—defined as an average of about two drinks per week—appeared to help fend it off. As with all such studies, heavy drinkers were not found to have the same lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, and researchers do not recommend people start drinking simply to lower their risk, Medical News Today notes. (More diabetes stories.)