Research
Mixed
Moderate alcohol consumption (up to 36 g/day) in type 2 diabetes patients is associated with reduced mortality and microvascular/macrovascular complications.
If you have type 2 diabetes, moderate alcohol intake (up to 36 grams per day) may actually lower your risk of heart problems and other complications. This contradicts the common advice to avoid alcohol completely. However, this does not mean you should start drinking if you don't already.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
According to subgroup analyses of the ADVANCE and ONTARGET studies, moderate consumption of alcohol, defined as up to 36 g/day, in diabetes patients resulted in a significant reduction in mortality and microvascular/macrovascular complications
Why this rating
Based on subgroup analyses of large RCTs (ADVANCE, ONTARGET), which is strong but not primary endpoint data.
Source
Limited Prospects of Success
Frank Meyer · Deutsches Ärzteblatt international · 2014
DOI 10.3238/arztebl.2014.0432c
narrative_review
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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