The new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doesn't prove alcohol protects against diabetes. But Hu and his colleagues speculate that alcohol might affect the body's release of insulin and other substances after a meal, blunting the blood-sugar spikes that promote diabetes.
Hu's team analyzed data on 82,000 women participating in the long-term Nurses' Health Study. After 26 years of follow-up, 6,950 women, or about nine percent, who were diabetes free at the outset had developed the condition.
The researchers also examined participants' diets, including alcohol, based on surveys taken every four years.
Overall, the women who ate the most refined carbs, such as breakfast cereals, breads, mashed potatoes, colas and orange juice, and whose diets included a lot of meat, were at highest risk of developing diabetes.