Association between Alcohol Consumption and Glycemic Status in Middle-Aged Women

Habitual alcohol drinking has been shown to reduce the risk for diabetes by recent meta-analysis studies. However, it remains to be clarified whether the relationship between alcohol and diabetes is influenced by adiposity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether glycemic status is influenced by alcohol drinking in women.

The subjects were 18 352 Japanese women, 35 to 60 years of age, who underwent health check-up examinations. The subjects were divided into 4 groups: nondrinkers, occasional drinkers, regular light drinkers (<22 g ethanol/day) and regular heavy drinkers (≥22 g ethanol/day). The relationship between alcohol consumption and glycated hemoglobin (A1C) levels was investigated by using analysis of covariance and logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age and histories of smoking and regular exercise.

A1C levels were significantly lower in occasional, regular light and regular heavy drinkers than in nondrinkers and was significantly lower in regular light and heavy drinkers than in occasional drinkers. These inverse associations were not altered by adiposity status as evaluated by body mass index and waist-to-height ratios. Odds ratios versus nondrinkers for hyperglycemia were significantly lower (p<0.01) than the reference level of 1.00 in occasional drinkers (0.82 [95% confidence interval 0.73 to 0.92]); regular light drinkers (0.61 [95% CI: 0.44 to 0.85]) and regular heavy drinkers (0.66 [95% CI: 0.50 to 0.88]).

The results suggest that glycemic status is inversely associated with alcohol drinking independent of adiposity status in Japanese women. This may be related to the known lower risk for cardiovascular disease in female drinkers.