Combined effect of alcohol consumption and lifestyle behaviors on risk of type 2 diabetes.
BACKGROUND
It has been suggested that the inverse association between alcohol and type 2 diabetes could be explained by moderate drinkers' healthier lifestyles.


OBJECTIVE
We studied whether moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in adults with combined low-risk lifestyle behaviors.


METHODS
We prospectively examined 35,625 adults of the Dutch European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-NL) cohort aged 20-70 y, who were free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at baseline (1993-1997). In addition to moderate alcohol consumption (women: 5.0-14.9 g/d; men: 5.0-29.9 g/d), we defined low-risk categories of 4 lifestyle behaviors: optimal weight [body mass index (in kg/m(2)) <25], physically active (> or =30 min of physical activity/d), current nonsmoker, and a healthy diet [upper 2 quintiles of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet].


RESULTS
During a median of 10.3 y, we identified 796 incident cases of type 2 diabetes. Compared with teetotalers, hazard ratios of moderate alcohol consumers for risk of type 2 diabetes in low-risk lifestyle strata after multivariable adjustments were 0.35 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.72) when of a normal weight, 0.65 (95% CI: 0.46, 0.91) when physically active, 0.54 (95% CI: 0.41, 0.71) when nonsmoking, and 0.57 (95% CI: 0.39, 0.84) when consuming a healthy diet. When > or =3 low-risk lifestyle behaviors were combined, the hazard ratio for incidence of type 2 diabetes in moderate alcohol consumers after multivariable adjustments was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.32, 1.00).


CONCLUSIONS
In subjects already at lower risk of type 2 diabetes on the basis of multiple low-risk lifestyle behaviors, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with an approximately 40% lower risk compared with abstention.
Joosten
Michel M
MM
TNO Quality of Life, Business Unit Biosciences, Zeist, Netherlands.
Grobbee
Diederick E
DE
van der A
Daphne L
DL
Verschuren
W M Monique
WM
Hendriks
Henk F J
HF
Beulens
Joline W J
JW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult