There’s no denying Mediterranean cuisine is delicious. Falafel, hummus, and most recently truffles all make for a mouthwatering meal. But now, a new study from Ben-Gurion University in Israel says that adding a glass of red wine to a Mediterranean spread could be beneficial to those suffering from diabetes.
Because diabetes patients are prone to developing heart disease, it’s important to keep HDL, the good component of cholesterol, high, while keeping LDL, or ‘negative cholesterol’ low. In a study of over 220 type 2 diabetes patients regularly consuming a Mediterranean diet, the patients who also drank a 150ml glass of red wine with dinner had higher HDL levels than those who drank mineral water. Since HDL can help a body stave off strokes and heart attacks, the implication of these studies are hopeful, to say the least.
Professor Iris Shai, who headed the research, said, “This first long-term large scale alcohol trial suggests that initiating moderate wine intake, especially red-wine, among well-controlled type 2 diabetes patients, and as part of healthy diet, is apparently safe…”
This isn’t the first time drinking red wine has been connected to health benefits. Red wine has been credited for all kinds of body-positives, including burning fat and giving you a healthy sex life. We’ll have to wait to see how this study is received by the rest of the medical community – the researchers are presenting at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague soon. But, in the mean time, who says we can’t celebrate a little good news early?
H/t The Independent