Relationship between alcohol consumption and insulin resistance

Some studies have suggested that low level alcohol consumption improves insulin resistance. Researchers evaluated the effects of alcohol consumption on insulin resistance using the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).
The study included 280,194 people without diabetes who underwent comprehensive health examinations more than twice between 2011 and 2018. The levels of alcohol intake were obtained through a self-questionnaire. All subjects were divided into two groups based on the Korean standard cut-off value of HOMA-IR, 2.2. The risk of insulin resistance according to alcohol consumption was assessed. The mean age of the study subjects was 38.2 years and 55.7% were men. During the follow-up period (median 4.13 years), HOMA-IR progressed from <2.2 to ≥2.2 in 64,443 subjects (23.0%) and improved from ≥2.2 to <2.2 in 21,673 subjects (7.7%). In the parametric survival analysis, alcohol consumption was associated with improvement of HOMA-IR (HR [95% CI], 1.09[1.03-1.14], 1.11[1.06-1.17] and 1.20[1.13-1.26], respectively). In the analysis classified according to changes in alcohol consumption amounts, increased alcohol consumption tended to prevent the progression of HOMA-IR (0.97[0.96-0.99]; p = 0.004). However, the association between the changes in alcohol consumption amounts and improvement of HOMA-IR was not statistically significant.
This retrospective observational study has shown that alcohol consumption can improve insulin resistance and increased alcohol consumption amounts may have preventive effects on the progression of HOMA-IR compared to the baseline level.
Source: Oh BK, Lee SJ, Kim H, Choi HI, Lee JY, Lee SH, Kim BJ, Kim BS, Kang JH, Lee MY, Sung KC. Relationship between alcohol consumption and insulin resistance measured using the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance: A retrospective cohort study of 280,194 people. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2021 Sep 22;31(10):2842-2850.