(10-01-06) Effect of 'pre-dinner drinks' on postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in lean young adults.

Fatema K, Bare' M, Middlemiss C, Brand-Miller JC.

Human Nutrition Unit, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.

Background - Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with decreased incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardio-vascular disease. Alcohol has been shown to have beneficial effects on glycaemia when consumed with a meal but little is known about its effect when consumed as a 'pre-dinner' drink. Objective - The present study aimed to determine how two standard drinks of alcohol (20 g), consumed one hour before a meal, would affect the glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to that meal. Design - Eighteen young, healthy volunteers (8M, 10F) participated. Each subject consumed three types of alcoholic beverages (435g beer, 180g white wine and 54g gin with 200g diet tonic water) as well as two reference water drinks in random order one hour prior to a high glycaemic index meal. A standard breakfast was consumed at 8 am, followed by the 'pre-dinner' drinks at 10 am and the standard lunch meal at 11 am. Blood samples were taken at baseline then 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after the lunch meal. Outcomes - Taking the average plasma glucose incremental area under the curve (iAUC) after water as 100, the iAUC for beer, wine and gin were 67 +/- 5 (mean +/- SEM), 75 +/- 6 and 78 +/- 4, respectively (all differences P <0.001). The mean peak blood glucose for the meal after beer (8.3 +/- 0.2), wine (8.5 +/- 0.2) and gin (8.6 +/- 0.2) were significantly lower (P <0.001) than after water (9.3 +/- 0.2). Conversely, plasma insulin iAUC for the meal after beer (106 +/- 5), white wine (111 +/- 11) and gin (133 +/- 10) were all higher than after the reference drink and this difference was significant between water and gin (P = 0.028). Conclusion - The study suggests that 'pre-dinner' drinks lower the glycaemic response to a meal by increasing insulin secretion and/or insulin sensitivity. Reducing glucose 'spikes' and overall postprandial glycemia may be one mechanism by which alcohol consumption reduces risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2005;14 Suppl:S114.

PMID: 16326470 [PubMed - in process]

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