Is alcohol good or bad for your health? With no shortage of contradictory findings, it's understandable if you're left feeling like you've had a little too much to drink. 
 
 Now, new research from Denmark suggests that moderate levels of alcohol drinking — not binge drinking — may be linked to a lower risk of developing diabetes. But it's not just how much people drink, but how often they drink, that plays a role, the researchers said. 
 
 It's important to note, however, that most experts recommend that if you don't already drink alcohol, you shouldn't start because of possible health benefits. 
 
 In the study, published today (July 27) in the journal Diabetologia, researchers found that drinking alcohol three to four days a week was associated with a lower risk of diabetes compared with drinking less than one day a week. [7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health] 
 
 The "findings suggest that alcohol drinking frequency is associated with risk of diabetes, and that consumption of alcohol over three to four days per week is associated with the lowest risk of diabetes, even after taking average weekly alcohol consumption into account," the researchers, led by Charlotte Holst, a doctoral student of public health at the University of Southern Denmark, wrote. 
 
 In the study, the researchers looked at data on more than 76,000 adults who participated in the Danish Health Examination Survey in 2007 to 2008. The people in the study filled out questionnaires about their drinking habits, including how much and how often they drank alcohol, and what type of alcohol they drank. Using information from the Danish National Diabetes Register, the researchers determined if the people in the study developed diabetes. 
 
 The researchers noted that they weren't able to distinguish between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes using the available data. However, it's more common to develop type 2 diabetes as an adult than type 1 diabetes, which usually develops during childhood. 
 
 The people in the study were tracked for a median of 4.9 years, the researchers wrote. Over this time period, about 850 men and 890 women developed diabetes. 
 
 In men, drinking alcohol three to four days per week was associated with a 27 percent lower risk of diabetes compared with drinking less than one day per week, the researchers found. For women, the same frequency was associated with a 32 percent lower risk. 
 
 The researchers also looked at the amount of alcohol consumed. Their findings were similar to those of earlier studies, which have shown that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is associated with the lowest risk of diabetes. Specifically, the study found that for men, drinking 14 drinks per week was associated with a 41 percent lower risk of diabetes compared with no drinks, and for women, drinking nine drinks per week was associated with a 58 percent lower risk of diabetes. 
 
 When the researchers looked at alcohol type, they found that different alcohol types were associated with different levels of risk. For example, drinking seven or more glasses of wine per week was associated with a 25 to 30 percent lower risk of diabetes compared with drinking less than one glass of wine per week. 
 
 There were also differences between men and women: For beer, for example, drinking between one and six brews was associated with a 21 percent lower risk of diabetes in men compared with drinking less than one beer a week, and there was no link found between beer consumption and diabetes risk in women. Drinking seven or more drinks made with liquor per week, on the other hand, was associated with an 83 percent increased risk of diabetes in women compared with one liquor-based drink per week. [Here's How Much Alcohol Is OK to Drink in 19 Countries] 
 
 The study only looked at the association between drinking alcohol and risk of diabetes — it didn't prove cause and effect. However, the researchers hypothesize that wine's beneficial effects may stem from compounds called polyphenols, which may help the body control blood sugar levels and, in turn, lower a person's risk of diabetes, according to the study. 
 
 The researchers noted that they didn't find an association between binge drinking (defined in the study as drinking five or more drinks at a time) and diabetes risk, but this may be because there weren't enough binge drinkers in the study to observe a link. In other words, it's possible that binge drinking is linked to diabetes risk, but more research is needed. 
 
 One limitation of the study was that the people self-reported their alcohol consumption, which means that it could be inaccurate, the researchers wrote. 
 
 Originally published on Live Science. ||||| Drinking alcohol three to four times per week could significantly reduce a person's chances of developing diabetes, according to a new study. 
 
 Wine is tipped to be the most beneficial, followed by beer, but researchers warn that clear spirits, such as gin and vodka, could substantially increase a woman's chances of succumbing to the condition. 
 
 Experts argue, however, that the health impacts of alcohol consumption can vary from person to person and the study should not be taken as a "green light" for excessive drinking. 
 
 The new research, published in European medical journal Diabetologia, surveyed more than 70,000 Danish participants on their drinking habits over the course of five years. 
 
 Of the 859 men and 887 women who developed diabetes over this period – either type 1 or type 2 – those who drank frequently emerged as the least at risk. 
 
 The lowest risk of diabetes was observed at 14 drinks per week in men and nine drinks per week in women. 
 
 "Our findings suggest that alcohol drinking frequency is associated with the risk of diabetes and that consumption of alcohol over three to four weekdays is associated with the lowest risks of diabetes, even after taking average weekly alcohol consumption into account," Professor Janne Tolstrup from the University of Southern Denmark noted in the report. ||||| TIME Health For more, visit TIME Health 
 
 Drinking alcohol—especially wine—every few days may help protect against type 2 diabetes, suggests a new study published in the journal Diabetologia. People in the study who drank three to four days a week were about 30% less likely to develop diabetes than those who drank less than once a week. 
 
 This isn’t the first study to find a link between drinking moderately—having up to 7 drinks a week for women and up to 14 drinks a week for men—and a reduced diabetes risk, compared to not drinking at all. (Heavy drinking, however, is known to increase the risk of diabetes.) 
 
 For the new study, researchers analyzed data from more than 70,000 healthy Danish adults who were surveyed about their health and drinking habits around 2007. They tracked them for five years to see who developed type 2 diabetes. 
 
 People who had the lowest risk for diabetes were those who drank alcohol at moderate—and slightly more than moderate—levels. Men who drank 14 drinks a week had a 43% lower risk of diabetes than men who did not drink at all; women who drank nine drinks a week had a 58% reduced risk. 
 
 TIME Health Newsletter Get the latest health and science news, plus: burning questions and expert tips. View Sample Sign Up Now 
 
 The timing of those drinks also mattered. Drinking three to four days a week was linked to the biggest risk reduction. For women, very infrequent drinking (less than one day a week) was also associated with slightly lower diabetes rates, compared to being a lifetime abstainer. 
 
 “For the same total weekly amount of alcohol, spreading it out on more days is better than drinking it all together,” said lead author Janne Tolstrup, professor of epidemiology and intervention research at the University of Southern Denmark’s National Institute of Pubic Health, in an email. 
 
 Wine seemed to have a special edge. This study, and previous ones, found that moderate-to-high intake of wine was associated with lower diabetes risk—possibly because the polyphenol compounds in red wine may help manage blood sugar, the authors wrote. 
 
 MORE: Here’s What Happens When You Drink Red Wine Every Night 
 
 Moderate consumption of beer was also linked to lower diabetes risk for men in the study, but not for women. The researchers say that may be because not enough women in their sample reported drinking beer to show a strong association. (Most drank wine.) 
 
 As for spirits, the researchers found no association with diabetes risk in men—but women who had at least seven hard-liquor drinks per week had an 83% increased risk of diabetes compared to those who had less than one. These results are also uncertain, says Tolstrup, since fewer people in the study reported drinking spirits regularly. 
 
 While the study suggests a link between alcohol and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, the study cannot determine that alcohol causes these protective effects. Tolstrup also points out that alcohol is related to more than 50 different diseases and conditions—in both positive and negative ways. The study did not, for example, take into account the increased risk of breast cancer that’s been associated with even low levels of alcohol consumption. 
 
 “Any recommendations about how to drink and how much to drink should not be inferred from this study,” she says, “or any study investigating associations between alcohol and a single outcome such as diabetes.” Alcohol affects virtually every organ system in the body, Tolstrup says. She recommends that people stick to current guidelines for moderate drinking, and doesn’t advise current abstainers to start drinking for health reasons. 
 
 MORE: Alcohol Is Good for Your Heart — Most of the Time 
 
 The results, while interesting, call for more research. 
 
 Dr. Ronald Tamler, medical director at the Mount Sinai Clinical Diabetes Institute, was not involved in the new study, but says it confirms observations from previous research. He also recommends drinking in moderation, “up to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men,” he said in an email. 
 
 “My patients are happy when they ‘confess’ that they have a glass of wine with dinner, and I tell them they should feel free to continue their evening routine,” Tamler says. “However, I do not advise patients to start drinking just to reduce risk of developing diabetes.” 
 
 Tamler also points out that the study focused on people developing a new diagnosis of diabetes. “Once somebody has diabetes, different forms of alcohol can have very different effects,” he says. “Beer may increase blood sugar levels (carbs!) while hard liquor may lead to dangerously low glucose levels.”
– Good news, wine and beer lovers: A new study finds that "moderate but regular" alcohol consumption appears to be linked to a lower risk of developing diabetes. Researchers surveyed more than 70,000 Danish participants over a five-year period and found that men who reported drinking 14 drinks a week and women who reported drinking nine per week were at the lowest risk (41% lower for men than those who did not drink, 58% lower for women), CNBC reports. "Our findings suggest that alcohol drinking frequency is associated with the risk of diabetes and that consumption of alcohol over three to four weekdays is associated with the lowest risks of diabetes," a researcher says. The lead author adds, "For the same total weekly amount of alcohol, spreading it out on more days is better than drinking it all together." Overall, drinking three to four days a week was linked to a 27% lower risk of diabetes (men) or 32% lower risk (women) than drinking less than one day a week, LiveScience reports. A caveat: While wine was found to be the best choice (the researchers hypothesize this could be because the polyphenol compounds in red wine could help with blood sugar management), followed by beer (for men only), clear spirits including gin and vodka were found to be linked with an increased risk of developing diabetes for women. Of course, outside health experts are warning people to be careful and not take this study as an excuse to over-indulge. And Time notes that while other studies have found a link between moderate drinking and a reduced risk, heavy drinking is known to increase diabetes risk.