Research shows that losing weight can help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. While best practice for weight loss often includes decreasing or eliminating calories from alcohol, few studies examine whether people who undergo weight loss treatment report changes in alcohol intake and whether alcohol influences their weight loss.

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) suggests that alcohol consumption may attenuate long-term weight loss in adults with type 2 diabetes.

In the study, close to 5,000 people who were overweight and had diabetes were followed for 4 years. One group participated in Intensive Lifestyle Intervention (ILI) and the other in a control group consisting of diabetes support and education. Data showed that participants in the ILI group who abstained from alcohol consumption over the 4-year period lost more weight than those who drank any amount during the intervention. Results from the study also showed that heavy drinkers in the ILI group were less likely to have clinically significant weight loss over the 4 years.

“This study indicates that while alcohol consumption is not associated with short?term weight loss during a lifestyle intervention, it is associated with worse long?term weight loss in participants with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes,” says lead investigator Ariana M. Chao, PhD, CRNP, Assistant Professor of Nursing in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences. “Patients with Type 2 diabetes who are trying to lose weight should be encouraged to limit alcohol consumption.”