Ending years of dispute on the health benefits of drink, a group of researchers from the University of Natural Resources and Life sciences in Vienna, Austria revealed moderate consumption of red wine can help fight Type 2 diabetics.

According to researchers red wine has a strong affinity towards the protein called PPAR-gamma, which is used in diabetic drugs. PPAR-gamma controls glucose absorption in the cells and also improves insulin intake. Red wines have more than four times capacity to bind PPAR-gamma compared to rosiglitazone, the drug currently used for diabetic treatment.

The head of the research team Alois Jungbauer is excited about the study result. He said, “It's incredible. It's a really high activity. At first we were worried it was an artefact, but then we identified the compounds responsible in the wine."

Even in the past, studies have shown that red wine can effectively fight Type 2 diabetics, a case wherein the patients do not produce enough insulin or are resistant to insulin. So, Jungbauer and his team focused on the protein binding capacity of red and white wines and the compound that triggers such a behavior.

Their study has revealed that the strong protein binding capacity of red wine comes from flavonoid epicatechin gallate and polyphenol ellagic acid, two major compounds with highest binding capacity. But Jungbauer warns against binging, "Wine also contains ethanol, which will add to your calories,” It is important to limit the intake of wine. Obesity is one of the major problems of our society," he says.

Red wine may have many more compounds with diabetic fighting capacity. But, according to Véronique Chenier, research director at the department of oenology at the University of Montpellier 1, France, our body may not be able to absorb many of these compounds as our digestive system lacks the ability to digest all of them.