Copper and zinc status in moderate alcohol intake

To determine the effects of moderate alcohol (ETOH) consumption on dietary intakes, serum and urine zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) concentrations (conc), groups of nonsmoking, moderate drinkers, non-athletes, healthy young adult males aged 21-35 years and within 10% of ideal body weight, consumed 40g of ETOH/day as beer (fixed group) or maintained normal drinking habits (variable group) for 6 weeks, and then abstained for 3 weeks. A similarly described group of non-alcohol drinkers served as the control. There was no alcohol effect on dietary Zn or Cu intakes, however, the control group had significantly higher intakes of Zn than the drinking groups. Cu intakes were the same in all groups. Generally, the serum Zn and Cu conc of the drinking groups only, markedly rose during ETOH consumption and fell during abstention. Although this trend was not observed in the control group, they had higher serum Zn and Cu conc than the drinking groups. In general, urine Zn conc remained constant from baseline to consumption period and then decreased during the abstention period in all groups studied. Results indicate that moderate ETOH consumption raised serum Zn and Cu conc but had no effect on dietary intakes of these minerals or on urine Zn levels.