Interrelationships of moderate and high alcohol consumption with diet and health status

Relationships of habitual alcohol consumption with diet and nutritional status were studied in 179 middle-class males with a wide range of alcohol consumption. One-day food records, diet histories, blood samples and data on alcohol consumption and meal patterns were collected. When data were analyzed by linear regression, there was a trend toward increased energy intake as alcohol consumption increased; however when the population was divided into tertiles based on alcohol consumption, the energy intakes were not significantly different between the tertile groupings. As alcohol intake increased, there was a decrease in percent of energy derived from protein, fat, and carbohydrate and the nutritional quality of the diet declined. Changes in health status, as measured by blood chemistries, were associated with both moderate and high alcohol consumption, although only three abnormal mean values were found in the upper tertile group.