Effect of a single ingestion of alcohol on iron absorption

The effect of alcohol on inorganic and organic iron absorption was studied in 70 subjects, using a whole-body counter technique. The mean iron absorption of a test dose was 24.44%, while in the presence of whisky, absorption fell to 9.73% (P less than 0.0001). Absorption of a test dose in the presence of whisky without alcohol was 10.14% (P less than 0.0001). The alcohol in whisky, therefore, was not responsible for the diminished iron absorption (P greater than 0.20). The absorption of the iron contained in wine with alcohol was 73.31 microgram and wine without alcohol was 67.50 microgram. The difference was not statistically significant (P greater than 0.20). The absorption of inorganic iron contained in a test meal was 165.55 microgram and was not changed in the presence of ethanol (151.35 microgram) (P greater than 0.10). However, the presence of ethanol affected the absorption of heme iron: 538.68 microgram compared with 442.41 microgram with ethanol (P less than 0.0001). These studies show that the acute ingestion of ethanol does not influence the absorption of inorganic iron, while it does diminish the absorption of the organic form.