Alcohol and nutrition in postmenopausal women

The estrogenization of postmenopausal women is of major importance for their health status, particularly with respect to risks of osteoporosis and coronary heart disease. Thus the factors which influence endogenous postmenopausal estrogen levels are receiving increasing attention. There are three major determinants of endogenous estrogen levels; two are well established, while the third is of fairly recent vintage. Two of the three are nutritionally based. A long-recognized nutritional determinant is body fat mass; a newly recognized determinant is that of moderate alcoholic beverage consumption. Another recognized but non-nutritional postmenopausal estrogen determinant is the presence of the ovaries. This review will examine these three determinants of endogenous postmenopausal estrogen levels. Further, data will also be presented to indicate that nationality may be a fourth factor, and may involve a potential nutritional component. Finally, to explore more deeply the nutritional aspects of alcoholic beverage consumption, the effects of phytoestrogen congeners of alcoholic beverages on the estrogenization of postmenopausal women will be reviewed.