Study: Heavy Drinkers Eat Poorly
Aug. 24 -- People who drink heavily, eat more — and often more — of the wrong things, which can in turn put them at risk for myriad health problems, a new study says.
The study, published this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finds a direct correlation between the amount a person drinks and her dietary choices.
In the study, researchers analyzed questionnaire answers from about 73,000 French female schoolteachers born between the years 1925 and 1950, and adjusted dietary intake to omit calories from alcohol.
The study, by French scientists and affiliates of a European cancer-prevention organization, split the respondents into groups based on their alcohol intake levels. The heavy drinkers — defined as anyone who drank more than 2 ½ alcoholic drinks a day — consumed almost 30 percent more calories from food than nondrinkers.
Drinkers also tended to consume more cheese, processed meats, vegetable oil and coffee than the nondrinkers, and a lower percentage of their caloric intake was from carbohydrates.
The heavy drinkers' cholesterol intake was 32 percent higher than in the nondrinking group. The heaviest drinkers in the study consumed more vitamins A, E and iron, but fewer foods that are rich in beta carotene.
"Chronic alcoholics tend to have several vitamin deficiencies," said Dr. Arthur Klatsky, senior consultant in cardiology at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, Calif.
Dr. Joanne Larsen, who runs dietican.com, a Web site that gives nutritional advice, says it's long been known that alcohol is an appetite stimulant.
"That's why they serve wine in nursing homes, to help stimulate appetite," she said. "However, people in nutrition have a very difficult time recommending alcohol, despite all of the studies."
Is All Drinking Bad?
The bottom line: All drinking is not bad, but the more you regularly drink, the worse your lifestyle habits will likely be.
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