Doctors should be careful to ask their patients what they drink, not just whether they drink
of ConsumerAffairsA new study by researchers at Tulane University found that people who mainly drink beer have worse diets, exercise less, and smoke more than people who drink wine, liquor, or a mix of these.
Why this matters: Drinking too much alcohol can cause serious liver problems. Eating healthy and being active are really important for preventing these problems.
What the study found:
Researchers looked at the diets of over 1,900 adults who drink alcohol. They found that none of the groups had very healthy diets.
- Beer drinkers had the unhealthiest diets, ate the most calories, and were the least active. They were also more likely to be male, younger, smokers, and have lower incomes.
- Wine drinkers had the healthiest diets.
Possible reasons:
- Food choices: People often drink beer with unhealthy foods like pizza and burgers. Wine is often paired with healthier meals that include vegetables and lean protein.
- Thirst: Salty and fried foods make people thirsty, which might lead them to drink more beer.
What doctors can do:
Doctors should ask patients what kinds of alcohol they drink. This can help doctors give advice about healthy eating and exercise habits.
What you drink matters
Basically, the study suggests that what you drink can be linked to your overall lifestyle. If you're mainly a beer drinker, it might be a good idea to think about improving your diet and exercising more.
The study is being presented at a meeting of liver disease specialists.
Alcohol overuse is the leading cause of cirrhosis in the U.S., and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rapidly increasing, said Madeline Novack, chief resident at Tulane School of Medicines internal medicine residency program and lead author of the study.
Both types of liver disease often coexist, and lifestyle changes are key to managing and preventing these conditions, starting with understanding the link between alcohol use and poor nutrition, Novack said.
Using a survey of a nationally representative sample of more than 1,900 U.S. adults who reported current alcohol use, researchers compared the diet quality among people who consume beer only (38.9%), wine only (21.8%), liquor only (18.2%), or a combination of alcohol types (21%), measuring self-reported eating habits against the Healthy Eating Index, a validated standardized tool based on dietary guidelines.
None of the alcohol-using groups came close to achieving the 80-point score that is considered an adequate diet on the 100-point Healthy Eating Index, Novack said, but the beer drinkers scored lowest at 49. Wine drinkers scored 55, and both liquor-only drinkers and combination drinkers scored nearly 53.
Beer-only drinkers, who were more likely to be male, younger, smokers, and low income, also reported the highest total daily caloric intake, adjusting for body weight, and the lowest level of physical activity.
Previous studies have found that dietary quality declines with increasing alcohol consumption of any type, but little has been reported on the influence of specific alcoholic beverage type.
For prevention of liver disease and other health issues, physicians should ask about the type of alcohol consumed to guide discussion of healthy behaviors, Novack said. For example, findings of this study can be applied to patients who identify as beer-only drinkers and physicians could suggest increasing fruit and vegetable intake, as well as physical activity.
The study isbeing published in the journalNutrients.
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Posted: 2024-11-13 20:57:24
