Drinking can be a relaxing practice if adequate control is exercised on the quantity consumed regularly. Of course there are divergent views regarding the impact of alcohol on health with some in the medical community supporting the argument that it is beneficial. But excess consumption can cause damage to heath, especially to liver functions. To add another dimension to this issue, a recent survey has brought out a disconcerting relation between alcohol drinking and quality and quantity of food intake.
"We found that as alcoholic beverage consumption increased, Healthy Eating Index scores decreased, an indication of poorer food choices," said first author Rosalind A. Breslow, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in NIAAA's Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research. "It's important to note that our study did not determine the cause of these associations." "A previous study by Dr. Breslow and her colleagues showed that people who drink the largest quantities of alcohol have the poorest quality diets. In the present study, they were able to identify specific dietary components that worsened with increased alcohol intake. In addition to decreased fruit consumption and increased caloric intake among both men and women, the researchers found that increased alcoholic beverage consumption was associated with a decreased intake of whole grains and milk among men".
What is intriguing is the observation that too much alcohol drastically reduce intake of protective foods in men only, sparing the female drinkers. With alcohol beverages industry world over on a roll with two digits annual growth, it is any body's guess as to the consequences of such developments on the population. Liquor industry probably owes it to its hard adherents to support research efforts to elucidate this obscure relationship by independent scientific agencies.
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