Wine Vs. Other Alcoholic Beverages

As we have discussed in previous blogs, wine consumption has been linked to “a reduced cardiovascular risk.” This study was done in a Mediterranean region, particular Spain, to show that when an individual drinks wine moderately compared to other alcoholic beverages there is a relation to having a lower morality rate in total. This finding also showed the difference in the way individuals that drink moderately eat compared to individuals that dank other alcoholic beverages. The main conclusion that came out of this study was that there is in fact a “better dietary pattern…found among nondrinkers than among drinkers.” Four specific questionnaires were conducted among participants with a trained dietitian present to see whether they preferred wine, beer, another kind of alcohol beverage or simply no alcohol at all. This study went into great detail on alcohol preference, for instance, one of the surveys specifically called a 137-item food frequency questionnaire listed wines such as “red, white, rose…and vintage wines” and liquors such as “anisette, whisky, vodka, gin and cognac.” Once individuals picked out their choices the participants were distributed into five drinking groups (nondrinkers, wine drinkers, beer drinkers, sprits drinkers, and no alcoholic beverage preference). After the alcohol preferences were sorted out it was time to figure out the participant’s dietary habits with relation to the Mediterranean Diet.

Using the Mediterranean dietary pattern the researchers constructed a system in order distribute points to the participants that consumed the proper food components such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, and olive oil. Basically these scientists were trying to figure out, through the surveys that they conducted and also with the knowledge of the Mediterranean Diet, which members of these groups followed the Mediterranean Diet the best and what all of us, as food consumers, can learn from this? The scientists believed that the significance of this study was important in making individuals aware about their findings. All of the Mediterranean participants were at high cardiovascular risk and because they were all a high-risk group it was important for find out “if wine drinkers had a better dietary pattern that could explain the proposed health effects of wine.” Researchers believe that it is important to make aware of the health benefits of wine and to differentiate those benefits from other alcoholic beverages especially from those that are at “greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease.” Interestingly enough, other studies have shown that wine drinkers have healthier dietary habits which are also similar to the Mediterranean food pattern. These individuals also choose healthier paths in life and appear healthy in most aspects of their life such as having “a lower prevalence of smoking, a higher educational level, and healthier scores in psychological test assessing…self esteem, sensation seeking” and all of this is due to individuals that choose to drink wine instead of other alcoholic beverages.



Reference: [1] Carmona-Torre F de A, et al. “Relationship of alcoholic beverage consumption to food habits in a Mediterranean population.” Am J Health Promot. 2008 Sep-Oct; 23(1): 27-30.