American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 24, 1042-1052, Copyright © 1971 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Calorie and nutrient contribution of alcoholic beverages to the usual diets of 155 adults

¹ From the Departments of Community Health, Biometry, and Medicine, School of Medicine, and Department of Nutrition, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, and Highland View Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio 44122

The usual diets, including alcoholic beverage intake of three groups of nonalcoholic men and women were determined by a diary method. Two groups of subjects were studied for 1 year and the other group for 6 months. One group was composed of 73 men and women with multiple sclerosis. The remaining two groups were composed of 82 executive, administrative, and professional men.

One hundred twenty-one (79%) of the 155 total subjects reported drinking alcoholic beverages during the study period. One-half of these reported consumption of alcoholic beverages on 50% or more of the days studied. Subjects showed no preference in day of the week that drinking was reported. Within a drinking day, subjects often consumed alcohol over two or more meal periods regardless of the amount.

Alcohol constituted 10% or more of the average daily total calories for 22% of the drinking subjects, whereas an additional 23% consumed 5 to 10% of calories from alcohol. As the proportion of calories from alcohol increased, the proportion of calories from protein showed little change, whereas the proportions from fat and carbohydrate showed decreases. Men who averaged more than 10% of calories from alcohol had proportions of calories from both fat and carbohydrate below 35%.

Eighty-eight subjects drank on more than 5% but less than 95% of the days studied. Seventy-seven of these showed no significant differences in nonalcoholic beverage calorie intakes between drinking and nondrinking days.

Dietary intakes were compared with specific levels of the recommended dietary allowances for subjects with alcohol intakes of 5% or more of total calories and for subjects with less or no alcohol intake. Quality of diet could not be related to the proportion of total calories from alcohol.

Subjects consuming two or more bottles of beer per day averaged 10% or more of total intakes of niacin, riboflavin, phosphorus, and more than one-fourth of their total calories, plant protein, and natural carbohydrate from alcoholic beverages.