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Low prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in wine drinkers—is it the alcohol beverage or the lifestyle?

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Abstract

Objective: To study how the intake of alcohol and the choice of wine, beer, and spirits is related to lifestyle factors and the metabolic syndrome in 60-y-old men and women.

Design: Cross-sectional population based study.

Setting: Stockholm County, Sweden.

Subjects: Sixty-year-old men and women (n=4232).

Results: Moderate intake of wine (10–30 g/day) was associated with a lifestyle characterized by being married, having a university education, being employed, being Swedish-born, having a good quality of life according to economy, leisure time and health, compared with a group with low alcohol intake. The opposite characteristics were seen among the non-drinkers. Drinkers of spirits were more often smokers and also reported higher intake of sausage and fried potatoes compared with a group with low alcohol intake. In women, the metabolic syndrome was significantly more common in non-drinkers (20%), P<0.05, and less common among wine drinkers (8%), P<0.01, compared with a group with low alcohol intake. After adjustments, a significant lower odds ratio for the metabolic syndrome were seen in wine drinkers in women (OR=0.60, P<0.05).

Conclusion: Compared with low alcohol drinkers, moderate wine drinkers exhibited a more favorable pattern according to both lifestyle factors and metabolic parameters. The close link between alcohol drinking behaviour and lifestyle habits illustrate the complex relationship between alcohol and health.

Sponsorship: Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Stockholm City County Council, the Swedish Society for Medicine, and the Swedish Medical Research Council.

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Author notes

  1. M Rosell and M-L Hellénius: Guarantors: M Rosell and M-L Hellénius.

  2. M Rosell, U de Faire and M-L Hellénius: Contributors: MR contributed to the data analyses, the interpretation and the writing of the paper. MLH and UdF designed the study and contributed to the interpretation of the analyses.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    M Rosell & U de Faire

  2. Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Laboratory, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    U de Faire & M-L Hellénius

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  1. M Rosell
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  2. U de Faire
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Correspondence to M Rosell.

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Rosell, M., de Faire, U. & Hellénius, ML. Low prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in wine drinkers—is it the alcohol beverage or the lifestyle?. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 227–234 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601548

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