Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Introduction

The benefits of alcohol consumption for cardiovascular and metabolic health may have been overstated due to inappropriate comparisons with abstainers and inadequate control for confounding factors including physical activity and mental health. We examined alcohol consumption and cardio-metabolic health in a cohort of young Australian adults overcoming these limitations.

Methods

Cross-sectional data of a cohort of 2200 participants (age range 25–36 years) from the 2004-06 Childhood Determinants of Adult Health were used. Alcohol consumption was assessed from questionnaire and cardio-metabolic risk factors were measured in clinics. Linear and log binomial regression were used to examine total alcohol consumption (categories: none 0 g/day; light >0–10 g/day [reference]; moderate >10–20 g/day; heavy >20–30 g/day; very heavy >30 g/day) against dichotomous metabolic syndrome and its components: waist circumference, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose. Covariates included socio-demographics, smoking, diet, physical activity, fitness, depression and anxiety.

Results

Of the 2220 participants (48% males, mean (standard deviation) age 29.5 (2.5) years), most were classified in the ‘light drinking’ group (54.2%), less were in the ‘non-drinking’ (13.2%), ‘heavy’ (5.2%) or ‘very heavy’ (5.5%) drinking groups. Only moderate drinking was associated with a significantly lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome (prevalence ratio = 0.64, p < 0.05) compared with light drinking. Higher levels of alcohol consumption were associated with higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = 0.05, p_trend < 0.001). Very heavy compared to light drinkers had higher systolic (β = 3.01 mm Hg, p < 0.01) and diastolic (β = 2.07 mm Hg, p < 0.05) blood pressure.

Conclusion

Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of MetS, and more favourable levels of lipids but not glucose or blood pressure even when compared to light consumption and with account for a range of confounding factors.

Keywords

Cardio-metabolic risk factors metabolic syndrome alcohol consumption epidemiology lifestyle cardiovascular diseases

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bergmann

Rehm

Klipstein-Grobusch

et al.

The association of pattern of lifetime alcohol use and cause of death in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Int J Epidemiol 2013; 42: 1772–1790.

Stockwell

Zhao

Panwar

et al.

Do ‘moderate’ drinkers have reduced mortality risk? a systematic review and meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2016; 77: 185–198.

Takeuchi

Nakao

Nomura

et al.

Association of metabolic syndrome with smoking and alcohol intake in Japanese men. Nicotine Tob Res 2009; 11: 1093–1098.

Wakabayashi

. Cross-sectional relationship between alcohol consumption and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Japanese men and women. J Atheroscler Thromb 2010; 17: 695–704.

Hamaguchi

Kojima

Ohbora

et al.

Protective effect of alcohol consumption for fatty liver but not metabolic syndrome. World J Gastroenterol 2012; 18: 156–167.

Leasure

Neighbors

Henderson

et al.

Exercise and alcohol consumption: What we know, what we need to know, and why it is important. Front Psychiatry 2015; 6: 156–156.

Shuval

Finley

Chartier

et al.

Cardiorespiratory fitness, alcohol intake, and metabolic syndrome incidence in men. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2012; 44: 2125–2131.

Jones-Webb

Jacobs

Jr Flack

et al.

Relationships between depressive symptoms, anxiety, alcohol consumption, and blood pressure: Results from the CARDIA Study. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1996; 20: 420–427.

Jefferson

Claydon

Webber

. The 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: Key trends and emerging issues. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014; 33: 33–34.

10.

Berenson

Frank

Machunter

et al.

Cardiovascular risk-factors in children – should they concern the pediatrician. Am J Dis Child 1982; 136: 855–862.

11.

Gillman

Cook

Evans

et al.

Relationship of alcohol intake with blood pressure in young adults. Hypertension 1995; 25: 1106–1110.

12.

Flanagan

Moore

Godsland

et al.

Alcohol consumption and insulin resistance in young adults. Eur J Clin Invest 2000; 30: 297–301.

13.

Kim

Chu

Kim

et al.

Alcohol use behaviors and risk of metabolic syndrome in South Korean middle-aged men. BMC Public Health 2011; 11: 489–489.

14.

Djousse

Arnett

Eckfeldt

et al.

Alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome: Does the type of beverage matter?

Obes Res 2004; 12: 1375–1385.

15.

Freiberg

Cabral

Heeren

et al.

Alcohol consumption and the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the US – A cross-sectional analysis of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Diabetes Care 2004; 27: 2954–2959.

16.

Nakashita

Nakamura

Kitamura

et al.

Relationships of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption to metabolic syndrome in Japanese men. J Epidemiol 2010; 20: 391–397.

17.

Magnussen

Raitakari

Thomson

et al.

Utility of currently recommended pediatric dyslipidemia classifications in predicting dyslipidemia in adulthood: Evidence from the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH) study, Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, and Bogalusa Heart Study. Circulation 2008; 117: 32–42.

18.

Australian Government, National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian alcohol guidelines: health risks and benefits. Canberra ACT: Commonwealth of Australia, 2001.

19.

Australian Government, National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. Canberra ACT: Commonwealth of Australia, 2009.

20.

Haro

Arbabzadeh-Bouchez

Brugha

et al.

Concordance of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Version 3.0 (CIDI 3.0) with standardized clinical assessments in the WHO World Mental Health surveys. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 2006; 15: 167–180.

21.

Alberti

KGMM

Zimmet

Shaw

. The metabolic syndrome – a new worldwide definition. Lancet 2005; 366: 1059–1062.

22.

Wijndaele

Beunen

Duvigneaud

et al.

A continuous metabolic syndrome risk score: Utility for epidemiological analyses. Diabetes Care 2006; 29: 2329–2329.

23.

Craig

Marshall

Sjostrom

et al.

International physical activity questionnaire: 12-Country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003; 35: 1381–1395.

24.

Withers

Davies

Crouch

. A comparison of three W170 protocols. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 1977; 37: 123–128.

25.

Greenland

. Modeling and variable selection in epidemiologic analysis. Am J Public Health 1989; 79: 340–349.

26.

Ferreira

Twisk

van Mechelen

et al.

Development of fatness, fitness, and lifestyle from adolescence to the age of 36 years: Determinants of the metabolic syndrome in young adults: The Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study. Arch Intern Med 2005; 165: 42–48.

27.

Alkerwi

Boutsen

Vaillant

et al.

Alcohol consumption and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome: A meta-analysis of observational studies. Atherosclerosis 2009; 204: 624–635.

28.

Santos

Ebrahim

Barros

. Alcohol intake, smoking, sleeping hours, physical activity and the metabolic syndrome. Prev Med 2007; 44: 328–334.

29.

Rimm

Williams

Fosher

et al.

Moderate alcohol intake and lower risk of coronary heart disease: Meta-analysis of effects on lipids and haemostatic factors. BMJ 1999; 319: 1523–1528.

30.

Gaziano

Buring

Breslow

et al.

Moderate alcohol intake, increased levels of high-density lipoprotein and its subfractions, and decreased risk of myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 1993; 329: 1829–1834.

31.

McCann

Sempos

Freudenheim

et al.

Alcoholic beverage preference and characteristics of drinkers and nondrinkers in western New York (United States). Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2003; 13: 2–11.

32.

De Oliveira

ESER

Foster

McGee Harper

et al.

Alcohol consumption raises HDL cholesterol levels by increasing the transport rate of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II. Circulation 2000; 102: 2347–2352.

33.

Xin

Frontini

et al.

Effects of alcohol reduction on blood pressure: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Hypertension 2001; 38: 1112–1117.

34.

McFadden

Brensinger

Berlin

et al.

Systematic review of the effect of daily alcohol intake on blood pressure. Am J Hypertens 2005; 18: 276–286.

35.

Kawano

. Physio-pathological effects of alcohol on the cardiovascular system: Its role in hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Hypertens Res 2010; 33: 181–191.

36.

Husain

Ansari

Ferder

. Alcohol-induced hypertension: Mechanism and prevention. World J Cardiol 2014; 6: 245–252.

37.

Corder

Mullen

Khan

et al.

Oenology: Red wine procyanidins and vascular health. Nature 2006; 444: 566–566.

38.

St Leger

Cochrane

Moore

. Factors associated with cardiac mortality in developed countries with particular reference to the consumption of wine. Lancet 1979; 1: 1017–1020.

39.

Dyer

Cutter

Liu

et al.

Alcohol intake and blood pressure in young adults: The CARDIA study. J Clin Epidemiol 1990; 43: 1–13.

40.

Fan

Russell

Naimi

et al.

Patterns of alcohol consumption and the metabolic syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008; 93: 3833–3838.

41.

Zatu

Van Rooyen

Kruger

et al.

Alcohol intake, hypertension development and mortality in black South Africans. Eur J Prev Cardiol 2016; 23: 308–315.

42.

Slagter

van Vliet-Ostaptchouk

Vonk

et al.

Combined effects of smoking and alcohol on metabolic syndrome: The LifeLines Cohort Study. PloS One 2014; 9: 1–9–1–9.

43.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. National health survey: summary of results, Australia, 2004–05. Canberra: ABS, http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/Subscriber.Nsf/0/3b1917236618a042ca25711f00185526/$File/43640_2004-05.Pdf (2006, accessed 1 July 2017).

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.86 MB

Associations between alcohol consumption and cardio-metabolic risk factors in young adults

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material