title: Low prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in wine drinkers--is it the alcohol beverage or the lifestyle?
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.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional population based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Stockholm County, Sweden.
  
  
  METHODS
  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).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. magdalena.rosell@imm.ki.se
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosell
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: De Faire
authors.forename: M-L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hellénius
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000378:metabolism; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology