Sweet intake, sweet-liking, urges to eat, and weight change: relationship to alcohol dependence and abstinence.
BACKGROUND
Linkages between alcohol dependence (AD) and abstinence and aspects of food ingestion and preference have been described in animals and humans, including (1) eating sweets decreases urges to drink alcohol; (2) preferences for highly sweet tastants is associated with alcohol dependence; and (3) food deprivation leads to increased alcohol intake.


METHODS
We randomly assigned AD subjects in early abstinence to 3 different sets of dietary instructions (eat sweets for alcohol urges; eat a balanced diet; avoid sweets). We compared the groups on urges for alcohol, alcohol consumption, weight, and sweet preference at baseline, one, and six months. We also compared these AD subjects with light-drinking C's and compared AD subjects who remained abstinent for 6 month follow-up with nonabstinent AD subjects.


RESULTS
Recruited AS subjects, 38 of 68, completed 6 month follow-up; 27 of 36 C's completed the follow-up. 21 AD's were abstinent while 17 were non-abstinent. There was no effect of dietary recommendations on urges to drink or alcohol consumption. AD's were more likely than C's to prefer highly sweet tastants. The proportion of AD's preferring the sweetest tastant decreased over time. AD's gained more weight than C's over the 6-month follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
While the use of sweets did not affect urges to drink or drinking, important relationships between sweet preference, weight gain, and alcohol dependence or abstinence were identified.
Wm. S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Psychiatry Service, 2500 Overlook Terrace, and University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, United States. dean.krahn@med.va.gov
Dean
D
Krahn
Jennifer
J
Grossman
Henry
H
Henk
Mary
M
Mussey
Ross
R
Crosby
Blake
B
Gosnell
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001066:Appetite; D002182:Candy; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology*; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013649:Taste; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*
D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D013395:Sucrose