title: Timing and Type of Alcohol Consumption and the Metabolic Syndrome - ELSA-Brasil.
abstract: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is rising worldwide. Its association with alcohol intake, a major lifestyle factor, is unclear, particularly with respect to the influence of drinking with as opposed to outside of meals. We investigated the associations of different aspects of alcohol consumption with the metabolic syndrome and its components. In cross-sectional analyses of 14,375 active or retired civil servants (aged 35-74 years) participating in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), we fitted logistic regression models to investigate interactions between the quantity of alcohol, the timing of its consumption with respect to meals, and the predominant beverage type in the association of alcohol consumption with the metabolic syndrome. In analyses adjusted for age, sex, educational level, income, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, and physical activity, light consumption of alcoholic beverages with meals was inversely associated with the metabolic syndrome (≤4 drinks/week: OR = 0.85, 95%CI 0.74-0.97; 4 to 7 drinks/week: OR = 0.75, 95%CI 0.61-0.92), compared to abstention/occasional drinking. On the other hand, greater consumption of alcohol consumed outside of meals was significantly associated with the metabolic syndrome (7 to 14 drinks/week: OR = 1.32, 95%CI 1.11-1.57; ≥14 drinks/week: OR = 1.60, 95%CI 1.29-1.98). Drinking predominantly wine, which occurred mostly with meals, was significantly related to a lower syndrome prevalence; drinking predominantly beer, most notably when outside of meals and in larger quantity, was frequently associated with a greater prevalence. In conclusion, the alcohol-metabolic syndrome association differs markedly depending on the relationship of intake to meals. Beverage preference-wine or beer-appears to underlie at least part of this difference. Notably, most alcohol was consumed in metabolically unfavorable type and timing. If further investigations extend these findings to clinically relevant endpoints, public policies should recommend that alcohol, when taken, should be preferably consumed with meals.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Studies Program in Epidemiology and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna Angelo
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Graduate Studies Program in Epidemiology and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.|Food and Nutrition Research Center, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA-UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vivian Cristine
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Luft
authors.affiliation: Graduate Studies Program in Epidemiology and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Inês
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lloyd Ellwood
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Chambless
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chor
authors.affiliation: Graduate Studies Program of Public Health, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sandhi Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.affiliation: Graduate Studies Program in Epidemiology and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruce Bartholow
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged