Moderate-to-heavy habitual alcohol use appears to be detrimentally associated with inflammation even when accounting for diet quality in humans: findings from an observational intensive longitudinal study.

AIMS: This study investigated the associations between diet quality and daily alcohol use across 21 days with inflammation in adults with overweight/obesity.

METHODS

This secondary analysis, from an observational intensive longitudinal study, investigated associations between alcohol use and inflammation. Adults 21-44 years old with a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2 (n = 91) participated in a 21-day study with daily measures of past-day alcohol use and baseline and follow-up measures of dietary intake (automated self-administered 24-hour recall, ASA-24). Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 scores assessed diet quality. Follow-up blood draws assessed C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). Models investigated associations between diet quality (HEI total score or whole grains and saturated fat) and alcohol use [average and variability in drinks per day or drinker type (nondrinker, light, moderate, or heavy drinker)] with inflammation, accounting for percentage body fat, smoking, and sex. Moderation by sex was also tested.

RESULTS

Average drinks per day and variability in drinks per day were not associated with inflammation. Moderate- and heavy-drinking females had 1.27 and 1.38 mg/l higher CRP than light-drinking females, with no differences in males. Heavy-drinking adults had 2.54 pg/ml higher TNF-α than light drinkers. Sex moderated the association between drinker type and IL-6 (b = 1.26, P = .035); however, there were no significant pairwise differences. Drinker type was not associated with IL-1β.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that moderate-to-heavy alcohol use may be detrimentally associated with inflammation regardless of diet quality, suggesting that a high-quality diet may be insufficient to protect against the harmful effects of alcohol use on inflammation.