The healthy alcohol intake for the Japanese population is less than that for Caucasians

Many epidemiologic studies have shown that moderate alcohol intake, approximately 20 to 30 g/d, is associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease. Although alcohol intolerance is more frequently seen in Japanese, almost the same results were obtained in many studies. On the other hand, even moderate alcohol consumption increases the risks of other diseases, such as hypertension, liver cirrhosis, and chronic pancreatitis. Thus we assume that the moderate amount of alcohol intake should be examined by various indices other than the incidence of coronary heart disease. We assessed the physical characteristics, blood components, especially gamma-glutamyl transferase, a marker for excessive alcohol intake, and nutrient intake of 1802 men and 708 women in routine medical checkups. The participants were classified by alcohol intake, and linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between this intake and the variables of each sex. Although alcohol intake had a beneficial effect on lipoproteins in both sexes, significantly increased levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase and a higher incidence of those whose levels exceeded the reference range (7-60 U/L) were seen in the 10.1 to 20 g/d male group compared with the no-intake group (26 [19-41] vs 31 [22-50] U/L, median [interquartile range], 10.0% vs 17.7%; both P < .01). This result may indicate that moderate alcohol intake for the Japanese population is less than for Western people, which is 20 to 30 g/d.