New study has beer drinkers diet than wine drinkers

Beer drinkers will not be in a good mood when they read this news.

Biggest lovers tend to have worse diets, exercise less and smoke more cigarettes than people who drink wine, spirits or a combination, a new study finds.

Researchers compared the diets of more than 1,900 US drinkers – 38.9% drank only beer, 21.8% only wine, 18.2% only spirits and 21% a combination of alcohol types.

Neither group came close to achieving the 80-point score considered an adequate diet on the 100-point Healthy Eating Index, a US measure of diet quality.

Wine drinkers scored 55 points, spirits and combined drinkers scored nearly 53 points, and beer drinkers scored the lowest (49).

Beer-only drinkers were more likely to be male, younger, smokers and low-income, the researchers found, and they reported higher daily calorie intake and lower levels of physical activity.

The main author of the study Dr. Madeline Novack, chief resident in Tulane School of Medicine’s internal medicine program, reasoned that beer may be a popular choice in countries where diets are low in fiber and high in carbohydrates and processed meats.

Wine — especially red wine — is often paired with more balanced meals that include meat, vegetables and dairy, Novack added.

She also suggested that the opposite is true, that dietary choices influence alcohol preferences. For example, fried or salty foods can inspire beer consumption.

Regardless of why someone is drinking, Novack noted that alcohol abuse is the leading cause of cirrhosis in the US, and metabolic dysfunction-related steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rapidly becoming more common.

“Both types of liver disease often coexist, and lifestyle changes are essential for managing and preventing these conditions, starting with understanding the link between alcohol use and poor nutrition,” said Novack.

She encourages patients to share their drinking habits, including the type of alcoholic beverages, with their doctor.

Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietitian at Northwell Health’s Huntington Hospital, also suggests that doctors and registered dietitians discuss alcohol intake with patients.

“While alcohol was once thought of as healthy, it’s gradually becoming less so — even red wine doesn’t have the health aura it used to,” said Schiff, who was not involved in the new study. “The public would do themselves some good by drinking as little alcohol as possible and eating a healthy diet of mostly whole foods and lots of plants.”

Novack is presenting her findings Sunday at a conference hosted by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

There were some limitations to her study, including that participants reported their own eating and drinking habits — and they may not have been accurate.

The results – which will also be published in the journal Nutrients – support a 2006 Danish study which suggested that wine drinkers eat healthier than ale fans.

Wine enthusiasts buy more olives, fruit, vegetables, poultry, cooking oil, low-fat cheese, milk and meat, the research found, while beer drinkers prefer ready meals, sugar, cold cuts, chips, pork, butter or margarine, sausages, lamb and soft drinks.