Malt Liquor Beverages Processed Differently Than Other Drinks

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Source: Health Behavior News Service

Released: Thu 18-Sep-2008, 16:00 ET

Embargo expired: Tue 23-Sep-2008, 00:00 ET

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/544485/?sc=dwhn

Malt Liquor Beverages Processed Differently Than Other Drinks

Description

A small new study suggests that people process malt liquor beverages

differently than they do other alcoholic beverages.

Newswise — A small new study suggests that people process malt liquor

beverages differently than they do other alcoholic beverages. While the

liver breaks down all alcohol in the same way, the study examined

differences in how quickly the body absorbs alcohol.

The researchers found a significant difference in how quickly the study

participants’ bodies absorbed malt liquor beverages compared to

beverages made of combined ethanol and diet soda with the same alcohol

content. Participants absorbed the malt liquor beverage more slowly and

it took a longer time to reach a peak breath-alcohol level.

“One could argue that the delayed absorption could result in lower peak

levels — although we did not see that in our study — which might cause

people to drink more,” said lead author , M.D.

is director of the Collaborative Alcohol Research Center and

chairperson of the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology at

University. The study appears online and in the December issue of

the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

The study looked at specific types of an enzyme in 31 young, healthy

African-Americans adults whom the researchers considered “social

drinkers,” which they defined as consuming about 12 drinks a month. The

enzyme — called alcohol dehydrogenase — resides in the digestive tract

and helps break down alcohol so that the body can process and excrete it.

Still, is it a fair to compare malt liquor with a soda-ethanol mixture?

“I don’t think it's entirely fair to equate the two because soda has

much less of an addictive quality,” said H. Sims, M.D., director

of the Chicago Institute for Voice Care. “The issue of metabolism is

really complex and I don’t necessarily [agree] that they gave enough

information to ‘prove’ this. The evidence is suggestive and shows a

trend, but probably not statistically significant results.”

says that the diet soda-ethanol drink had about the same ethanol

concentration of the malt liquor and the same number of calories, so it

was only missing the non-fermented byproducts found in malt liquor that

likely produces the taste of the beverages.

Sims said that the researchers might have been trying to show that a

stronger “buzz” could make malt liquor more addictive, adding that since

the beverages are inexpensive, it is a “combination of a potent, readily

available, but potentially harmful beverage.”

In their study, the researchers addressed the added influence of

marketing on malt liquor’s appeal, but said there was “no direct

connection between our findings and targeted marketing of malt liquor,”

although he notes other studies suggest targeted marketing.

“The pairing of Dee and other African-American

celebrities to market these products strongly suggests that

African-Americans have been shown to be consumers of these products,”

said Sims, who was not involved with the study.

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research: Contact Newcomb at

mnewcomb-acer@... or visit

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0145-6008

R et al. Alterations in Ethyl Alcohol Pharmacokinetics During

Oral Consumption of Malt Liquor Beverages in African Americans.

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 32(12), 2008.

Interviews: at d_m_scott2@...

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ne Holden, MS, RD

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