Background: Variation in diet associated with drinking patterns may explain why wine seems to reduce ischemic heart disease mortality.
Objective: Our objective was to study the association between intake of different alcoholic beverages and selected indicators of a healthy diet.
Design: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark, from 1995 to 1997, and included 23 284 men and 25 479 women aged 50-64 y. The main outcome measures were groups of selected foods that were indicators of a healthy dietary pattern.
Results: Wine, as compared with other alcoholic drinks, was associated with a higher intake of fruit, fish, cooked vegetables, salad, and the use of olive oil for cooking in both men and women. Men who preferred beer and spirits had odds ratios of 0.42 (95% CI: 0.39, 0.45) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.43, 0.60), respectively, for a high intake of salad compared with those who preferred wine. Higher wine intake was associated with a higher intake of healthy food items compared with intake of < or = 2.5 glasses of wine/mo; odds ratios for drinkers of between 30 and 135 glasses of wine/mo for all the chosen indicators of healthy diet varied between 1.23 and 4.20, and were all strongly significant.
Conclusion: Wine drinking is associated with an intake of a healthy diet. This finding may have implications for the interpretation of previous reports of the relation between type of alcoholic beverage and mortality.