According to research, excessive alcohol consumption could increase muscle loss and the risk of frailty later in life. The study shows with statistical modeling that individuals with the lowest muscle volume consumed 10 daily units of alcohol or more, or about 1 bottle of wine.
Researchers scaled down on body size since larger individuals have more muscle mass. Other factors including physical activity and protein consumption were also taken into consideration.
The findings, mostly in individuals in their 50s and 60s, indicate yet another reason to cut back on alcohol consumption. Losing muscle as you age translates into problems with weakness and frailty later in life.
Alcohol use is a significant modifiable risk factor for a large number of conditions, so researchers wanted to determine more about the association between alcohol consumption and muscle health as we get older.
The researchers analyzed data from the UK Biobank, a database of health and lifestyle information on 500,000 individuals. The data was examined from nearly 200,000 individuals aged 37 to 73 years.
They looked at the amount of alcohol the participants consumed and compared it to the muscle mass they had, based on the participants’ body size.
Other things like the amount of protein consumed, physical activity levels, and other factors that could make a difference in how much muscle they may have were also taken into consideration.
Most of the people were between 50 and 60 years old. It was revealed that people who consumed a lot of alcohol had a reduced amount of skeletal muscle compared to people who consumed the least, after accounting for body size and other factors.
It became a problem when people consumed 10 or more units a day, which equals about 1 bottle of wine or 4 or 5 pints.
Muscle mass and alcohol consumption were measured cross-sectionally in individuals at the same time, so a causal relationship cannot be established. This study indicates that alcohol may have a negative impact on muscle mass at higher levels of consumption.
Loss of muscle mass with aging leads to problems with weakness and frailty, so this points to yet another reason to avoid consuming large amounts of alcohol on a regular basis in midlife.
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