Alcohol Intake and Serum Lipids in a Japanese Population

Background. Previous epidemiological and clinical studies have shown that alcohol, which increases high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, has an anti-atherogenic effect. But data on the effects of alcohol on low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are scarce. In this paper a cross-sectional study on the associations of alcohol in graded doses with serum lipids in a Japanese population is presented. Methods. The daily alcohol intake of 832 Japanese men aged 35-59 was determined and the subjects were divided into five categories according to their daily alcohol consumption