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. 2025 Mar 3;17(5):894.
doi: 10.3390/nu17050894.

Impact of Alcohol Intake on Skeletal Muscle: A Large Cross-Sectional Analysis in Japanese Adults

Masahiro Matsui  1 , Akira Fukuda  2 , Saori Onishi  1 , Kosuke Ushiro  1 , Tomohiro Nishikawa  1 , Akira Asai  1 , Soo Ki Kim  3 , Hiroki Nishikawa  1
Affiliations

Impact of Alcohol Intake on Skeletal Muscle: A Large Cross-Sectional Analysis in Japanese Adults

Masahiro Matsui et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Aims: To clarify the impact of alcohol intake on skeletal muscle mass (SMM) using data from Japanese health checkup recipients (8405 males and 11,509 females). The fat-free (FF) index was regarded as the FF mass divided by height squared (kg/m2).

Methods: The subjects were classified into four groups (type A (never drinker), B (chance or mild drinker), C (moderate drinker), and D (severe drinker)) according to the amount of alcohol consumed.

Results: The average age in males and females was 52.2 and 50.1 years, respectively (p < 0.0001). The average FF index in males and females was 18.5 and 15.1 kg/m2, respectively (p < 0.0001). The proportion of subjects of type A, B, C, and D was 36.5%, 44.2%, 5.9%, and 13.4%, respectively, in males, and 59.8%, 31.3%, 3.7%, and 5.1%, respectively, in females (p < 0.0001). The average FF index in type A, B, C, and D males was 18.43, 18.62, 18.12, and 18.16 kg/m2, respectively (overall p < 0.0001). The average FF index in type A, B, C, and D females was 15.17, 15.14, 15.15, and 14.78 kg/m2, respectively (overall p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Habitual heavy drinking has a negative effect on SMM. However, from the standpoint of maintaining SMM, it is not necessary to completely abstain from alcohol.

Keywords: alcohol; fat mass; heavy drinking; large clinical study; skeletal muscle.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
FF index (A) and the proportion of decreased skeletal muscle mass (SMM) (B) among four types in males (n = 8405). Type A was defined as non-drinkers, type B as those who drank less than 30 g per day in terms of ethanol, type C as those who drank between 30 and 60 g per day in terms of ethanol, and type D as those who drank more than 60 g per day in terms of ethanol.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FF index (A) and the proportion of decreased skeletal muscle mass (SMM) (B) among four types of females (n = 11,509). Type A was defined as non-drinkers, type B as those who drank less than 20 g per day in terms of ethanol, type C as those who drank between 20 and 50 g per day in terms of ethanol, and type D as those who drank more than 50 g per day in terms of ethanol.
Figure 3
Figure 3
FF index among four types of males aged ≥60 years (n = 2464, (A)) and <60 years (n = 5941, (B)).
Figure 4
Figure 4
FF index among four types of females aged ≥60 years (n = 2442, (A)) and <60 years (n = 9067, (B)).
Figure 5
Figure 5
FF index among four types of males with BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2 (n = 4704, (A)) and BMI < 23 kg/m2 (n = 3701, (B)).
Figure 6
Figure 6
FF index among four types of females with BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2 (n = 3355, (A)) and BMI < 23 kg/m2 (n = 5941, (B)).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts