If you're a wine drinker, take heart. If you're a beer drinker, take heed. When it comes to eating habits, wine drinkers can give themselves a pat on the back. Beer drinkers, however, should pay more attention to what goes into their shopping carts, according to a new report.
Results of a Danish study published online this week in the British Medical Journal analyzed 3.5 million random supermarket transactions between September 2002 and February 2003. Conclusion: The food you buy is related to the alcohol you drink.
As customers passed through the checkouts at 16 outlets of Bilka and 82 outlets of Føtek, two large Danish supermarket chains, their bills -- detailing price, type and total number of items purchased -- categorized customers into four types: "wine only," "beer only," "mixed" or "non-alcohol" buyers. (Because spirits were sold in separate sections of the supermarkets, they did not appear on the general receipts and were therefore not included in the study.)
A scrutiny of remaining purchases revealed that wine buyers bought greater amounts of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry, low-fat cheese, milk, olives and cooking oil. Beer buyers went for more ready-cooked meals, lamb, pork, sausages, cold cuts, chips, butter, margarine and soft drinks.
The researchers concluded that people purchasing wine buy more healthy food items than those favoring beer. This supports findings from the United States, France and Denmark that wine drinkers eat more fish, fruit and vegetables than people who prefer other alcoholic drinks.
Wine drinkers also use cooking oil more often and saturated fat less often. They were also more likely to buy Mediterranean food items, while beer drinkers were buyers of more "traditional" foods.
While both chains are found across Denmark and serve a broad cross-section of Danish society, the study acknowledged that the supermarkets' customer profiles tended more towards middle-income families.
Researchers agreed that any investigation into the relationship between alcohol intake and mortality should consider income and education levels. Beer drinkers, they found, bought fewer items and spent less than wine drinkers. Also important to take into account were other lifestyle factors such as drinking patterns, smoking and physical activity.
The health benefits of drinking wine may be due to specific substances in wine or to different characteristics of people who drink other types of alcohol, the study said.
Wine is also an effective tenderizer of meat. A cheaper cut of lamb or beef can be elevated in texture and flavor by a wine, herb and oil marinade. As the Flemish will tell you, beer too has that same beneficial effect in meat cookery. Here is a recipe for the Flemish national dish, Carbonnade Flamande. Whether you use wine or beer in a marinade, the cooking process will eliminate any alcohol content.
Serves 4
-- 1 ¾ pounds stewing steak, cut into large cubes
-- 2 large onions, finely sliced
-- ½ pint ale or Guinness
-- vegetable oil
-- 1 bay leaf
-- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
-- salt and freshly ground black pepper
-- 1 slice of toasted baguette per person
-- clove of unpeeled garlic
-- Dijon mustard
-- Pre-heat oven to 300 F.
-- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole dish and brown the meat all over till crusty.
-- Drain with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.
-- Add the onions and stir fry till softened and lightly browned.
-- Drain with a slotted spoon and add to the meat.
-- Over low heat, pour the ale into the pan and scrape up the sticky bits on the bottom. It will froth, so take care.
-- Return the meat and onions to the casserole and add the herbs and seasonings.
-- Stew in the oven, 2.5 to 3 hours.
-- Just before serving, toast the baguette slices.
-- Cut the garlic clove in two and rub briskly across one surface of each toast, then spread thinly with mustard.
-- Add toast to the side of each serving and eat with a garlicky green salad and boiled unpeeled potatoes.
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