Does Drinking Interfere with Digestion?

This season, many of us will enjoy a glass or two of alcohol (or more) with over-rich meals.  And afterwards, we’ll fret that the alcohol will encourage heartburn, belching, or bloating.  It looks as if we don’t need to worry, though, according to a study conducted in Switzerland and reported in the British Medical Journal.

Twenty lucky volunteers were invited to enjoy a cheese fondue with 300 mL of white wine, followed by a small glass of kirsch (cherry schnapps).  The fondue was more than 3,200 calories and 32% fat, the wine was 14% alcohol and equal to at least 2 glasses, and the 20 mL (2/3 ounce) kirsch was 40%.  The volunteers were wined and dined on two occasions, at least a week apart.  Half the group drank wine and schnapps, while the other half drank black tea or water; the next week they had fondue but with the opposite liquids – a crossover study design.  (I forgot to mention that the fondue was labeled with sodium ¹³C-octanoate to allow measurement of transit times through the intestines – the ¹³C was measured in the breath over 4 hours.)

The results showed that stomach emptying was significantly faster when fondue was consumed with tea or water, rather than with alcohol.  However, alcohol did not increase indigestion problems (heartburn, belching, or bloating), compared with water or black tea.

Based on this study, you may be reassured that you can have cheese fondue with wine and/or kirsch without risk of postprandial digestive discomfort.  But I can’t guarantee that beer, wine, or vodka drunk along with turkey and plum pudding will present the same lack of gastrointestinal problems . . .