The effects of alcohol consumption on health are suggested to depend on the amount of alcohol consumed. We investigated the objective and subjective health effects of the daily consumption of a small amount of alcohol in healthy individuals using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Accordingly, 15 male and 27 female Japanese adults with average or lower general well-being schedule (GWBS) scores were asked to consume a beverage with 0.5% (v/v) alcohol (~4 g of alcohol a day; test beverage) and a placebo beverage two times daily for 4 weeks each. Regular low-level alcohol consumption significantly decreased the serum liver function indexes (aspartic aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase) before and after consumption (p = 0.034, 0.033, and 0.013, respectively). The small amount of alcohol did not affect the participants' GWBS scores; however, a stratified analysis with poor subjective well-being revealed that these changes differed significantly between low-level alcohol consumption and placebo-treated subjects (16.0 vs. 11.5, p = 0.041). In addition, changes in serum testosterone levels demonstrated a higher trend in the group that received the test beverage compared with the group that received the placebo beverage (p = 0.051). Daily low-level alcohol consumption may have positive effects on liver function and subjective well-being.
Keywords: biochemical indexes; general well-being schedule; liver function; low-level alcohol.