Project Title
Alcohol consumption at older age
Diuretic action of weak and strong alcoholic beverages in
elderly men
Start
Preferably September 2014
Duration
6 months
Location
Division of Human Nutrition
Number of students
2
Requirements
Only Dutch speaking students
Supervision
Michael Tieland
Description
Background: Alcohol consumption is known to increase urine output, which could
interfere with normal hydration. The underlying mechanism of this effect is possibly
due to the inhibition of the release of antidiuretic hormone, vasopressin. So far, no
consistent theory exists on the extent of diuresis by alcohol consumption. For health
communication purposes, specifically towards elderly who have an increased risk of
dehydration, it is important to know the exact extent of diuretic effect of different
alcoholic beverages.
Goal: To the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined the diuretic effect of
commercial available weak and strong alcoholic beverages in normal life settings.
The objective of this investigation is therefore to assess the diuretic effect of three
standard glasses of beer, red wine and spirits in euhydrated elderly men. Similar
amounts of non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic red wine and water will be used as
control beverages. The beverages will be supplied with dinner, as this represents a
habitual pattern of alcohol intake in the Netherlands. Since the study has a balanced
cross-over design and is diet- and fluid-controlled, the observed effects cannot be
attributed to confounding such as carry-over, variation between individuals and diet
and fluids intake.
Study design: Twenty male volunteers, aged between 60-75 yrs, with normal physical
activity pattern. Cross-over diet-controlled intervention study, six conditions: beer
(lager, 5% alcohol), non-alcoholic beer, red wine (12.5% alcohol), non-alcoholic red
wine, spirits (jonge jenever, 35% alcohol) and water in random order. At least 7 days
will be considered between test days.
Activities: Own human intervention study; recruitment; contact with participants;
planning; data collection; data entry; data analyses; writing thesis
For this assignment, we need 2 enthusiastic Dutch speaking students who are selfstarters and proactive. The study is funded by The European Hydration Institute and
The Dutch Beer Institute and will be performed in Wageningen. For more information
please contact Aafje Sierksma ([email protected]) or Michael Tieland
([email protected]).