The effects of salty and nonsalty food on peak breath alcohol concentration and divided attention task performance in women

Abstract

There is recent evidence that gender‐based patterns of alcohol consumption are becoming less dissimilar and that, per capita, women are consuming more alcohol than ever before. Therefore, a better understanding of the acute effects of moderate alcohol consumption in women is essential to establishing reliable health and safety educational information. To address one component of health and safety information, we sought to determine if peak breath alcohol concentrations (BAC) could be manipulated by varying the amount of sodium our women participants ingested in a test meal. We also measured the association between BAC and the participant's performance on a divided attention (DA) task. The 12 participants were trained to use a computer‐generated DA task and subsequently participated in all of four experimental conditions. During each experimental session the participant consumed a placebo drink or a drink containing 0.6 g/kg ethanol and a 220‐kcal portion of salted or unsalted pretzels. She then performed four 15‐min trials of the DA task, after which the BAC Was measured and recorded. Reaction times and mean tracking error were recorded for each DA trial. Experimental sessions took place at the same time on days 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the participant's menstrual cycle. The BAC was significantly higher in the ethanol plus sodium condition than in the ethanol with no sodium condition. Reaction times and tracking tasks were impaired in all ethanol conditions. Scores on the DA tasks obtained from the high‐sodium group did not differ significantly from those of the low‐sodium group. When health care personnel provide drug education for women clients, the possible BAC‐elevating effects of consuming high‐sodium foods while drinking alcoholic beverages should be discussed.