Alcoholic beverage as food in protein shortage region.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K20112
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59040:Nutrition science and health science-related
• Research Institution: Niigata University (2022); Hiroshima Jogakuin University (2020-2021); Nagoya University (2019)
• Principal Investigator: SUNANO YUI 新潟大学, 人文社会科学系, 助教 (20748131)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 酒 / 栄養 / 健康 / 食文化 / 環境 / 発酵 / 食嗜好 / 環境

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It is clear that brewage is considered a source of nutrition in areas where food is scarce or where there are many physical labor positions. Brewage is also consumed for nourishment during the busy farming season, and during the off-season when food is scarce. Ethiopian people who consume brewage as a meal have a high alcohol tolerance, and their preference for alcohol and safe drinking practices is shaped by their nutritional education. In contrast, people in Nepal consume brewage as a meal to satisfy their hunger and drink distilled spirits for the intoxicating effects of alcohol as a luxury drink. In the mountainous areas of Japan, the custom of acquiring nutrition from doburoku (unfiltered brewage) has disappeared as stable, year-round nutrition has become available, leaving only sake as a luxury drink.

Free Research Field

地域研究、生態人類学、比較人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

同じ穀物でも、酒にすることでアミノ酸スコアは高まる。穀物を酒に醸造して消費することで、本来はタンパク質が不足する地域でも人々の栄養状態を改善できる可能性がある。また、酒に含まれるアルコールを危険視する風潮が高まりつつあるが、酒を食事とする人々は飲酒によって健康を増進している。酒を栄養源とする人々について多面的な視点から明らかにした本研究の結果は、栄養不良の改善やアルコール問題の解決に関する新しい知見を示している。