The Japanese belief that a "liver holiday" can help protect the health of heavy drinkers seems to be accurate, according to a study that compared everyday drinkers to those who take a few days off between bouts of heavy consumption.

Reuters reported April 17 that a study of 89,000 men and women found that men who drank heavily on a daily basis had a higher mortality rate than those who drank about the same amount of alcohol on a weekly basis, but concentrated their drinking into bouts separated by days of abstinence. Daily drinkers who consumed 300 grams of alcohol or more weekly were up to 55 percent more likely to have died during the 13-year study period than heavy drinkers who consumed alcohol just a few days per month.

Researcher Tomimo Marugame of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo warned, however, that, "This does not mean you can drink a lot as long as you have a 'liver holiday.'" Marugame said that the study showed that study participants who were the heaviest drinkers -- consuming the equivalent of 50 glasses of wine weekly -- saw no benefits from taking a break between bouts of drinking.

Researchers speculated that daily drinkers may be continually exposed to the carcinogen acetaldehyde, an alcohol byproduct, thus raising their cancer risk.

The study appears in the May 1, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.