These findings led us to hypothesize that carriers of the ALDH2 rs671 variant allele (ALDH2*2) who consume alcohol habitually, consume higher amounts of foods to compensate for the increased energy demands for aldehyde detoxification, which possibly explains both the unexpected tolerance to aldehydes and the low risk of drinking-related metabolic disorders, that is, the indicators of overdrinking, in this population. The gene discussed is ALDH2; the disease is metabolic disease.