Women who don’t drink alcoholic beverages may not like to hear the following piece of news. But, those who do drink, at least moderately, will be happy to hear that a drink a day (and even then some) will keep obesity at bay.
A study published in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine finds that normal-weight women who drink at least one alcoholic beverage a day (10 grams) gain less weight over time and have a lower risk of becoming overweight than teetotalers (non-drinkers).
The study, which followed 19,220 women in the US over the age of 39 for an average of 13 years, found that — big surprise! — women on average gained weight progressively over time (of course, any woman over 30 doesn’t need to be told that). All of the women had a body mass index (BMI) in the normal range at the outset of the study (18.5 to 25).
Curiously, at the end of the study, the teetotalers gained the most weight, with weight gain decreasing gradually as alcohol consumption increased. In other words, the more you drink, the less weight you’ll gain as you age. In all, a shocking 41.3 percent of the women were overweight at the end of the study (BMI of 25 or above), 3.8 of which were obese (BMI of 30 and above). The women who drank the most (one and a half to three drinks) were found to have a 30 percent lower risk of becoming overweight.
Researchers caution, of course, that this doesn’t mean women looking to lose weight should start upping their alcohol intake, but it does prove that drinking in and of itself won’t necessarily cause you to pack on the pounds.
“Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the role of alcohol intake and alcohol metabolism in energy balance and to identify behavioral, physiological and genetic factors that may modify the alcohol effects,” they conclude.
We have to wonder, how many of those women who drink more are actually eating less? After all, we’ve all had a liquid dinner from time to time.
Photo by russelljsmith via Flickr.