MONDAY, March 8, 2010 (Health.com) — Some women avoid drinking calorie-filled cocktails, wine, and beer because they’re worried about packing on the pounds. Now, a new study suggests that women who are moderate drinkers actually tend to gain less weight over time than teetotalers.
The risk of becoming overweight or obese falls as alcohol consumption rises, even when factors such as smoking, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity are taken into account, the study found.
Women who consumed between 1.5 and 3 drinks daily had a 27% and 61% lower risk of becoming overweight or obese, respectively, than women who didn’t drink at all, according to the study, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
However, the researchers did not look at how the participants’ drinking may have affected their lives besides weight gain. Alcohol use can lead to health problems and “psychosocial problems,” they point out, and they caution that appropriate alcohol intake differs for each individual and depends on a range of factors.
In addition to potentially causing problems at work and with relationships, daily alcohol consumption has a number of health risks, including a small increase in the risk of breast cancer. Experts recommend that women drink no more than one alcoholic beverage a day, and that men limit themselves to two.
And if you don’t drink, experts say, these findings shouldn’t inspire you to start hitting the bottle. “It won’t change recommendations for my patients, I can say that for certain,” says Scott Kahan, MD, the co-director of the George Washington University Weight Management Program, in Washington, D.C. “If you don’t drink, there’s no reason to start.”
But, he adds, “I think [the study] suggests that there’s no need to quit or avoid alcohol if it’s something you enjoy.”
In the study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, surveyed 19,220 healthy, normal-weight women about their diet and drinking habits. Nearly 40% of the women didn’t drink at all, and a very small number—just 3%—consumed more than about 2.5 drinks a day. Over the 13-year study period, 4 out of 10 women became overweight or obese.
The women who drank cut down on their calorie intake from food, especially carbohydrates, the study showed. However, total calorie intake did inch up as alcohol consumption increased; women who drank at least 2.5 drinks a day averaged about 1,800 calories a day, compared to 1,670 for teetotalers.
