Moderate-Drinking Women Gain Less Weight

RoseTracker| A large sample of women, almost 20,000 females originally 39 and older and of normal weight, suggests strongly that women who drink moderately tend to gain less weight in midlife. Previous research has suggested that moderate drinking has no effect on women’s weight.

Conclusions from Bringham and Women’s Hospital, Boston-based Women’s Health Study will be published in the Archives of Internal Medicine tomorrow. Researchers found that compared with women who abstained from alcohol entirely, women who drank 15 to 30 grams a day — the equivalent of a drink or two — were 30% less likely to be overweight or obese at the end of the study period.

Researchers aren’t clear what’s behind the results. Perhaps women who drink maintain an overall healthier lifestyle, exercising more and eating better. Alcohol does have a double-sword effect. Alcohol is known to increase rates of breast cancer, while having a positive effect on cardiovascular health. Women develop alcohol-related liver and brain disease faster than men.