Moderate drinkers gain less weight than those who avoid it
Women who drink moderately gain less weight than those who avoided alcohol, according to a new report published by U.S. researchers in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study followed 19,000 women over 13 years—the women were aged 39 or over and of normal weight when they joined. Over the next 13 years, they gained weight progressively, with those who drank no alcohol gaining the most weight, even after accounting for lifestyle, diet, and other factors like smoking and exercise, the BBC reports. Moderate drinkers, classified as about two 150-ml of glasses of wine a day, gained less, suggesting they may have substituted alcohol (which contains calories) for other food. Women who drank red wine gained the least, although it held true for other wines, beers and spirits.