For Women Those Extra lbs Likely Aren’t Coming out of the Glass—Study Says

Contrary to popular belief that glass of Pinot—Grigio or Noir–hey, whatever you’re in the mood for—may not be denting any healthifying efforts. But, sorry boys—this only goes for the ladies. And ladies, this only goes in moderation … aka a drink per day.

An intriguing new study from the Archives of Internal Medicine found that regular consumption of light to moderate amounts of alcohol decreased a woman’s likelihood to pack on the pounds or become overweight  compared to non-alcohol drinkers over  a time span of 13 years. And YES, this was found true even after adjusting for potential confounders like baseline body mass index, smoking, other calorie sources, exercise, and lifestyle and dietary factors.

The 411

Parker-Pope from the New York Time’s Well blog fabulously summed up the results … Read on … they’re uber interesting …

“The findings … are based on a study of 19,220 United States women aged 39 or older who, at the start of the study, fell into the “normal weight” category based on their body mass index. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston tracked the women’s drinking habits over 13 years. About 60 percent of the women were light or regular drinkers, while about 40 percent reported drinking no alcohol.

Over the course of the study, 41 percent of the women became overweight or obese. Although alcohol is packed with calories (about 150 in a six-ounce glass of wine), the nondrinkers in the study actually gained more weight over time: nine pounds, on average, compared with an average gain of about three pounds among regular moderate drinkers. The risk of becoming overweight was almost 30 percent lower for women who consumed one or two alcohol beverages a day, compared with nondrinkers.”

Other Interesting Notes

Other studies have shown this same phenomenon and some have disagreed. Regardless, what has been pretty consistent in studies looking at alcohol intake and weight gain is its effect on men. Again, sorry boys, but data shows this one just isn’t in your favor. Simply because men tend to drink on top of their regular “fooding” schedule; whereas, women will compensate, giving up something else in exchange for the booze (i.e. man will have burger + shake + fries + beers; woman will have burger + salad + wine). What further tilts the favor in a  woman’s  glass is the effect alcohol may have on her metabolism.  In metabolic studies, alcohol has shown to increase a woman’s metabolism, but do little, if anything, to rev a man’s metabolic engine.

Bottom Line

Hitting up your neighborhood pub or becoming known as “Ms. Happy Hour” will not help your healthifying ways or your waistline. Especially, if that happy hour turns into a “Happy Day” and ONE drink suddenly turns into drinks + buffalo chicken wings + something fried … heck—you really can’t tell what it is (but that’s A-okay because you got it on the house for being such a loyal local pub supporter and “Papa Joe” just can’t get enough of your smiling face ) Only kidding!

Basically, don’t ransack your local liquor store to help lose weight because other studies have shown that alcohol makes it harder for overweight women to lose weight. Plus, alcohol may increase risk of breast cancer, cause trouble sleeping, and can negatively affect weight loss. So, if you ask me, and you don’t drink, there’s NO NEED to start. The study’s main finding is that if women are having weight problems and are only drinking in moderation, there must be something in their life to healthify to help nix the problemo in the bud. And, just so we’re on the same page here one drink is equal to:

• 12-ounces of beer
• 8-ounces of malt liquor
• 5-ounces of wine
• 1.5-ounces or a “shot” of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (e.g., gin, rum, vodka, or whiskey)

Happy Healthifying!

What are your thoughts on this provocative study?!?

“Alcohol Consumption, Weight Gain, and Risk of Becoming Overweight in Middle-aged and Older Women.”
Lu Wang; I-Min Lee; JoAnn E. Manson; Julie E. Buring; Howard D. Sesso.
Arch Intern Med., Vol. 170 No. 5, pp 453-461, March 8, 2010.