With another St. Patrick's Day upon us -- an excuse for more than a few of you to imbibe a bit too much -- it's hard for this sweet tea-sipping blogger to believe drinking alcohol in moderation could actually be a good weapon to help women better control their weight. But that's what researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston learned after studying the consumption of alcohol among women older than age 38 who maintained a healthy weight.
Out of some 19,200 women, the largest percentage of women either drank no alcohol or no more than 5 grams daily (a combined 71 percent). Only 6 percent of the women tracked drank up to 30 grams of alcohol daily and about half that number drank more (3 percent).
Although women gained weight progressively over the course of the 13-year study, surprisingly, patients who drank no alcohol gained the most pounds. Surprisingly, women who drank between 15-30 grams of alcohol daily were almost 30 percent less likely to become obese or overweight than teetotalers.
The best alcoholic beverages: Red wine, naturally full of important antioxidants, and, to a lesser degree, white wine.
Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 170, No. 5, pp. 453-461, March 8, 2010
ScienceDaily March 9, 2010
ABC News March 9, 2010
The Globe and Mail March 9, 2010