Glass Of Wine A Day May Keep Pounds At Bay

It's a little early in the week for happy hour, but this medical tidbit is bound to come up over cocktails: A new report out of the Women's Health Study at Harvard suggests that women who drink lightly or moderately may gain less weight as the years go on than those who don't drink alcohol at all.

Enlarge Red wine is not the answer, it just seems like it. (iStockphoto.com)

Red wine is not the answer, it just seems like it. (iStockphoto.com)

Really? Yes! But don't take it as advice to party hearty. As with most scientific studies, there are caveats. Here's the context you'll want to share with your pals:

As part of an exhaustive survey of diet, health and lifestyle factors, the researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital asked nearly 20,000 middle-aged nurses and other health care workers to keep track of what they ate and how much alcohol they drank over a several-year period. At the start of the study, all the women were healthy, at least 39 years old, and of normal weight.

Thirteen years later, most of the volunteers had put on pounds. About 40 percent had put on enough weight to be considered overweight or obese. But the women who reported having a glass or so of wine, beer or a cocktail most days of the week were less likely to get fat. And wine, especially red wine, seemed to be the drink of choice among those with slightly less weight gain.

The scientists, who published their work in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine aren't sure why the drinkers tended to gain less weight, though they suspect it's partly because women who drink moderately tend to eat less — to compensate for the liquid calories. (As in, they pour another glass of wine and skip the dessert. Is that what you do, ladies?) It's also possible, the scientists say, that calories from alcohol are metabolized a little differently than other sugars.

In any event, other work shows the finding doesn't hold true for men or for women who were overweight to start. And the Harvard docs point out that moderate drinking has also been linked to breast cancer and other health risks. So if you decide to make it a Marguerita Monday, do go easy on the jigger of gin.