A glass of white wine in front of the ocean.
Can drinking wine help slow down a women’s weight gain?
An interesting study recently concluded that women who drink wine and alcohol gain less weight than women who don’t. The study published in the Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(5):453-461 showed an inverse relationship between alcohol consumption and obesity. This means that for the 19,220 women in the study who were followed over 12.9 years, those that drank wine and alcohol and in particular red wine, gained less weight than the non drinkers. The authors of the study controlled for external factors such as age, exercise, body mass index (BMI) and smoking status. Given the large number of women participants in this study we feel confident in this study’s conclusions: women drinking alcohol gain less weight than non drinkers.
Binge drinkers beware
Binge drinkers, or those who consume large quantities of alcohol at one time, do not see the same results as the women from the study of moderate consumers of alcohol. Looking at another large study, funded by the Wellcome Trust we see that male and female binge drinkers have larger waistlines, something that is negatively correlated with our heart health. In fact, those who drink a bottle of wine or 5 pints of beer in one night have much bigger waistlines than those who drink that same quantity of wine or beer over a week-long period. Thus, even if the person consumes the same amount of alcohol on a weekly basis compared to drinking it all on one day, the binge drinkers seem to put on weight and in the most dangerous place. Linking to the French culture, thinking of how alcohol and wine is drunk with meals here in France could this help explain how French help keep their waistlines?
Perhaps just a bit of daily red wine, sipped and savored with your main meal of the day is one way to feel satiated and not over indulge, neither on the food nor the wine. A good way to slow down while eating, to eat just until we are full and enjoy some relaxing time around the table.
In your experience, do you feel the calories from wine have a significant influence on body weight? Or do you think drinking wine and alcohol in moderation can actually slow down weight gain?
Would love to know your opinion, feel free to leave me a comment below.
Bon Appetit!
About Mary Brighton
Mary Brighton MS, RD is a registered dietitian in America, France and United Kingdom. She received her Masters of Science in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology from Colorado State University. She currently lives in France, is learning Italian and loves to travel, eat, be a mom.
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This is good news! I’ve been dieting, but continue to drink my wine. I’ve noticed that I am still losing weight at a good rate, maybe because I follow a good exercise routine.