03-11-10

A Glass A Day Could Keep The Pounds At Bay!

From Sophie Lauren to Katherin Deneuve to Penelope Cruz. Gorgeous, talented women with something else in common: they come from the three European countries that per capita consume the most red wine on earth.

But according to a compelling new study just out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, you don’t have to be from Italy, France or Spain to take advantage of what these leading ladies and their compatriots have known for centuries.

“Our study results showed that middle-aged and older women who have normal body weight initially and consume light-to-moderate amount of alcohol could maintain their drinking habits without gaining more weight compared with similar women who did not drink any alcohol,” Dr. Lu Wang from the division of preventive medicine at the Boston hospital noted in an email to Reuters Health.

Basically, the study suggests that light to moderate alcohol consumption, especially red wine, is not only good for a woman’s heart, it’s also good for her waistline. Further—engaging a sample of 20,000 trim middle-aged and older women—the study showed over time that women who drank alcohol in moderation put on less weight and were less apt to become overweight compared to non-drinkers. Various lifestyle and dietary factors that might influence a woman’s weight were taken into account in coming to their conclusion.

Women who did not drink gained an average of 8 pounds compared with 3.4 pounds for those who consumed 30 grams of alcohol or more each day. And while red wine seemed best at keeping weight in check, white wine, beer and spirits also had some benefit.

But beware, this and other health positive alcohol consumption studies stress moderation, that is, defined as a drink or two a day. Heavy drinking can definitely harm health.

So… as we stress at Rose Reisman… it’s all about life balance! Cheers!