In a large study designed to identify behaviors associated with weight gain, alcohol consumption was not associated with gains in body mass index (BMI) for men or women, and wine was the only beverage not associated with increased waist gain for women. The findings were part of an American Cancer Society study of 79,236 healthy adults who answered questions about diet and activities in 1982 and again in 1992. The study also found BMI to increase with meat consumption and decrease with vegetable consumption, vitamin E supplementation and vigorous exercise.

Over the ten year period, regular drinkers of wine, beer and spirits had either no significant change or a slight decrease in BMI, perhaps the most common measurement of body weight. Regular consumption (5 or more days/week) by women of any beverage resulted in a decrease in BMI. Regarding "weight gain at the waist," researchers found that men who drank any alcohol beverage regularly had a slight decrease. Among women occasional drinkers (0 to 5 days/week), however, only wine consumers did not have an increased likelihood of gain at the waist. "Our sex-specific findings regarding the anatomic site of gain may help explain why women's beer or liquor consumption might have a lesser cardioprotective effect than women's wine consumption," explain Henry S. Kahn, M.D., and colleagues in the American Journal of Public Health. "Reduced abdominal obesity," they conclude, "could result in a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers."

This study confirms the results of a recent Colorado State University study, which found the addition of two glasses of red wine with dinner for men "does not influence any measured variable which may adversely affect body weight or promote the development of obesity."

References: Kahn HS, et al. Stable behaviors associated with adults' 10-year change in body mass index and likelihood of gain at the waist. American Journal of Public Health, 1997; 87(5):747-754. Cordain L, et al. Influence of moderate daily wine consumption upon body weight regulation and metabolism in healthy free-living males. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 1997; 16(2).