Researchers found that regular moderate female drinkers were less likely to become obese after a 13 year study of more than 19,000 women.

The finding seems to contradict received dietary wisdom which has it that alcohol consumption leads to weight gain.

The body may use calories from alcohol in a different way from other foods which affects weight gain, doctors said.

It is thought that alcohol is broken down by the liver using a different metabolic pathway to create heat, rather than fat.

Lu Wang, from Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston questioned 19,220 American women with healthy body weight about their drinking habits.

About 38 per cent were non-alcohol drinkers.

Over 13 years this was the group that gained the most weight.

The more women drank the less weight they gained. Those who drank red wine gained the least weight with greater weight gain associated with beer and spirits.

The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, said there was no clear connection between alcohol consumption and weight gain.

However, Catherine Collins, a spokesman for the British Dietetic Association, said women should not look on wine as a weight loss aid… Continue reading