At last, some good news: alcohol not related to weight gain in women

Image by star5112 via Flickr

As I approach forty (really soon, I might add) I’m having an ever-harder time keeping my weight in check.  I work out at least one hour most days.  I watch what I eat.  I also enjoy my glass of chardonnay at the end of the day.  Lately, however, I’ve been considering nixing Napa in the hopes of slowing the scale creep.  Empty calories, right? 

Thankfully, the March 8 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine has saved me from making such a foolish mistake.  In it, there’s a large study showing that middle-aged women (which I’m *technically* not, at least for the next few weeks) who are light to moderate drinkers not only aren’t gaining massive amounts of weight due to their tippling, they also gain less weight and are less likely to be obese than their non-drinking counterparts.  Wine seemed to be especially effective in preventing poundage.

Thank heavens for good research.