Drinking Alcohol Associated With Obesity

Drinking Alcohol Associated With Obesity Addiction Alcohol Use Print Drinking Alcohol Associated With Obesity By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on November 06, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on September 24, 2019 Peter Dazely/Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Children of Alcoholics Drunk Driving Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Is drinking alcohol linked to obesity? The answer is it is possible, although research on the association has produced inconsistent results. It may be that its not how often you drink, but how much you drink when you do drink that affects weight gain. Some research suggests that its your pattern of drinking that affects your body mass index (BMI). Body mass index (BMI) is the relationship of someones weight to their height. It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. A BMI measurement of 18.5 to 25 indicates normal weight; 25 to 30 is overweight, and over 30 is considered obese. Pattern of Drinking Is a Factor A study of 37,000 drinkers who never smoked tobacco, found that BMI was linked to the number of drinks the subjects had on the days that they did drink. Because previous studies had linked smoking and drinking to weight gain, the NIAAA study looked at only those drinkers who had never smoked. In our study, men and women who drank the smallest quantity of alcoholâ€"one drink per drinking dayâ€"with the greatest frequencyâ€"three to seven days per weekâ€"had the lowest BMIs, said first author Rosalind A. Breslow, Ph.D., while those who infrequently consumed the greatest quantity had the highest BMIs. Contradictory and Inconsistent Results Previous studies have not definitively linked alcohol consumption with weight gain. A systematic review of the literature on the subject found that cohort studies with long periods of follow-up produced contradictory results. Findings from short-term experimental trials also failed to show a clear trend regarding drinking and obesity. Overall, the review found, that research has not established a clear link between alcohol consumption and weight gain. But, studies that did positively link alcohol consumption with weight gain mainly involved higher levels of drinking. Quantity and Frequency Are Factors Breslows study used a different method of assessing alcohol consumption compared to previous studies, she explained. Alcohol consumption consists of two components, explained Dr. Breslow, the amount consumed on drinking days (quantity), and how often drinking days occur (frequency). Previous studies generally examined drinking based only on average volume consumed over time. However, the average volume provides a limited description of alcohol consumption as it does not account for drinking patterns. For example, an average volume of 7 drinks per week could be achieved by consuming 1 drink each day or 7 drinks on a single day. Average volume may not fully explain important relations between quantity and frequency of drinking and health outcomes such as obesity. Heavy Drinking May Stimulate Eating Breslow and her colleagues concluded that there may be several reasons that her study found a link between both quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption to BMI. Alcohol is a significant source of calories, and drinking may stimulate eating, particularly in social settings, said Dr. Breslow. However, calories in liquids may fail to trigger the physiologic mechanism that produces the feeling of fullness. It is possible that, in the long-term, frequent drinkers may compensate for energy derived from alcohol by eating less, but even infrequent alcohol-related overeating could lead to weight gain over time. Type of Alcohol May Be a Factor Other studies have indicated that the type of alcohol consumed may be a factor in whether nor not drinkers experience weight gain. For example, light-to-moderate wine consumption has been found to protect against weight gain, while drinking spirits has been positively associated with weight gain. Additionally, common sense tells us that its called a beer belly for a reason. So, what is the bottom line? Does drinking alcohol cause weight gain or not? Does Drinking Cause Weight Gain? The answer could be yes if you: Drink heavily when you do drinkDrink beer and liquor, instead of wineIf you have a tendency for weight gain to begin with Scientists agree that more studies are needed to determine if drinking patterns increase the risks for weight gain if certain types of alcohol are more likely to cause weight gain and if the persons general tendency to gain weight regardless of their drinking is a factor when they do begin to drink.