Alcohol and Weight Gain in Women

Moderate alcohol intake may reduce midlife weight gain in women.
NBC Nightly News (3/8, story 5, 0:40 Williams) reported that a new study has presented "what may be the original Hobson's choice for women on the subject of alcohol consumption." NBC (Bazell) added that researchers analyzing data from the Harvard Women's Nurse's Health Study found that "women who drink moderately have less of a chance of gaining weight over time."
The Los Angeles Times (3/9, Roan) reports that, according to the study published in March 8 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, "women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol don't gain as much weight in midlife as those who abstain." After examining "data from 19,220 women," researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston "found that compared with women who did not drink, women who drank 15 to 30 grams a day -- the equivalent of a drink or two -- were 30% less likely to be overweight or obese at the end of the study period."
USA Today (3/9, Hellmich) reports that women "who consumed a light to moderate amount of alcohol gained less weight and were less likely to become overweight or obese than women who drank no alcohol."
Time (3/8, Park) reported that there are several theories regarding the study's findings. "First, it could be that women who drink more simply substitute alcohol for other sources of calories -- in essence adopting a form of the liquid diet." In addition, "there is evidence that alcohol may cause physiologic changes to appetite and metabolism that may drive women to lose weight as they drink more. Women may metabolize alcohol differently from men, using a more inefficient, high-energy process that causes them to burn more of the calories from alcohol than men, which in turn leads to a net loss in caloric intake."
But, "the trend toward less weight gain among drinkers doesn't appear to hold true for men," the New York Times (3/8, Parker-Pope) "Well" blog reported, as evidenced by "a 2003 study of British men" that "showed that regular drinkers gained more weight than nondrinkers." The Boston Globe (3/8, Cooney) "White Coat Notes" blog, the AP (3/9), WebMD (3/8, Boyles), Medscape (3/8, Barclay), and Reuters (3/9, Brooks) also covered the story.