14 DAY TRIAL // All women know by now they should avoid high-calorie drinks, like fancy cocktails, especially if they go out with their friends on a regular basis. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that plain alcohol, like wine, is inoffensive if ingested in large quantities, neither as regards health nor weight. A new study cited by the Daily Mail reveals that women are most exposed to the risk of gaining weight if binge drinking.
The weight gain, however, has little to do with the type of alcoholic beverage of choice or the period of time over which a woman binge drinks, the findings of the study indicate. It’s the pattern that leads to the extra pounds in the sense that the same amount of alcohol consumed over short periods of time (say, an entire bottle of wine in the course of a single evening) helps the stomach expand. This, in turn, leads to feeling the need to eat more, which, of course, is translated in weight gain, researchers at the University College London say.
“For the first time, researchers believe they have identified the link between drinking and abdominal obesity, which helps trigger diabetes and heart disease. They blame it on the pattern of drinking, when large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a session instead of being spread over a period of time. In fact, the classic beer belly is a bit of a myth because men who drink beer regularly – around two pints a day – barely see a change in their girth.” the Mail says, citing the study that involved an estimated 30,000 people and span from 2002 to 2005.
In men who binge drink, the increase in size is of only two inches in waist. Women, on the other hand, are more prone to gaining more pounds if they indulge in too much alcohol: about four inches in waist. But women are also more at risk from drinking because their body mass is comparatively small and is not able to absorb the alcohol ingested, researchers warn. Still, in both men and women, it’s not the volume that leads to the weight gain, but the pattern.
“Binge drinking is common in parts of Eastern Europe and is also becoming common in many parts of Western Europe. It’s not necessarily the volume but the pattern.” Professor Martin Bobak, who led the study, says, as quoted by the Mail. Moreover, the study has also established that this effect of binge drinking, namely the weight gain, is altogether independent of the amount of alcohol consumed in a year.