Alcohol, Calories, and Your Gut

How powerful, exactly, is the amazing fat producing influence of booze? Anahad O'Connor, the New York Times health answer man, says it depends. Mainly, it depends on how much and how regularly you drink the stuff. Beer, wine and spirits, O'Connor says, have a greater effect on belly fat in adults who drink sporadically than in people who drink regularly but in small amounts. The Times' expert reports on a study published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2003, in which a group of scientists followed more than 2,300 drinkers and nondrinkers. The researchers found — after controlling for a number of variables — that those who averaged a single drink per day had the lowest levels of abdominal fat. Those who drank occasionally but had four or more drinks in one sitting had the greatest levels. Several studies, says O'Connor, have shown similar results.O'Connor's Bottom Line puts it this way: Moderate drinking does not seem to increase abdominal fat. Excessive drinking might.
Read more in the New York Times.