According to the latest research, weight does not accumulate around a heavy drinker’s waist line, but tends to spread all over his body.
The study conducted by M Schutze and colleagues, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrucke; Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Germany; and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, aimed to investigate the gender-specific associations between beer consumption and waist circumference (WC), and to challenge the common belief that a ‘beer belly’ is caused due to drinking beer.
“Beer and other alcoholic drinks are high in calories and will contribute to weight gain if taken in excessive amounts, as well as being detrimental to health in many other ways,” said Schutze.
The study in detail
The study involved 27,548 people, aged between 35 to 65 years, who were selected between 1994 and 1998 and studied for eight years.
The researchers assigned different categories of beer consumption to both men and women. For women, beer consumption of 250ml/day or more was categorised as ‘moderate’.
For men, beer consumption of 250 to 500ml/day was categorised under ‘light’; and 500 to 1000ml/day as ‘moderate’. Consumption above the ‘moderate’ category was considered ‘heavy’.
The next step was to measure the body weight, hip and waist circumference of the subjects. The researchers then looked at how the change in beer consumption affected the change in their waist circumference.
What the research findings say
It was found that waist circumference of 41 percent men and 32 percent women remained stable overtime, while there was an increase in the waist circumference in 57 percent of the men and 67 percent of the women.
Stable beer consumption was seen in 57 percent of men and 69 percent women, while consumption decreased in 30 percent of men and 22 percent women.
Men categorized under ‘heavy beer consumption’ (1000 ml/day or more) had a significant 17 percent increased risk of waist circumference gain compared with very light consumers (less than 250ml/day), according to the researchers.
Women who refrained from drinking beer had 12 percent lesser risk of increase in their waist circumference, as compared with very light drinkers (less than 125ml/day).
“Although an increase in beer consumption over time was linked with an increase in weight circumference, particularly for men, these associations became insignificant after taking into account the person’s overall weight. This suggests that any weight gain from beer is distributed across the body, rather than just to the waist,” held Schutze.
The study was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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