Time and over again, the scientific community has been arguing about the health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption. A new study in favor of the above argument has shown that regular but small amounts of alcohol consumption can actually help prevent obesity.
The study was conducted amongst a group of 8,236 individuals who had presented for a health and nutrition survey. The participants were required to provide details of their drinking habit while a parallel measurement of their body mass index was also taken up.Individuals consuming 4 or more drinks per day were rated as heavy drinkers while those who had a frequency of one drink in a month were categorized as current drinkers. This approximated to nearly 46% of those studied.
At the end of the study, current drinkers were found to suffer less from obesity and other related problems compared to the non-drinkers. In addition, those who drank less than 5 times during a week were less likely to be obese as revealed by statistical analysis. On the contrary, heavy drinkers had a 46% increased risk for being obesity in comparison to non-drinkers.
Although the above study highlights the positive effects of moderate alcohol consumption on prevention of obesity, the researchers have expressed caution against teetotalers resorting to drinking for the above-mentioned purpose.
