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Looking at past studies, a research team at the Navarro University in Spain found that while heavy drinkers do put on weight, those who drink moderately can actually lose weight.
"As positive associations between alcohol and weight gain were mainly found in studies with data on higher levels of drinking, it is possible an effect on weight gain or abdominal adiposity may only be experienced by heavy drinkers," he said.
According to the researchers, the type of alcoholic drink might play "an important role in modifying the effect of alcohol consumption on weight gain" with more favourable effects generally seen among wine drinkers.
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research reviewed the findings and agreed with most of the conclusions, particularly that current data does not clearly indicate if moderate drinking increases weight.
Dr Harvey Finkel of Boston University said the biologic mechanisms relating alcohol to changes in body weight are not properly understood.
His team pointed out the strong protective effects of moderate drinking on the risk of conditions like metabolic syndrome and diabetes, both of which relate to increasing obesity.
Some studies even suggested that very obese people may be at lower risk of diabetes if they are moderate drinkers.
The group said alcohol provides calories that are quickly absorbed into the body and are not stored in fat and this metabolic process could explain differences in the effects from other foods.
They agreed that future research should be directed towards assessing the specific roles of different types of alcoholic drinks, taking into account drinking patterns and including the propensity of participants to gain weight in the past.
For now there is little evidence someone consuming small to moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis is increasing his or her risk of becoming obese, but a study three years ago suggested that resveratrol, a compound present in grapes and red wine, destroys fat cells.
The anti-oxidant protected laboratory mice that were fed a high-calorie diet from the health problems of obesity, by mimicking the effects of calorie restriction.
