Drink Wine, Lose Weight

Pour yourself a glass of red wine, ladies. It may help you keep pounds off.

Boston researchers found that normal-weight women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol gain less weight and are at less risk of becoming obese than nondrinkers.

The study by doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital looked at more than 19,000 women ages 39 and older and followed them over an average of 13 years. The women drank red and white wine, beer, and liquor, but red wine drinkers seemed to be the most successful keeping the weight off.

To be sure, excessive alcohol use can lead to other health problems. More than half of American adults drink alcoholic beverages. The researchers stop just short of recommending that everyone start drinking, but they do recommend more study.

"Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the role of alcohol intake and alcohol metabolism in energy balance and to identify behavioral, physiological, and genetic factors that may modify the alcohol effects," they write.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.