Dietersareoftenadvisedtostopdrinkingalcoholtoavoidtheextracalorieslurkinginaglassofwineorafavoritecocktail．Butnewresearchsuggeststhatwomenwhoregularlyconsumemoderate（适度的）amountsofalcoholareless

　　Dietersareoftenadvisedtostopdrinkingalcoholtoavoidtheextracalorieslurkinginaglassofwineorafavoritecocktail．Butnewresearchsuggeststhatwomenwhoregularlyconsumemoderate（适度的）amountsofalcoholarelesslikelytogainweightthannondrinkersandareatlowerriskforobesity（fatness）．

　　ThefindingsreportedthisweekintheArchivesofInternalMedicinearebasedonastudyof19220UnitedStateswomenaged30to40whofallintothe“normalweight”basedontheirbodymassindex．ResearchersatBrighamandWomen’sHospitalinBostontrackedthewomen’sdrinkinghabitsover13years．About60percentofthewomenwerelightorregulardrinkerswhileabout40percentreporteddrinkingnoalcohol．

　　Overthecourseofthestudy41percentofthewomenbecameoverweight．Althoughalcoholispackedwithcaloriesthenondrinkersinthestudyactuallygainedmoreweightovertime:ninepoundsonaveragecomparedwithanaveragegainofaboutthreepoundsamongregularmoderatedrinkers．Theriskofbecomingoverweightwasalmost30percentlowerforwomenwhoconsumedoneortwoalcoholdrinksadaycomparedwithnondrinkers．

　　Thefindingsarecertaintobeconfusingforwomenwhocontinuetoreceiveconflictingmessagesaboutthehealthbenefitsandrisksofalcohol．Althoughmoderatedrinkingisassociatedwithbetterhearthealthregulardrinkingalsoincreasesbreastcancerrisk．

　　Thetrendtowardlessweightgainamongdrinkersdoesn’tappeartoholdtrueformen．A2003studyofBritishmenshowedthatregulardrinkersgainedmoreweightthannondrinkers．Studiessuggestthatdrinkingalcoholhasdifferenteffectsoneatinghabitsamongmenandwomen．Mentypicallyaddalcoholtotheirdailycaloricintakewhereaswomenaremorelikelytosubstitute（替代）alcoholforfood．Inadditiontheremaybedifferencesinhowmenandwomenmetabolize（代谢）alcohol．Metabolicstudiesshowthataftermendrinkalcoholtheyexperiencelittleifanymetabolicchange．Butalcoholappearstoslightlyspeedupawoman’smetabolism．

　　Thefindingsdon’tmeanwomenshouldrushtodrinkalcoholtoloseweight．Otherresearchshowsthatonceapersonisalreadyoverweightheralcoholmetabolismismoreefficientandsoanoverweightwomanmaygainmoreweightfromalcoholthanalean（瘦