Alcohol consumption can keep you thin: Good news or too good to be true?

A recent study of the effect alcohol consumption has on female weight gain has led to some surprising results: it seems that women who were moderate drinkers gained less weight over time than those who drank heavily or not at all. This was especially true of women who drank red wine, as compared to those who drank beer or other spirits.

Dr. Lu Wang, of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital's division of preventive medicine had this to say about the findings: "Our study results showed that middle-aged and older women who have normal body weight initially and consume light-to-moderate amount of alcohol could maintain their drinking habits without gaining more weight compared with similar women who did not drink any alcohol."

The study spent more than a decade following women aged 30 and higher, all of whom were of normal weight when the study began. Over the course of the study, many of the women gained weight -- including those who were moderate drinkers.