Alcohol 'helps you lose weight'
FOR years dieters have been told alcohol is one of the first things they should cut out if they want to lose weight.
But research by a Melbourne team has turned that advice on its head.
It found having up to four drinks a day for men and two for women may help melt the kilograms.
John Dixon, a senior research fellow at Monash University and the Alfred hospital, and colleagues based their findings on observations of severely obese patients who had bariatric, or weight-loss, surgery.
Dr Dixon said histories of the patients' alcohol consumption before and after surgery confirmed previous evidence light to moderate drinking had beneficial effects on cholesterol levels.
But the team also found something that has begun to emerge over the past eight years: moderate drinkers seem to have a reduced risk of developing type 2, or adult onset diabetes. This was probably related to the effect alcohol had on improving insulin sensitivity, which appeared to aid weight loss as well as protect against diabetes, he said.
"Most weight-loss programs have found diabetics have problems losing weight," Dr Dixon said. "After surgery, those who were drinking small amounts of alcohol were losing weight."
The report, to be published in the journal Australian Family Physician, advises doctors they should no longer tell obese patients trying to lose weight to give up having a glass or two of wine with dinner.
He said wine had a relatively low kilojoule content and tended to be burned immediately rather than being stored as fat.
The problem with drinking and weight gain was mainly because of associated snacking or loss of inhibition leading to over-eating, Dr Dixon said.
The results did not mean teetotallers should drink to become slim.
FOR years dieters have been told alcohol is one of the first things they should cut out if they want to lose weight.
But research by a Melbourne team has turned that advice on its head.
It found having up to four drinks a day for men and two for women may help melt the kilograms.
John Dixon, a senior research fellow at Monash University and the Alfred hospital, and colleagues based their findings on observations of severely obese patients who had bariatric, or weight-loss, surgery.
Dr Dixon said histories of the patients' alcohol consumption before and after surgery confirmed previous evidence light to moderate drinking had beneficial effects on cholesterol levels.
But the team also found something that has begun to emerge over the past eight years: moderate drinkers seem to have a reduced risk of developing type 2, or adult onset diabetes. This was probably related to the effect alcohol had on improving insulin sensitivity, which appeared to aid weight loss as well as protect against diabetes, he said.
"Most weight-loss programs have found diabetics have problems losing weight," Dr Dixon said. "After surgery, those who were drinking small amounts of alcohol were losing weight."
The report, to be published in the journal Australian Family Physician, advises doctors they should no longer tell obese patients trying to lose weight to give up having a glass or two of wine with dinner.
He said wine had a relatively low kilojoule content and tended to be burned immediately rather than being stored as fat.
The problem with drinking and weight gain was mainly because of associated snacking or loss of inhibition leading to over-eating, Dr Dixon said.
The results did not mean teetotallers should drink to become slim.
