Light alcohol consumption won’t save us from obesity and diabetes

By James Gamble via SWNS

Even light drinkers are at risk of obesity and diabetes, warns new research.

A new study has revealed that even those who limit their drinking to just a couple of drinks a day are not protected from endocrine conditions.

Prior to this, it was unknown whether modest alcohol consumption might even have had beneficial health effects and kept the doctor away.

But new data from more than 400,000 British people has now proved that theory wrong, showing that the health of those who only have one or two drinks a day are still at more of a risk than non-drinkers.

The new study, published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, also found associations between drinking and diseases such as obesity and diabetes to be more prevalent in women than men.

Researchers assessed self-reported data from 408,540 Brits.

They found that those who had more than 14 drinks per week had higher fat mass and a higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

These associations were stronger in women than in men, and no data supported the association between moderate drinking and improved health outcomes in people drinking less than or equal to seven alcoholic beverages per week.

Dr. Tianyuan Lu from McGill University in Québec, Canada, confirmed the results meant that limiting our drinking still left us at risk of health conditions.

"Some research has indicated that moderate drinkers may be less likely to develop obesity or diabetes compared to non-drinkers and heavy drinkers," Dr. Lu explained.

"However, our study shows that even light-to-moderate alcohol consumption - no more than one standard drink per day - does not protect against obesity and type 2 diabetes in the general population."

"We confirmed that heavy drinking could lead to increased measures of obesity - body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, fat mass - as well as increased risk of type 2 diabetes."

Dr. Lu said he hopes the research would help people understand the risks associated with drinking, adding: "We want our work to encourage the general population to choose alternative healthier behaviors over drinking.

“We hope our research helps people understand the risks associated with drinking alcohol and that it informs future public health guidelines and recommendations related to alcohol use."