Alcohol consumption increases overweight risk

Alcohol promotes the formation of belly fat especially in women

12.05.2011

On several occasions in the past, a connection between alcohol consumption and the risk of overweight and obesity was examined. Now, the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study by the German Institute for Nutrition Research Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DifE) concludes that regular alcohol consumption in women primarily causes increased accumulation of fat in the abdominal area, while men on the whole body increase.

Not only does the EPIC study clearly demonstrate that regular alcohol consumption is associated with significant weight gain, but also highlights gender differences and the variable effects of different alcoholic beverages. According to the researchers in the current issue of the magazine, women are more likely to take on the belly, men, however, on the whole body and beer makes thicker than wine „European Journal of Clinical Nutrition“

Alcohol consumption permanently changes the body shape of women
In the EPIC study, the researchers evaluated the data of 250,000 adult Europeans, examining the link between long-term alcohol consumption and the risk of obesity. On the one hand, the scientists found that, in general, the long-term alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of overweight. On the other hand, they found significant differences in the gender-specific effects of alcohol. According to the results of the EPIC study, women are taking advantage of years of alcohol consumption, especially in the abdominal area. For example, women who consumed very little or no alcohol consumed on average one-and-a-half centimeters less waist circumference than study participants who drank more than two glasses daily over a long period of time. The consumption of alcohol has changed the body shape of the women sustainably, although based on the body mass index (BMI), there were hardly any differences between the abstinent and the alcohol-drinking women, the researchers report. Manuela Bergmann from the German Institute for Nutrition Research, first author of the current article, said, „that high alcohol consumption, especially in women, affects the body fat distribution unfavorably. The fat accumulates mainly in the upper abdomen“. But here, the fat deposits are considered particularly harmful. „As the waist circumference increases, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease increases“, emphasized the study director Professor Heiner Boeing.

Men increase their consumption of alcohol throughout the body
In the case of alcohol-drinking men, an increase in abdominal circumference was recorded in the EPIC study, but it was lower than that of women, compared to abstinent men, on average by 1.1 centimeters. For the men put in the course of many years of alcohol consumption significantly more weight than women, the researchers report. The BMI among alcohol users was significantly higher with an average of 28.3 compared to men who consumed little or no alcohol (average BMI of 27.3). The scientists said that this equates to a weight difference of more than three kilograms for a 1.80 meter tall man. The alcohol-drinking men have formed not only on the stomach but also on other parts of the body significantly more fat deposits.

Significant health risks from increased belly fat
The researchers also found in the EPIC study that beer is thicker than wine. The beer drinkers had a higher proportion of belly fat was observed than the wine drinkers, said the research team to Professor Heiner Boeing. „The differences in the abdominal girth are not extremely large, yet they are unique“, stressed Manuela Bergmann. Since the increased belly fat is associated with many health risks, even this slight difference „play a role in health“, explained Bergmann. Thus, the fat in the abdomen is attributed to a significant increase in the risk of inflammatory processes in the body, certain cancers and diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston published a study late last year that found that women with high levels of fat in the abdominal cavity are more prone to osteoporosis or a decline in bone density. (Fp)

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Picture: Etak