The health benefits of drinking one glass of wine per day continue to add up. According to a New York nutritionist, a daily wine habit can help women maintain their normal weight, reports Medic Magic.
Researchers studied 20,000 women with normal body weight for 13 years and found that those who drank one glass of red wine a day were 30 per cent more likely to maintain their weight than women who abstained.
They tracked women who drank liquor and beer too, but the link was strongest for red wine, which is “rich in in antioxidants that reduce cholesterol and blood pressure,” said Jana Klauer, a New York City physician specializing in nutrition and metabolism.
Alcohol may also burn calories due to a process called thermogenesis, says Lu Wang, MD, PhD, the lead study author at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Alcohol raises your body temperature because the alcohol is burning calories and creating heat – one reason some people get red cheeks when drinking.
“Women make smaller amounts of the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol than men do, so to digest a drink, they have to keep producing it, which requires the body to burn energy,” says Dr. Klauer.
Keep in mind that five ounces of wine has 125 calories. “That’s why drinking isn’t a weight-loss strategy on its own,” says Dr. Klauer. “But having a glass, along with a healthy diet and exercise, seems to be a marker for a healthier lifestyle.”
Studies have generally found that people who drink wine daily have lower body mass than those who indulge occasionally. Moderate wine drinkers have narrower waists and less abdominal fat than people who drink liquor. Alcohol may encourage your body to burn extra calories for as long as 90 minutes after your drink, and beer seems to have a similar effect.