South Korean researchers have found that daily consumption of even half a drink of an alcoholic beverage can increase the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome. The study was presented to the European and International Congress on Obesity on September 2nd.
The study included nearly 27 million adults, age 20 and older. Even after accounting for confounding factors such as age, exercise, smoking, and income, the analysis found a strong association between alcohol consumption and obesity and metabolic syndrome. (Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of conditions including obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and abnormal blood fats that put people at higher risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke.)
Compared with non-drinkers, men who drank on average between a half and one standard drink a day (7.1 to 14 grams of alcohol) were around 10% more likely to have obesity and metabolic syndrome; consuming up to two drinks a day (14.1 to 24 grams of alcohol) was associated with 22% and 25% greater odds, respectively. The highest risk was in men who drank more than two drinks or 24 grams of alcohol per day, with 34% higher odds of obesity and 42% greater odds of metabolic syndrome.
Similarly, women who consumed a higher quantity of alcohol were more likely to have obesity and metabolic syndrome. Consuming on average between a half and one drink a day was associated with 9% higher odds of obesity, but 3% reduced odds of metabolic syndrome compared to non-drinkers. Women who reported drinking on average more than two drinks or 24 grams of alcohol per day, had 22% and 18% higher odds of obesity of metabolic syndrome respectively.
Since, according to the Center for Disease Control, moderate alcohol consumption is defined as two drinks for a man or one drink for a woman, this study found that even sub-moderate, or light, alcohol consumption correlates to increased risk of obesity.
The authors conclude: "Our results suggest that the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome increases in proportion to alcohol consumption when male and female adults drink more than half a standard drink per day."
How does alcohol influence body weight?
Although this study was observational and did not postulate a causal mechanism, researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that daily intake of alcohol reduces the body’s level of leptin, the hormone that tells our brain when we need to eat. Leptin is made in, and secreted by, adipose (fat) cells. When there is plenty of leptin, the hypothalamus is signaled to not eat; when leptin levels are low, it is signaled to eat. A Swedish study found that the levels of leptin decreased by almost 50 percent after consuming alcohol. Daily consumption of alcohol will daily lower leptin levels resulting in incorrect hunger signals being sent to the brain, which will naturally lead to overeating.
People have long joked about men who have a "beer belly." Scientific evidence is emerging that this old appellation is grounded in fact. Even in small or moderate amounts, alcohol promotes packing on the pounds.
Which is why the safest course is to avoid even light alcohol consumption, as Ellen White counseled:
“Let not one drop of wine or liquor pass your lips, for in its use is madness and woe. Pledge yourself to entire abstinence, for it is your only safety.” Temperance, 198.4; Manuscript 25, 1893.
Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags. Prov. 23:20-21