Salud!

Everyone has heard about the "freshman 15," that weight gain attributed to all incoming college students as they eat differently and, ostensibly, drink more than they have in the past. Many people put on more than that, and just as many people, women especially, try to shed those ungainly pounds for the rest of their lives. Now there's hope coming from an astonishing source: alcohol.
Researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital studied more than 19,000 women over a 13-year period and found that women who imbibed alcohol in moderation gained far less weight in mid-life than those who abstained totally. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, if you want to read the whole thing. Researchers concluded that between 15 and 30 grams of alcohol daily (equivalent to one or two drinks) was enough to slow weight gain! Who would have thought that, especially when we're all conscious of the calories offered in alcohol: roughly 125 calories in 5 ounces of wine and 150 calories in a 12-ounce bottle of beer (or three beers if you get the newest, lightest one out there). Anyway, those who tossed back a couple were 30% less likely to become overweight or obese, and the form of spirit thought to be the most successful at staving off poundage was red wine though all forms seemed to have a positive effect.
If you are as puzzled by all of this as I am, the researchers were no less mystified at the result. Numerous theories were advanced, but the "typical" woman in the survey who lost weight was
a. more likely to smoke
b. more physically active
c. had a less heathy diet
d. had a lower BMI at the beginning of the experiment.
All of this leaves us in dangerous, uncharted waters. Looking at the prototype, women may well die of a heart attack, a stroke or lung cancer...but they will be thinner and easier for the pallbearers to tote around.
Odd, to say the least.