I’m all for sipping a glass of wine (or two, I confess) with dinner every now and again. However, some women I know tend to skip the vino because it adds extra calories to their meals. Fair enough; dinner can be just as much fun without alcohol. But a new study suggests that women who drink moderately have a better chance of staying slim than women who don’t drink at all.

The 13-year study, published in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, followed more than 19,000 women of normal weight who were aged 39 and up. Researchers found that women who drank between 15 and 30 grams of alcohol a day (think a leisurely glass with dinner) were less likely to become overweight or obese than women who didn’t drink at all.

Seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? One potential reason for the results: Even though wine adds calories, women who drink a modest amount of wine tend eat less carbs than women who don’t imbibe, the study’s lead researcher told the Toronto Star. Essentially, sipping a glass of wine distracts you from gorging on the pasta with cream sauce. Perhaps it even makes you feel more satisfied with your meal so you don’t reach for seconds. But that’s just me speculating. While I can’t imagine that following a wine diet would be anything other than a disastrous idea, it is interesting to see that research is finding that what we once thought of as guilty pleasures could actually be good for us.

What do you think about adding wine to your daily healthy diet?

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