Advice on the subject is conflicting. Diets, such as the Atkins diet, have guidelines highlighting the tipples that won't inhibit weight loss, while cautioning against alcohol if slimmers pile on the pounds after drinking. Nutritionists generally advise dieters to cut back on alcohol if they're trying to get lean.

But a comprehensive review by a Canadian hospital has found that moderate drinking won't make you fat.

The 2015 review in Current Obesity Reports by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, uncovered by the New York Times this week, found that light drinking didn't lead to weight gain in men or women.

Many of the studies examined in the review revealed that one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men 'does not seem to be associated with obesity risk'.

In men, drinking this amount didn't lead to weight gain, according to some of the studies.
But in women, those who drank lightly were found to have lower body weights than those who were teetotal, it was said.

Heavy or binge drinking, however, is still linked to obesity and weight gain.

Some of the studies warned that women shouldn't drink more than three glasses of alcohol in one sitting, while for men, the number is four.

And in teenagers and the elderly, drinking any alcohol may 'promote overweight and a higher body fat percentage,' one of the studies said.

But the review was careful to point out that many of the studies gloss over individual differences, and the fact that genetics can play a key part in how likely it is that some people will gain weight after drinking alcohol.

Dr Jean-Philippe Chaput, the co-author of the review, also said that alcohol can often lead to an increased appetite. He warned: 'The extra calories taken in with alcohol are stored as fat.'

But he said that he managed to drink about 15 alcoholic beverages a week while eating healthily without gaining any extra weight.

More about: #diet   #weightloss