Increased alcohol intake is linked with some weight gain, but the levels do not appear to be clinically noteworthy, according to a study involving nearly 15,000 men. Participants were from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Investigators looked at how alcohol consumption changes impacted body weight at 4-year intervals (44,603 observations) over a 25-year period ending in 2010, adjusting for age, lifestyle and dietary covariate changes, and cardiovascular risk factors. Among the results:

• People who increased their total alcohol, total beer, regular beer, and liquor intakes experienced moderate weight gain over 4 years.
• Those who increased wine intake experienced lower levels of weight gain than all other types of alcohol except light beer.
• Increased intake of light beer was shown to result in a small amount of weight loss.
• Results were strongest for those aged <55 years.

The authors noted that the differences were not significant enough to impact current dietary guidelines.