Beer and spirits have more detrimental effects on the waistline and on cardiovascular disease risk than red or white wine

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Brittany Larsen, Iowa State University

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The big idea

Drinking beer and spirits is linked to elevated levels of visceral fat – the harmful type of fat that is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and other health complications – whereas drinking wine shows no such association with levels of this harmful fat and may even be protective against it, depending on the type of wine consumed. In fact, we found that drinking red wine is linked to having lower levels of visceral fat. These are some of the key takeaways of a 2022 study that my colleagues and I published in the Obesity Science & Practice journal.

Although white wine consumption did not influence levels of visceral fat, our study did show that drinking white wine in moderation might offer its own unique health benefit for older adults: denser bones. We found higher bone mineral density among older adults who drank white wine in moderation in our study. And we did not find this same link between beer or red wine consumption and bone mineral density.

Our study relied on a large-scale longitudinal database called the U.K. Biobank. We assessed 1,869 white adults ranging in age from 40 to 79 years who reported demographic, alcohol,...