Almost 300 women studied: BMI inversely correlated with alcohol intake.(Clinical Rounds)

SAN DIEGO -- Women with a higher body mass index are less likely to consume alcohol than their slimmer counterparts, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine.

These findings on the inverse correlation between women's body mass index (BMI) and alcohol use support the investigators' hypothesis that food and alcohol may compete for reward centers in the brain. In that sense, overeating may protect some women from becoming addicted to alcohol and, possibly, other drugs, said Dr. Mark S. Gold and his colleagues at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

The findings may also explain, in part, why obesity is becoming more prevalent in the general population: People may be choosing their food based on its ability to stimulate reward centers in the brain. "Highly palatable, highly sugar-dense foods may be reinforcing, as if they were a drug." Dr. Gold told this newspaper in an interivew.

People who stop drinking or using drugs should be advised to increase their exercise because they may gain weight. Recovering alcoholics should be warned not to allow themselves to become too hungry, said Dr. Gold, who is chief of the McKnight Brain Institute at the university.

In their study, he and his associates reviewed the alcohol consumption histories of 298 female patients referred to the university's weight management clinic as candidates ...