Women should drink less than men for several reasons. The stomach enzyme that metabolizes alcohol works
less well in women because woman have half as much of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase per unit of body
mass in their stomach. The result is that more of ingested alcohol goes directly into the bloodstream. Woman
have less water in their body per pound than men so the same amount of ingested alcohol leads to a higher
concentration in the blood. Woman have more body fat which has a poor blood supply so alcohol is rapidly
distributed to the organs of the body. The speed at which women can metabolize alcohol is dependent on the
stage of her monthly cycle. When a period is due, she will become inebriated more easily and will have a
worse hangover. After menopause, women begin to develop a distribution of alcohol dehydrogenase between
the stomach and liver that is similar to men so they can drunk more as a result. They have a small risk of
breast cancer, especially with higher alcohol intake. The health benefits of alcohol with moderate drinking
disappear at lower doses for women than men.
The North American Menopause Society points out the following general benefits of drinking in moderation
based on scientific information to date. Light to moderate female drinkers have a significantly lower risk of
coronary heart disease than nondrinkers which becomes apparent when heart disease risk increases at
menopause and thereafter. Women who drink moderately have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Moderate
drinkers, especially wine, have a lower risk of dementia than those who don’t drink at all. Women who drink
lightly or moderately have a lower risk of stroke than nondrinkers. At and after menopause, women who drink
moderately have stronger bones than nondrinkers. Midlife and older women who drink lightly or moderately
have a lower risk of becoming obese than nondrinkers. The downside of drinking at and after menopause is
that drinking may trigger hot flashes in some women, and the consumption of one drink a day leads to a small
increase in risk for breast cancer with the risk increasing the more alcohol that is drunk.
Alcohol Consumption, Weight Gain, and Risk of Becoming Overweight in Middle-aged and Older
Women Archives of Internal Medicin (now JAMA Internal Medicine) March 2012 This study tracked 19,220
American women 30 and older who, at the beginning of the study, fell into the ‘normal weight’ category based
on their body mass index. About 60% of women whose drinking habits were studied over nearly 13 years were
light or regular drinkers with 40% abstainers. 41% of the women became overweight or obese with the
nondrinkers gaining more weight, an average of 9 pounds, compared to about 3 pounds among regular
moderate drinkers. The risk of becoming overweight was almost 30% lower for women who consumed one or
two alcoholic beverages a day compared with nondrinkers. This study refutes the idea that dieters should
lower their intake or cut alcoholic drinks from their diet. It suggests that for many women with weight problems,
the extra calories are probably not coming from alcoholic beverages. However, once a women is overweight,
her alcohol metabolism is more efficient, and she may gain more weight from alcohol than a lean woman.
Long-Term Alcohol Intake and Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Women: A Population Based Cohort
Study BMJ 345 July 10, 2012 A follow-up of 34,000 Swedish women followed for ten years found that
moderate drinkers compared with abstainers had a significantly lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Woman who consumed more than three glasses of alcohol per week had a 37% lower risk of developing
rheumatoid arthritis than subjects who were nondrinkers or consumed less than one drink per week. Those
who drank one or two glasses per week had up to a 14 percent lower risk compared to nondrinkers. There
were no differences among women who preferred wine or beer. This ten year follow-up indicates that longterm
consumption is beneficial. The effect is thought to be due to a reduction in the production of chemicals
that cause inflammation by alcohol.
Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Stroke in Women Stroke 43 March 2012 This group of subjects came
from the Nurses’ Health Study. The study showed that the risk of ischemic (clot-induced) and hemorrhagic
stroke is slightly lower among light-to-moderate consumers of alcohol compared to subjects who drank no
alcohol. The estimated risk is 17-21% lower for women who averaged up to a little over one drink a day
compared to abstainers. For women who drank heavily, the risk of stroke was slightly increased, but not
significantly. The results support a “J-shaped” curve for total stroke. The results are consistent with other
studies showing overall lower risk for low and moderate drinkers with an increased risk for heavier drinkers,
compared to abstainers. The findings suggest that lower levels of alcohol consumption have anti-thrombotic
and atherogenic actions leading to decreased platelet aggregation, clot formation and increased fibrinolysis
and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The study’s limitations included self-reported data and there was limited
assessment of heavy alcohol consumption.
Recent Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Incident Ovarian Carcinoma: A Pooled Analysis of 5,342
cases and 10,358 controls from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium BMC Cancer 13 (1) January
2013 Studies to date on the association between alcohol intake and ovarian carcinoma are inconsistent (large
numbers are needed to estimate risk association since there are many different types). This study found no
evidence that recent moderate alcohol drinking is associated with increased risk for overall ovarian carcinoma,
or that variation in risk is associated strongly with specific histologic types.
Do Lifestyle Choices Explain the Effect of Alcohol on Bone Mineral Density in Women Around
Menopause? Am J Clin Nutr 95 (5) May 2012 A study of the association between alcohol intake and bone
mineral density in women around menopause in the United Kingdom. The study concluded that moderate
alcohol intake appears to be positively associated with increased bone mineral density independently of the
type of lifestyle (smoking, exercise, and fruit and vegetable intake) led by women around menopause.
A paper was presented at the Meeting of the American Sociological Association in August 2012. A study of
5,000 Wisconsin residents over a 47-year period looked at alcohol use among different types of unmarried
people (never-married, divorced and widowed). Men and women tend to converge in marriage with women’s
alcohol use higher due to the influence of their drinking spouses, while men’s declines due to their wives’ lower
drinking habits. The net result, as shown in previous studies, is that married people drink less than single
people. This study confirmed this relationship in men, but it showed that married women drink more on
average than women who were never married, divorced or widowed. Stable marriage curbs men’s drinking yet
is associated with a slightly higher level of alcohol use among women. Recently divorced men drank
significantly more than men in long-term marriages, while women who were divorced showed a sharp fall in
alcohol consumption. The authors of the study suggest that one key to a successful marriage may be for men
to follow their light-drinking spouses’ lead on alcohol consumption.