Beer bellies caused by genes, not booze

Men, it's time to rejoice, for a new research has revealed that beer bellies are actually caused by genetics -- not by the booze.

A team in Europe has carried out the study and found that although people who drink regularly are more likely to put on weight, they do not necessarily accumulate fat around the abdomen.

The researchers were quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "This analysis showed the empirical basis for the common belief of a beer belly, as we found that beer drinking and waist circumference were positively associated.

"In terms of the beer belly belief, an explanation could be that all the observed beer bellies in the population result from the natural variation in fat patterning and not from the fact of drinking beer."

For the study, the team monitored 20,000 people -- 7,876 men and 12,749 women -- over a period of eight years.

Men who were classed as the heaviest drinkers -- regularly consuming two pints of beer a day -- put on the most weight. But when the researchers then measured hip-to-waist ratios to establish which drinkers developed a pot belly, the results were randomly spread across all drinking groups.

The team concluded that genetic factors dictating how people put on weight were more significant than drinking beer.

The men most likely to put on weight were those who drank the most and also those who drank no beer at all.

Light drinkers saw the least variation in their waist size. For women, drinking more beer was more directly linked to piling on the pounds. But having beer led to overall weight gain on both the waist and the hips, and not to a beer belly.

But, they insist that their findings do not mean that drinking should be encouraged, and recommend giving up alcohol completely to avoid gaining weight.

"Our data provided only limited evidence for a site-specific effect of beer drinking on waist circumference, and beer consumption seems to be rather associated with an increase in overall body fatness.

"In terms of public health relevance, it may be therefore important to focus on beer abstention to maintain body weight," the researchers said.

The study has been published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.