The "beer belly" has long been talked about, linking it to overeating, lack of physical activity, or the type of alcohol consumed. But a new study suggests that alcohol itself may play a much bigger role than previously thought.
A large study in the UK has found that people who consume around one drink a day are more likely to accumulate fat deep in the belly – known as visceral fat. This is the most dangerous form of fat, as it is closely linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
What's more concerning is that this effect was also observed in people who were not overweight. This shows that alcohol may affect not only the amount of fat, but also the way it is distributed in the body.
How was the study conducted?
The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2026, analyzed nearly 6,000 adults aged 25–75 from the Oxford Biobank, a project representing the British population.
Participants reported their weekly alcohol consumption (a UK unit is 8 grams of pure alcohol). At one end were those who drank up to four units per week; at the other, men who consumed 17–98 units and women 10–50 units per week. To illustrate, 17 units per week translates to around six medium beers or glasses of wine – roughly one drink per day.
Instead of relying solely on weight or waist circumference, the researchers used detailed DEXA scans (a type of X-ray) to precisely measure fat, muscle, and bone.
What did the results show?
The results were clear: the higher the alcohol consumption, the greater the percentage of visceral fat. This association remained stable even after factors such as age, smoking, physical activity, social status and total body fat were taken into account.
Men in the highest consumption group had up to 13.5% more visceral fat compared to those who drank less.
Women in the highest group had about 17% more.
Standard measurements like waist size often missed this risk, meaning a person could look fit but have dangerous fat around vital organs like the liver and pancreas.
The study also showed that, as overall body weight increased, people who drank more tended to store a disproportionate amount of fat around their organs – a pattern linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
What does this mean for current recommendations?
In the UK, the NHS recommends that men and women regularly consume no more than 14 units per week. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines “moderate” consumption as up to one drink per day for women and two for men.
However, this study suggests that even consumption within these limits can promote the accumulation of metabolically dangerous fat.
The authors emphasize that the study does not directly prove that alcohol is the cause, as data on consumption were self-reported and participants were not followed up over time. However, given that visceral fat is one of the strongest predictors of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, the findings raise serious questions: is being thin enough to be protected from the hidden dangers of alcohol? /GazetaExpress/
t7 live
