People who drink alcoholic beverages on a regular basis may be more likely than teetotalers to exercise -- and the more they drink, the more likely they are to work out, a new study shows.

    "A possible motivation is that people who consume alcohol recognize that it contains a fair number of calories, so they exercise to counteract caloric intake," study author Michael T. French, PhD, of the University of Miami, tells WebMD. "Those who drink without misusing it may be interested in balancing their life."

    French and fellow researchers analyzed data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a yearly phone survey of 230,000 Americans, and found a "strong statistical association" between alcohol use and moderate to vigorous exercise.

    The study, published in the September-October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, reports that:

    Compared with abstainers, light drinkers exercised 5.7 more minutes per week, moderate drinkers 10.1 more minutes, and heavy drinkers 19.9 more minutes.

    Women drinking alcohol exercised 7.2 more minutes per week than abstainers, and men 5.5 more minutes.

    Drinking for both men and women was associated with about a 10% increase in the probability of engaging in vigorous exercise.

    Abstainers were people who had not drunk alcohol in the 30 days prior to being surveyed. Drinkers were classified as light, moderate, or heavy drinkers based on the number of alcoholic drinks they had had in the last 30 days:

    Light drinkers

    Women: 1-14 drinks

    Men: 1-29 drinks

    Moderate drinkers

    Women: 15-45 drinks

    Men: 30-75 drinks

    Heavy drinkers

    Women: 46 or more drinks

    Men: 76 or more drinks

    "The message here is not to use alcohol to improve your exercise" regimen, French says, adding that health problems associated with heavy drinking outweigh benefits of more exercise. However, he says the study suggests that "responsible" drinking may be beneficial.

    一項新的研究顯示經常喝酒的人比禁酒者更加喜歡運動，而且喝得越多，他們越喜歡運動。

    "一個可能的動機就是那些喝酒的人意識到酒精里面含有大量的熱量，他們希望通過運動去消耗攝取的熱量。"邁阿密大學的研究學者邁克爾T.弗朗斯PhD告訴網友："喝酒但不過度也許能夠調諧他們的生活。"

    弗朗斯和他的同伴分析了從2005行為風險因素監視系統獲得的數據，在一份230,000位美國人的年度電話調查數據中發現了喝酒與中度運動之間"強有力的統計關聯性".

    出版在9-10月美國健康促進學報的論文稱：與禁酒者相比，輕度飲灑者每周運動量多5.7分鐘、中度飲灑者多10.1分鐘、重度飲灑者多19.9分鐘。

    女性飲酒者每周運動多7.2分鐘，男性飲酒者多5.5分鐘。

    男性和女性適度地飲酒都可能增加10%左右的運動量。

    禁酒者在接受調查前30天內未喝酒精飲料，飲酒者根據他們過去30天內飲用酒精飲料的份量分為輕度、適度、以及重度飲者：

    輕度飲者：

    女性： 1-14 杯

    男性： 1-29 杯

    中度飲者

    女性： 15-45 杯

    男性： 30-75 杯

    重度飲者

    女性： 46杯以上

    男性： 76杯以上

    弗朗斯稱并不是想告訴大家通過酒精促進你們的運動。相反，過度飲酒造成的問題遠遠超過運動帶來的好處。然而，他的研究建議"適度地"飲酒也許有利健康。