Is it healthier to be 2 stone overweight or drink half a bottle of wine a day?

[SodYouIllGoOnMyOwn]

Just seeking some views here and it’s a bit controversial so I opted for AIBU. Obviously neither is ideal but from a health perspective, what do you think?

Not unreasonable: Half a bottle of wine is worse.
Unreasonable: 2 stone overweight is worse.

Really interested to hear some views.

Thanks.

What do you see as a healthy diet. If your holding onto weight the diet can't be that great.

Definitely drinking the half bottle of wine a day would be worse. 2 stone overweight is nothing. It will have hardly any effect on your overall health and wellbeing. Being 2 stone underweight would be far more detrimental to your health.

3 glasses of wine is roughly 350 calories are you working out to burn it off and what are you eating on top?

And yet I know quite a few vegetarians who don't drink, who are overweight. Not significantly, but like 2-3 stone overweight.

They eat a lot of carbs

2st overweight at my height is just past the threshold into obese. It would be unhealthily fat as there is a limit to how much muscle mass could reasonably contribute to it.

I could get there easily on good, nutritious food. And some treats, and not being careful about portions.

It would be far from ideal. It would be uncomfortable. It would make exercise harder. But it's not necessarily a health disaster.

Half a bottle of wine a day rapidly puts weight on me (as experienced on holiday). I can't nutritiously add that level of calories into my diet and maintain weight. Because of the way the liver processes alcohol, it stores the fat gained as visceral fat around the organs where it is high risk for interfering with the body's metabolic processes. It disrupts sleep and its healing processes. It encourages other poor health habits. It makes you feel generally foggy and tired.

I'd rather be 2st overweight/ obese on good food than from alcohol.

Better still being in the healthy zone on a good diet and being able to manage an occasional tipple and enjoy the novelty of it (I feel no need to push my light consumption down to teatotal)

Everyone's body is different and no one of these things are objectively better or worse for everyone. That's why it's a bit of a silly question. It's very individual.

For example, why is the person is 2 stone overweight? If it's because they are eating a load of UPF's and rubbish and not exercising then obviously that's going to have a negative impact on their health.

If it's because they are naturally a large build, eat an average but not ideal diet, move a little but not loads, or just have a slightly slower metabolism than most, then that's obviously not the same thing.

Likewise, a massive bodybuilder isn't going to be as affected by half a bottle of wine as a person who is very small/slight, is taking certain medications or has underlying health conditions.

It's never an either/or situation though, is it?

Neither.

What an odd question.

I'd personally function better with the extra 2 stone than the drinking, but that's just me. Wouldn't tolerate either though in myself.

It's a lot more than that!

It depends on so many things.

Is this about a woman?

Being overweight or drinking more than 1 glass of wine a night raises the risk of breast cancer quite considerably. So they are roughly equal in risk.

Being overweight adds to risks of diabetes.

Drinking 3 glasses of wine a day risks fatty liver and eventual dependency on alcohol- plus the weight gain with alcohol.

I think this is an interesting philosophical question.

And are we taking into account the additional risk factors of alcohol, not just the direct ones? Such as being more likely to have an accident around the home and being unable to drive (and perhaps driving anyway and getting into an accident)?

It could be argued that you are normalising unhealthy eating and weight.
Although neither person is an alcoholic or obese in your scenario, you could still compare the extreme example:. If you compare studies of obese people against alcoholics, obese people twice as likely to die from being fat then alcoholics are from alcohol related issues. They are also much more likely to have a disability in later life.

As somebody who is quite fat and drinks too much I'm fucked 😜

Edited for terrible grammar.

Not RTFT so someone may have already mentioned this, but being two stone overweight doesn't mean you have a 'bad diet', just that you consume more calories than you need. I am 2 stone overweight but eat at least 5 of my five a day, more often closer to ten, and plenty protein/fat/sources of iron etc. I suspect that my overeating mostly healthy foods is a lot healthier than drinking half a bottle of wine a day (although I'm also trying to lose the additional weight... The stress and sleep deprivation of having small children is what's killing me 🤣)

2-3 glasses of wine every day is A LOT and if it literally is every day, then I would assume alcohol dependency. And stop the drinking and you'll probably drop the extra 2 stone before too long!

I'm 2 stone overweight and of course would be better off losing it but as I'm quite tall my BMI is 27 so only just into the overweight range & I don't think a significant health impact.

Both pretty shit but the overweight one probably marginally less worse

Oh yeah totally agree!

I think a key difference is you can be 2 stone overweight and be healthy, active, good diet etc.

Wine every night is causing damage however it’s done, it’s always toxic, if you see what I mean?

If you’re my height two stone overweight is borderline overweight/obese not in the middle of overweight - but I think that the excessive drinking is probably worse.

I think neither is ideal, but if you had to choose on paper you can be overweight yet eat relatively healthily and exercise.
Alcohol affects so much of your body in terms of mental health, sleep and therefore stress etc. but I’m not a medical professional and am neither overweight or a real drinker.

as a 'healthy' overweight person (my BP is fine, no prediabetes, cholesterol is fine..etc) i'd rather be overweight than pickle my liver.

alcohol is much worse than being a bit overweight.

If you’re drinking 3 glasses of wine every day chances are you’re “reliant” on alcohol so have some emotional/psych issues. If you’re overweight/obese due to binge eating disorder or bulimia obviously the same thing applies. So I would say that if you’re overweight “just because” you eat out regularly and always have a few chocolate biscuits with your cup of tea, you’re probably healthier than the person who drinks daily because if push came to shove you’d find it easier to lose 28lbs than she would to eschew alcohol a few nights a week.

For context, I overeat but have no psychological issues around food and I currently need to lose 19lbs to get to BMI 25. I like wine and beer but drink infrequently.

It’s a stupid question but I’d say drinking half a bottle of wine per day is worse. I mean, that’s a hell of a lot of wine, consistently, every single day.

Don't be so complacent. If you have a problem with alcohol and overweight, tackle both issues.

You will never know which would be worse for you personally. You could try and find out on a population level which is considered 'worse' - chat GPT says this;

Both being 2 stone (28 pounds / ~13 kg) overweight and drinking half a bottle of wine per day can negatively impact your health, but drinking half a bottle of wine daily is generally worse for your overall health—especially in the long term. Here's a comparison based on health risks:
📌 Drinking Half a Bottle of Wine a Day (~375ml or ~3–4 units of alcohol)
Risks:

• Increased cancer risk: Particularly breast, liver, and gastrointestinal cancers.
• Liver disease: Risk of fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.
• Heart issues: While small amounts might have protective effects in some people, daily drinking at this level increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and arrhythmias.
• Mental health: Alcohol can contribute to depression and anxiety.
• Dependency risk: Drinking daily raises the risk of developing alcohol use disorder.

🧠 Summary: Regular alcohol use at this level is linked to multiple chronic diseases and addiction risk. ⚖️ Being 2 Stone Overweight Risks:

• Heart disease: Increased risk, though the degree depends on where fat is distributed (e.g., visceral fat is worse than subcutaneous).
• Type 2 diabetes: Higher body fat increases insulin resistance.
• Joint stress: Especially knees and hips.
• Cancer: Elevated risk, but generally less than heavy alcohol use.
• Longevity impact: Moderate overweight is associated with a small increase in mortality, especially when combined with other risk factors (like inactivity, smoking, poor diet).

🧠 Summary: While excess weight isn't ideal, moderate overweight alone—especially if you're otherwise active and eating well—is not as harmful as daily alcohol consumption.