Some women enjoy a glass or two of red wine each day in the name of heart health. Now, they can also chalk up their moderate alcohol consumption to helping them to avoid gaining too much weight.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston followed more than 19,000 women over the age of 38 for nearly 13 years. Over the course of the study, they found that women who didn’t drink at all gained an average of about 8 pounds, while moderate drinkers gained about 3 and a half pounds.

"Weight gain was largest for women who did not consume alcohol and then monotonously decreased with increasing total alcohol intake," the researchers wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They also said that red wine was best for keeping weight in check, but drinking white wine, beer and other alcohol also showed some benefit for weight.

Despite their findings, however, the scientists say they discourage women from using drinking as a weight control measure.

"Taking into account the potential medical and psychosocial problems related to drinking alcohol, any recommendation on alcohol use should be made for the individual after carefully evaluating both adverse and beneficial effects of the drinking behavior in broad context," they wrote.