Spread 'em out to avoid spreading out

Study after study comes out, and never a nice word for binge drinking. The latest: drinking beer in binges gives you a larger belly than drinking it moderately, over time.

Men who binged had a waist size 2.3 inches (6cm) bigger than men who drank the same overall amount of alcohol but spread it out across the week, the study found.

In women the effect was even more pronounced, with binge drinkers having a waist four inches (10cm) bigger than non-bingers.

Experts say a waist circumference of 40 inches or more in men and 35 inches in women increases the risk of heart disease an diabetes...

There was no significant different in overall body weight between bingers and non-bingers, showing that the effect was not due to bingers being heavier in general.

Binge drinkers were defined in this study as consuming 80g to 100g of alcohol, which is ten to 12 units of alcohol - the equivalent of a bottle of wine or five pints of beer - in one sitting at least once a month.

But wait just a second: booming headaches, morning sweats, blackouts, drunk-dialing--surely these are enough to exonerate binge drinking?