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New Study Confirms New Zealand’s ‘Ladette’ Problem Drinkers

In a first-of-its-kind study, New Zealand researchers have found that this country’s young women are just as likely to have an alcohol problem as the men. According to Stuff Health, these ladies are choosing alcohol-infused “pops” — known as wine coolers in the U.S. — in record amounts. Study authors also attributed some of the sales surge to laws allowing supermarkets in New Zealand to sell wine and beer.

No matter where they’re purchasing their “pops,” the fact remains that New Zealand’s women are mirroring those in the U.S., where alcohol use and abuse has been affecting women increasingly the past few years. The bottom line is that women are now drinking as much as men — and that signals a problem.

Aside from the slowing of your reflexes and brain function, alcohol has many adverse effects on your body, with a strong evidence of a link between drinking alcohol and several different types of cancers, so much so that the National Toxicology Program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists alcohol as a known carcinogen associated with the development of head, neck, esophageal, liver, breast and colorectal cancers.

Whether or not moderate alcohol consumption can be safe and even healthy is controversial, with studies showing a mixed bag of results. That’s why when it comes to alcohol, I generally define "moderate" alcohol intake (which is allowed in the beginner phase of my nutrition plan) as a 5-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce beer or 1 ounce of hard liquor, with a meal, per day. As you progress further in the nutrition plan, I do recommend eliminating all forms of alcohol.