Scientists find beer-gut gene

“ROLL out the barrel” goes the anthem of the boozy imbiber but the lyrics become a send-up of the singing souse in light of the latest research.

A fat face and flabby belly are from too many trips to the bar and the deli, the scientists warn us, especially for males with a genetic predisposition towards flabbiness.

Women may stew about getting thick around the hips, but for some unfortunate males, the presence of a troublesome enzyme tagged ACE

(angiotensin-converting enzyme), the gaping gut is unavoidable.

Scientists in Italy have found that men with a certain gene variation have a tendency to get a padded paunch, particularly if their lifestyle resembles that of Homer Simpson.

A team led by Pasquale Strazzullo of the University of Naples looked at several natural variations in the gene that are found in healthy men.

They found that one genetic variant (polymorphism), known as DD, is linked to developing fat around the stomach. It seems to determine which men will put on weight and develop beer bellies as they grow older.

"DD homozygosity was associated with larger increases in body weight and blood pressure in aging persons, as well as with higher incidence of being

overweight," the scientists wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The research was part of a large heart disease study of 959 men, aged between 25 and 75 years old, who work for the Italian company Olivetti.

Men with the DD genetic sub-type were more than twice as likely to

become overweight over the course of two decades than those with a

different gene type.

But before crying into your spilt milk and malibu, take heart. Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine claimed that a tipple a day keeps the doctor away.

The findings showed that men who drank moderate amounts of beer, wine or spirits three or more times a week were up to 35% less at risk of heart attacks than non-drinkers.

In the words of the mighty Homer 'To Alcohol.'