How Bad is Drinking Alchol When Trying to Lose Weight?

     Does alcohol make you fat?

Everybody likes to throw a few back with friends - some a little more than others ;-)

But, if you're on a weight loss plan one night of drinking can really set you back. Many of us realize the calorie consumption that goes with drinking, but it goes way beyond that.

Check this out.

How Alcohol Makes You Fat

-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.

-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.

-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.

-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver. It is here that the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since alcohol is toxic to the body.

-Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.

If you booze, you WON'T lose fat!

What Does this Mean?

-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour

-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to 6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when it comes to fat loss!

-What's the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)

The Bottom Line

If you want to be lean, you must minimize alcohol consumption!

If you must drink:

a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and "light" beer

b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max

References: Campbell and Volek, "TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics"

I'm not saying you can't have some fun this weekend. Just be conscious of what you're consuming.

Have a great and SAFE 4th of July.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule

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