Drinking alcohol is a popular pastime for many people. It can also be healthy in moderation. In fact, it is believed that alcohol may have certain health benefits, such as lowering your risk for heart disease.
However, alcohol also plays a role in weight management. If you're trying to lose weight, you may have to skip that glass of wine with dinner tonight!
How Does Alcohol Cause Weight Gain?
Boozing is definitely not good for health. If you are a habitual drinker, then you should be afraid of some health consequences, such as elevated cholesterol levels, hypertension, liver damage, obesity, and many others.
Alcohol and body weight have long been linked in a negative way and lately, scientists have studied this association extensively. The article discusses how alcohol affects your body weight and why you gain weight when you drink too much.
1. Alcohol is High in Calories:
The most worrying aspect of drinking alcohol is that alcohol has empty calories. This means it is heavy on calories but with very little to no nutritional value. It has more calories than any other food or drink. To calculate, there is 4-7 cal/g of an average alcoholic drink (1). Moreover, when they are mixed with other juices or syrups, the count of calories per drink again rises.
Thus, the more drinks you toss out, the higher your calorie intake. When you accumulate exorbitantly high calories than your body can utilize, you are at risk of gaining weight.
2. Alcohol Keeps Your Body From Burning Fat
Drinking can impact your weight loss goal and health in more than one way. Since weight loss is a combined result of diet, workout, and healthy lifestyle factors, over boozing can seriously impact your lifestyle. While many people depend on alcohol to get good sleep, in reality, alcohol impacts the quality of sleep (2).
According to studies, the neurotoxic effects of alcohol can affect the melatonin in the body and can affect sleep quality and duration (3). Interrupted sleep patterns can cause an erratic craving for food. Untimely food craving can lead to weight gain.
Moreover, when you consume alcohol, your body gets busy processing it and does not get time to burn body fat. Alcohol impairs the effect of glucagon hormone, which helps elevate blood glucose levels and breaks down the body fat naturally. Your body recognizes alcohol as a poison, so the liver prioritizes getting rid of it before performing any other jobs. This means that maintaining the blood sugar levels by synthesizing the body fat becomes insignificant.
3. Alcohol Impacts Hormones:
Consumption of alcohol can significantly cause hormonal imbalance. Alcohol abuse may cause several hormonal disorders like reproductive dysfunction, psychological and behavioral disorders, stress intolerance, thyroid disorder, and abnormal immunity (4). Excess consumption of alcohol can elevate cortisol levels i.e., the stress hormone, which eventually results in weight gain.
4. Alcohol Makes you Feel More Hungry Than Usual:
Drinking habits impact your hunger level by making you eat more calories than what your body actually needs. After a couple of drinks, the munching of snacks usually goes up. This happens because consumption of alcohol can cause a dip in the blood sugar level, which triggers hunger cues and cravings for carbohydrate-rich food as well.
Besides, drinking alcohol controls the part of your brain which regulates appetite. It influences the satiety hormone leptin and the appetite hormone ghrelin and, thus, results in a craving for high-calorie food.
5. Alcohol Affects Your Memory and Judgement:
When you are drunk, it becomes hard to decide what food is healthy for you. You have a tough time inhibiting yourself from making poor decisions, especially when it comes to selecting the right food. So you end up craving unhealthy food, which can lead to weight gain.
6. Alcohol may Affect the Absorption of Nutrients and Digestion:
Alcohol impacts proper digestion by causing stress on the stomach and intestine. It inhibits the disintegration of nutrients by reducing the secretion of digestive enzymes. It also impedes the absorption of nutrients by causing damage to the cell linings of the stomach and intestine, which interrupts the transportation of some useful nutrients to the blood. This can substantially influence your metabolism in weight management.
Even if the nutrients get absorbed, alcohol blocks them from being fully used by altering their storage, transport, and excretion (5).
Short-Term Effects of Excessive Alcohol
Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream within some time of consumption. Then it moves to the brain, and you can encounter the effects quickly. The effects of alcohol may include;
- Lightheadedness or dizziness
- Blurred vision and slurred speech
- Relaxed mood
- Mood swing
- Impaired coordination
- Feeling of euphoria
- Headache
- Memory lapse
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting or nausea
- Emotional behavior
Though these effects do not last for very long, that does not mean they are insignificant. Loss of coordination, mood swings, and impulsiveness can make your judgement impaired which may lead to injuries, accidents, and most importantly, the decisions that you regret later.
Long-Term Effects:
Excessive alcohol usage over time can lead to some serious problems and certain chronic diseases, which may include:
- Cardiac disease
- Brain stroke
- Liver damage
- Chronic hyperacidity
- Cancer of the esophagus, liver, mouth, colon, breast, throat, and rectum
- Weakened immunity means higher chances of falling sick frequently
- Irritability, depression, and anxiety
- Dementia and insomnia
- Decreased libido
- Increased family conflicts
The Tight way of Drinking That Does not Contribute to Weight Gain
When you are on a calorie count or on a weight loss mission, only one night’s drink can sabotage your weight loss goals. Your daily intake of calories may be disrupted because alcohol is high in calories. So here are some quick tips for consuming alcohol that can help you manage your calories.
Drink in Moderation: If you have planned for a hang out with friends, then it is better to limit to 1-2 drinks only at a time. Since all types of alcohol have high calories, it is better to have it in moderation so that you don’t have to regret later.
Do not go for Cocktails: When you mix two types of alcohol or choose to have it with any soft drinks, the calorie count is increased almost by double. Hence, it is always better to have your drink with water or diet soda.
Munch on Veggies and Proteins: It is always beneficial to have your drink with vegetables and protein based foods. Complex carbohydrates such as chips, pasta, or fries have high calories and can immediately elevate your blood glucose level. Veggies and protein are healthier foods and help control your sugar levels.
Fasting is a Better Proposition After Drinking: It is always better to keep a fast for at least 14 to16 hours between your last meal and first meal of the day. Fasting helps to manage the calories and helps remove toxins from your body as well.
Hydrate: Having a glass of water after every drink may lessen the urge of binge drinking. This will lower your calorie intake as well.
What are the best low calorie drinks that help weight loss:
While most alcoholic beverages are loaded with added sugar and calories, there are some low-calorie options as well which you can relish without worrying about your weight loss goals. Here are the options:
- Tequila with lime - a shot of tequila(42 ml) with lime wedge has a total of 99 calories.
- Vodka soda and lemon - one serving of vodka (42ml) has only 97 calories.
- White wine - one serving of white wine (120 ml) has only 90 calories.
- Martini - one serving of martini with olives has 128 calories
- Gin and tonic - one serve of gin and tonic (160 ml) contain 135 calories.
- Scotch whiskey - one serving of 30 ml contains 68 calories.
- Rum - one serving consisting of 30 ml of rum contains 62 calories.
- Bloody mary - one serving of 225 ml bloody mary offers 150 calories.
- Red wine - 150 ml of red wine adds up to 125 calories.
- Light beer - compared to the normal beer, it has fewer calories. One glass (approx.360 ml)of light beer contains 104 calories.
Closing Thoughts
Though alcohol does not affect everyone equally, it may cause weight gain in some people for its high caloric content and can affect hunger hormones, overall metabolism, and decision-making. In that case, implementing abstinence from liquor is the best way to manage weight. If you like drinking at the same time and do not want to gain weight, enjoy a low-calorie alcoholic beverage while keeping a check on the servings.