How Do Alcohol Calories Prevent Fat loss?
Alcohol and alcohol calories can affect people in different ways. And this is no more true than with the fat burning process and weight loss.
Firstly, alcohol contains a lot of calories - we all know that - each gram of alcohol contains 7 calories, second only after fat (9 cals/g). Furthermore, some drinks also contain more sugar or fat than others, e.g. lager, sherry or creamy liqueurs.
Here's a short list of alcohol calories of some typical boozy drinks.
Secondly, alcohol alters your mood and lowers your will power. It switches off the part of the brain that controls judgment, leading to loss of inhibitions. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol can give your serious munchies! (which if you indulge obviously means you take in even more calories!!)
Thirdly, alcohol calories tend to be stored in the gut so you'll never get those six-pack abs unless you cut down on the booze.
Finally and this is really important ... it's not JUST the calories from alcohol that appears to prevent fat loss. My experience of working with people to lose weight is that continuing to drink alcohol can halt or slow fat loss in some people and not others.
(Sadly, I'm one of them! I say sadly because my favorite treat is a nice glass or two of red wine of an evening. But I know if I want to drop a few pounds, I have to cut it out completely in order to get the fat loss process going.)
Why is that? Alcohol can reduce your body's ability to metabolize fat and really mess up fat loss processes.
This can mean that losing weight becomes like pushing a heavy boulder up a very steep hill. (My Word!)
(The same can be said of various medical ailments, such as hypothyroidism, diabetes, and some epilepsy treatments.)
This is related to liver function. The liver plays a central role in the metabolism of fats, as well as detoxification. The calories in alcohol are metabolized first by the body, ahead of burning fat.
There's another metabolic problem with alcohol in relation to fat loss that's easy to understand. What's that you shout?
Alcohol is incredible dehydrating unless you drink lots more water to compensate. Because H2O is an essential part of fat burning and moving fat out of the body, if you're dehydrated (which alcohol, as well as caffeinated drinks will do to you) you reduce the effectiveness of the whole fat loss process.
So you could argue that the liver can't break down alcohol AND fat very efficiently when it's being asked to do both!
Firstly, alcohol contains a lot of calories - we all know that - each gram of alcohol contains 7 calories, second only after fat (9 cals/g). Furthermore, some drinks also contain more sugar or fat than others, e.g. lager, sherry or creamy liqueurs.
Here's a short list of alcohol calories of some typical boozy drinks.
Secondly, alcohol alters your mood and lowers your will power. It switches off the part of the brain that controls judgment, leading to loss of inhibitions. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol can give your serious munchies! (which if you indulge obviously means you take in even more calories!!)
Thirdly, alcohol calories tend to be stored in the gut so you'll never get those six-pack abs unless you cut down on the booze.
Finally and this is really important ... it's not JUST the calories from alcohol that appears to prevent fat loss. My experience of working with people to lose weight is that continuing to drink alcohol can halt or slow fat loss in some people and not others.
(Sadly, I'm one of them! I say sadly because my favorite treat is a nice glass or two of red wine of an evening. But I know if I want to drop a few pounds, I have to cut it out completely in order to get the fat loss process going.)
Why is that? Alcohol can reduce your body's ability to metabolize fat and really mess up fat loss processes.
This can mean that losing weight becomes like pushing a heavy boulder up a very steep hill. (My Word!)
(The same can be said of various medical ailments, such as hypothyroidism, diabetes, and some epilepsy treatments.)
This is related to liver function. The liver plays a central role in the metabolism of fats, as well as detoxification. The calories in alcohol are metabolized first by the body, ahead of burning fat.
There's another metabolic problem with alcohol in relation to fat loss that's easy to understand. What's that you shout?
Alcohol is incredible dehydrating unless you drink lots more water to compensate. Because H2O is an essential part of fat burning and moving fat out of the body, if you're dehydrated (which alcohol, as well as caffeinated drinks will do to you) you reduce the effectiveness of the whole fat loss process.
So you could argue that the liver can't break down alcohol AND fat very efficiently when it's being asked to do both!
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