Alcohol Weight Gain-The Reasons Why Its Dangerous to your Health

Alcohol weight gain can be one of many reasons why people from all cultures accumulate belly fat.  Though I do enjoy going out for a social drink with my friends on the weekends and mingling at social events whenever possible. Well, I did until I got serious about learning more about my body and why all my hard work wasn’t getting me any noticeable weight loss results.

I’m just like any other person on earth, I like to cut loose and let my hair down every now and then.  But, I had to make a choice on how badly I really wanted to transform.

So, it came down to me making a decision of what I really wanted to do. Did I want to party? Or did I want to be healthier, live longer and look good doing it.  Needless to say, I chose to get healthier. So, instead of continuing the cycle of the alcohol weight gain I set some smart goal setting plans and put my priorities into perspective.

Did you know alcohol is the No. 1 deal-breaker for most people when you ask why they can't stick with a diet and exercise program?  In part, the problem is obvious: A couple of drinks into an evening and most people would toss aside their healthy eating intentions

The bigger issue is that when men (and women) drink, they begin a vicious cycle, where alcohol weight gain leads directly to increase eating and decreased motivation to get to the gym. This pattern can cause an average weight gain of 5-10 pounds in less than two months’ time if done on a regular basis

The reason why alcohol weight gain can make you fat is because the liver processes the alcohol into acetate. (Acetate is a derivative of acetate acid; which is, salt--acetate is the most common building block for fatty acids) Your body takes that acetate and uses it as a source of fuel instead of using fat, which will lower your fat metabolism by approximately 75 percent. And that’s not good. 

You want to have a fast metabolism so your body can burn fat not acetate-- hitting the sauce is no way to get a flat stomach

Alcohol can also impair your body's ability to absorb nutrients and vitamins from the food you eat. Alcohol irritates your gastrointestinal tract, and can damage your body's ability to absorb nutrients, vitamins and minerals from the food you eat.

What happens to all that excess fat that is no longer being burned?  It gets stored in all those unwanted areas of your body -- especially your belly, but, hips, and thighs. Alcohol weight gain can be hazardous to our cardiovascular and respiratory health as well.

The equivalence of a standard drink of beer, wine, distilled spirits or liquor and Its accuracy has been established by medical and other health professionals is:

• 12-ounce bottle or can of regular beer
• five-ounce glass of dinner wine
• shot of liquor or spirits

Alcohol provides seven calories per gram – very calorically dense, without providing any nutrients (what is often referred to as empty calories to our bodies).

On average, a twelve ounce beer contains about 130 calories. The more you drink, the more the calories add up, and the quicker you’ll start to develop the dreaded beer belly. Like I mentioned before, when you are drunk, you are likely to ingest more junk food. So the McDonald’s, Burger King and late night drive-thru will call to you when you’re at your most venerable state. Once you’ve consumed an alcoholic beverage it will usually jump start the addiction cycle of cravings for high hypoglycemic carbs, especially sweets, which directly affect your weight and your health

Alcohol does three things that cause weight gain:

1. It stimulates the appetite and you can't drink much without munching on something that contain carbohydrates, sweets or salty snacks.
2. The empty calories in alcohol are still calories in our added to the calories from the nutritious food you consume, causing the excess to be store as fat cells.

1. A slight hangover will call you to eat farm or the next day then you normally would, this is especially true for eating greasy foods. 

In addition to alcohol, beer will stretch out the stomach and give you a beer gut if consumed on a regular basis. 

The signs that your ability to metabolize alcohol and carbohydrates has been comprised include:

• Interference with sleep (frequent awakenings and the possibility of sleep apnea)
• Inability to have an effective workout at the gym
• Retaining fluid and feeling bloated
• Hangover severity
• Early morning fatigue

Alcohol weight gain and your Liver

Alcohol is very toxic to the liver, and if you drink heavily for a long time you can experience cirrhosis of the liver and death. Heavy drinking over the long term can also impair your liver's ability to activate vitamins,  which contributes to the malnutrition often suffered by long term alcoholics.

In addition to the weight gain issue your body won't metabolize sugars and fats as efficiently during the metabolism of alcohol, and drinking heavily can cause your metabolism to slow down tremendously. This is how alcohol weight gain is accomplished.

Conclusion

Alcohol is not considered necessary in a healthy diet or a weight loss plan.  Instead, it provides a lot of calories and negatively impacts many aspects of your health. If you choose to consume alcohol, you will need to limit the quantity and frequency that you do.

You will also have to count the calories from alcohol to fit within your daily goal. You can limit calories in your drink by choosing those with less alcohol and a limited amount of sweetened beverages.

If you  still decide that your going to drink during your weight loss journey. Try using flavored seltzers or water instead of drinking alcohol, you will save many calories and accomplish much faster results.

Good luck in your journey and I hope you make the right decision!

Manage your weight loss goals while dieting . This book will show you  a low calorie alcohol guide to help you stay focused on your goal to weight loss While enjoying an occasional cocktail. 

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