Alcohol
and Weight Gain
New
Year’s Evening is a day of mixed feelings for many people. On one hand, it is a
time to celebrate the end of the year gone by and welcome what is in store in
the New Year. For most of the people, celebration is incomplete without
‘DRINKS’. But HOLD ON! Research Studies have revealed that Alcohol disturbs
metabolism of your body, no matter whether you are an occasional drinker or a
hard drinker and ultimately results in weight gain.
This is what happens
to your body when you drink:
When
you drink alcohol, it's broken down into acetate (basically vinegar), which the
body will burn before any other calorie you've consumed or stored, including
fat or even sugar. So if you drink and consume more calories than you need,
you're more likely to store the fat from the Cheese Whiz you ate and the sugar
from the Coke you drank because your body is getting all its energy from the
acetate in the beer you sucked down.
Further,
studies show that alcohol temporarily inhibits "lipid oxidation"— in other
words, when alcohol is in your system, it's harder for your body to burn fat
that's already there. Mostly drinks are accompanied with fried snacks, which
adds extra burden of fat. When you drink, lipid oxidation in your body is
temporarily blocked, the same time when you eat fried or fatty snacks it simply
gets stored in the form of fat around your abdomen; Results in unnecessary
weight gain. The another reason for weight gain is when you drink, as your body
can not generate energy from fat or sugar already present in your body, your
body craves for food to get energy and you tend to overeat.
If
you think that you drink less and it does not affect your weight, then you are
wrong. Here is the calorie content of different alcoholic drinks:
Beverages
|
Serving
size
(fl.
oz.)
|
Millilitre
(ml)
|
Calories
(average)
|
Beer*
|
|||
Regular
|
12
|
360
|
153
|
Light
|
12
|
360
|
103
|
Distilled
Spirits (80-proof
|
|||
Gin, rum,
vodka, whiskey, tequila
|
1.5
|
45
|
97
|
Brandy, cognac
|
1.5
|
45
|
98
|
Liqueurs
|
1.5
|
45
|
165
|
Wine
|
|||
Red
|
5
|
150
|
125
|
White
|
5
|
150
|
121
|
Sweet
|
3.5
|
105
|
165
|
Sherry
|
2
|
60
|
75
|
Port
|
2
|
60
|
90
|
Champagne
|
4
|
120
|
84
|
Vermouth, sweet
|
3
|
90
|
140
|
Vermouth, dry
|
3
|
90
|
105
|
Cocktails
|
|||
Martini
(traditional)
|
2.25
|
67.5
|
124
|
Martini (extra
dry)
|
2.25
|
67.5
|
139
|
Cosmopolitan
|
2.75
|
82.5
|
146
|
Mojito
|
6
|
180
|
143
|
Margarita
|
4
|
120
|
168
|
Piña Colada
|
9
|
270
|
490
|
Manhattan
|
3.5
|
105
|
164
|
Daquiri
|
2
|
60
|
112
|
Whiskey sour
|
3.5
|
105
|
160
|
*(1 pint = 16 Oz = 480 ml)
How
Does Alcohol affect your exercise?
When
alcohol is present in your system:
Ø It hurts muscle growth. It
actually lowers protein synthesis by 20%. Twenty Percent!
Ø Excess urination due to alcohol
intake also removes necessary salts and potassium from the body, which are
needed for exercise. Glycogen is the body's main source of stored energy during
exercise. Alcohol breaks down glycogen in the liver and expels it from the body
in the urine.
Ø Testosterone, which has a
powerful fat loss effect, is reduced whenever alcohol is consumed, thus halting
its full potential as a fat burner. Also, testosterone as an anabolic hormone,
contributes to gains in lean muscle mass. Lowered testosterone means fewer
muscle gains, more fat cells and less muscle means a lowered metabolic rate.
