There has been a lot of information over the years about weight loss. New diets here and a new gadget over there. However, there has been little said about the effects of alcohol on weight loss efforts. That is what we will look at here today.
While alcohol is caloric, as are virtually all foods and beverages, it differs in important ways from other substances. The first problem is that the calories that you get from alcohol are worthless, and not one calorie from alcohol has any nutritional value.
The calories consumed from alcohol must be processed by the liver. Calories from alcohol are like bullies they must be burned first, that will leave all the other calories patiently stored and we all know what stored calories are, nothing else but fat.
When drinking alcohol, you will consume twice as many calories of carbohydrates and proteins that come from food. What this means is alcohol provides seven calories per gram as opposed to carbohydrates, which contain four calories per gram. Simply put, when you gulp four 12-ounce beers then you might have consumed about 600 calories! It is easy to see how prolonged use of alcohol could pack on the pounds.
One final point regarding the caloric outcome of alcohol is the mixers. Many popular alcoholic drinks are actually a mix of different substances. The preservatives and other chemicals make the calories add up. For example, one long island ice tea has an astounding 740 calories. You could get half of the day’s recommended allowances just by drinking one!
Another key ingredient to weight loss is your metabolism. Your metabolism is the sum of physical and chemical reactions in your cells to produce energy. Or more simply put the rate at which your body processes calories into energy. Alcohol slows this entire process, in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a person on a 1250 calorie diet where 250 of the calories were from alcohol could see as much as a 36% reduction in their metabolism. This means that you are processing calories nearly forty percent less efficiently.
Many people who consume alcohol regularly inform that at first they feel much better. On the other hand, you can suffer from depression if you drink to excess, since alcohol is actually a depressive substance. If you are feeling depressed it will feel a lot harder to diet, actually people are known to eat more as a way of comforting themselves. A vicious cycle if you stop and think about it. Depression can cause lack of motivation as well as making you less likely to want to continue any kind of exercise routine.
Water is an important factor in basic health but it is also important in muscle building. Muscles require a sufficient amount of hydration to function properly, without it, they can become weak and inefficient. Alcohol dehydrates the body because of the massive amounts of water the kidneys require to process the toxin from the body.
Too much drinking causes damage to various organs, but one drink a day is actually good for most people’s health. Besides the issues it may cause for weight reduction, there are also medical concerns to keep in mind. If you are over weight, and are trying to drop it, you will loose more weight if you do not drink alcohol. Until you get control of your weight, red wine is the best choice if you must drink.
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