Should You Give Up Drinking Alcohol To Lose Weight?
If we want to lose weight, we are advised to give up drinking alcohol in addition to a lot of exercise and a balanced diet .
Drinking alcohol directly affects the natural balance of our body and how we look.
However, some doctors suggest that losing weight doesn’t mean avoiding alcohol completely, as long as it’s in moderation.
Read more in this article.
Why stop drinking alcohol?
People who drink alcohol daily consume between 100 and 200 extra calories.
Among the advantages of giving up this habit, we can mention:
- It improves the senses (especially smell and taste).
- It reduces the risk of infectious diseases.
- It contributes to a better mood.
- Giving up alcohol also reduces body odor, improves nail and hair health, and helps you lose weight.
Giving up alcohol causes weight loss for several reasons, which we will discuss below.
1. Drinking alcohol makes us eat more
If you drink a little alcohol, you are more likely to eat junk food (especially snacks).
If you drink some mineral water or a natural juice with lunch or dinner instead, you will be less hungry and choose healthier options.
2. It adds hidden calories
Without realizing it, alcohol significantly increases calorie intake, even more than food.
- piña colada contains 160 calories per glass
- daiquiri contains 170 calories per glass
- wine contains 120 calories per glass
- whiskey contains 100 calories per glass
While you may think this isn’t much, the problem is that we rarely drink just one drink. Instead, we often drink several glasses in succession, in combination with food.
3. It produces more fat
You may have read or heard the phrase “alcohol makes you fat” . This is absolutely true, as it prompts the body to produce more estrogen.
This hormone stimulates the accumulation of fat (especially in women).
4. It Slows Down Metabolism
When we drink alcohol, the body does not have the ability to burn fat or digest it properly.
Several hours after drinking alcohol, we still feel ‘heavy’ no matter how much food we have eaten.
5. It Tires You
Drinking a lot of alcohol causes dehydration, which results in fatigue. You don’t feel like doing anything but sleeping or laying on the couch and watching TV.
Remember: without exercise there will be no weight loss.
Alcohol is not the source of all evil
It is common for some people to eat out at least once a week. During work lunches and dinner with friends, alcohol is never absent. Many people blame it for being overweight.
However, it is not the only “villain” in the film.
- While it is true that alcohol is an enemy of diet and health as it can cause about 200 diseases, there are also other variables that make us gain weight or keep us from losing as much weight as we would like.
- Due to its hypercaloric nature (one gram of alcohol equals 7 calories), alcohol is associated with obesity.
Many of us will have heard the expression ‘beer belly’, but of course a ‘beer’ is not the cause of all our problems.
Being overweight is caused by other bad habits, such as:
- eating a lot of processed foods
- eating snacks between meals
- a lack of exercise
- a sedentary lifestyle
- etcetera
It also depends on the type of alcohol you drink. For example, a small beer contains 100 calories.
Imagine a ‘normal’ outing with friends drinking four beers and eating some chips. This translates to 1,000 calories. If you do this once a week, you will gain a pound in a month.
However, we need to break with the myth that alcohol is ‘fattening’ or at least not demonize it so much anymore. Moderate consumption benefits us as long as we opt for healthier options such as red wine, for example.
Final Considerations
The key to losing weight is not to stop drinking alcohol overnight, but to maintain a healthy diet and reduce the amount of calories you consume in a day.
The relationship between obesity and alcohol depends on the type and amount.
Combining alcohol drinking with really healthy habits can be the secret to not having to give up going out with friends or enjoying a drink over dinner.
This means that drinking a glass of wine or beer up to twice a week won’t make any significant changes in your weight or health if you:
- going to the gym or cycling or walking to work.
- eat healthy food instead of burgers or pizza.
- use the stairs instead of the elevator.
- exchange soft drinks for water.
Poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle are the leading causes of obesity worldwide. The consumption of alcohol is a mixture of both.
Alcoholic drinks contain almost the same amount of calories as a glass of soda or a chocolate shake. By decreasing our metabolism, we take away energy for exercise or exercise.
A moderate alcohol intake is 1 or 2 glasses of wine or beer per day for men and 1 for women, as long as you follow a healthy diet and exercise 3 times a week.
