Effect of Alcohol on Weight Loss – V

If you are serious about losing weight or getting fitter, you may want to consider abstaining from alcoholic beverages because:

• Alcohol is high in calories, and so are the mixers that are used in many drinks. We typically consume alcoholic drinks as extras, adding to our regular daily calorie intake.
• Unlike most foods, alcohol doesn’t make you feel full. Hence, you may not realise how many calories you’ve consumed.
• Alcohol increases appetite, which tends to make us overeat.
• It relaxes people’s inhibitions, which can make us more likely to opt for salty and greasy foods.
• Alcohol?interferes?with the body’s fat-burning mechanisms.
• Alcohol disrupts sleep and this can lead to an imbalance in the?hormones related to hunger, satiety, and energy storage.
• Alcohol is carcinogenic and no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health as per the World Health Organisation.

If ditching alcoholic drinks is difficult, especially considering it is a cultural and social requirement, then we need to drink responsibly keeping the following tips in mind:

• Drink wine. If you have to drink at a party, the safest and healthiest alcoholic drink is a glass of red wine because it has polyphenols. Darker the wine (like a merlot), the more polyphenols, the healthier the wine.
• Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Science shows?having food in your stomach?slows alcohol absorption. Your alcohol blood content may not reach a quarter of what it would on an empty stomach. Eat a meal?balanced with fibre and protein before drinking.
• Drink in moderation. What is moderate? This means one drink per day for women and up to two drinks a day for men, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The key factor is understanding what ‘one drink’ really means:

- Beer:?12 fluid ounces

- Wine:?5 fluid ounces

- Spirits:?1.5 fluid ounces

• Know your lower-calorie drink options.

- Rum, whisky, vodka, and tequila;?all have about 100 calories per serving. If you're not enjoying them neat or straight up, consider the mixers you're adding. Soda water, water, or lightly flavoured sparkling water are all great low-calorie options.

- Wine, both?red and white, contains about 125 calories per serving.

Champagne?is also lower in calories, with?about 95 calories?per 4-ounce glass.

- Light beer?is another good option since it typically ranges between?80 and 120 calories per pint.

• Ditch drinks with multiple liquors or high-calorie mixers. A?Long Island iced tea, for example, has a whopping 700 calories and 20 grams of carbs, and?a margarita?clocks in at 275 calories and 36 grams of carbs.
• Avoid anything that is served with a full-sugar soft drink like Coke, or anything that comes with a cream or coconut cream base. It is also best to avoid cocktails especially the ones with little umbrellas in them because they are usually packed with lots of shots of spirits and sugar.

If you are committed to losing weight or getting fitter, stay away from alcohol because it will nullify the efforts you are putting into nutrition, physical activities, sleep et al. However, if you can’t ditch alcohol, drink responsibly.

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