Alcohol can cause weight gain because it is very high in calories. Specifically, this means: One gram of pure alcohol contains seven calories, almost as much as one gram of fat, which has nine calories. In comparison, one gram of sugar only has four calories. The problem with alcohol consumption, however, is that alcohol is rarely drunk straight, but is often mixed with sugary drinks to make long drinks or cocktails, which creates real calorie bombs.
Alcohol hinders weight loss
Alcohol also inhibits fat burning in the body. After consumption, your body is busy breaking down the alcohol and cannot burn body fat at the same time – on the contrary.
More fat is actually stored in the fat cells. So if you eat or drink during, before or after drinking alcohol, all the fat from food is stored directly in the fat cells.
Reading tip
In addition, alcohol hinders the absorption of important nutrients. This can lead to cravings for fatty or salty foods. If you give in to this feeling of hunger, the nutrients of these foods will not be absorbed properly and the fat will also be stored directly in the fat cells.
All of these are unfavorable conditions if you are trying to lose weight or are in the middle of a diet. Consuming alcohol can significantly affect your progress.
Alcohol and nutrient absorption: What you need to know
Basically, however, you lose weight when you burn more calories than you take in, and you gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn. However, it is important to know that alcohol is not particularly nutrient-rich and consuming it further limits nutrient absorption. Additionally, when cravings are caused by alcohol, you rarely reach for healthy foods because your body craves fatty or salty foods. The fat from these foods is then stored directly in the fat cells.
Reading tip
This is how alcohol affects your health
The higher the alcohol content in your blood, the worse your coordination skills become, which can lead to injury. Even the next morning, your coordination skills may still be limited during training if there is still residual alcohol in your blood.
In addition, alcohol affects sleep by shortening the phases of deep sleep. Combined with going to bed late – which often goes hand in hand with drinking alcohol – you’re sleeping less than your body needs. This affects the quality of your sleep and reduces your performance the next day. The ability to regenerate also suffers because the body regenerates itself while sleeping – if sleep is not restful, regeneration takes longer.
Alcohol can also have a negative impact on the psyche as it reduces resilience and motivation. This causes you to train at a lower intensity and your overall motivation to exercise decreases.
Bad for building muscle
Consuming alcohol increases levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Alcohol puts your body in a stressful situation. The release of cortisol simultaneously inhibits the release of testosterone, the body’s growth hormone. This means that muscle growth is inhibited when you consume alcohol. So if you trained at lunchtime and went out to party with a lot of alcohol in the evening, the training in the afternoon was largely for nothing.
Reading tip
Do I have to give up alcohol completely?
As with many things, the dose makes the poison. A glass of wine a week does not make you fat and does not affect muscle building. However, for many people it’s not just a glass of wine, nor just once a week.
So if you often drink too much while trying to lose weight or gain muscle, you should reconsider whether this is the right path. Make a conscious decision whether or not to drink alcohol – and keep in mind the effects on your body and your health, which can be felt even for a few days after consumption. You can enjoy it, but the effects of too much alcohol on your health can be significant.
A healthy mediocrity is often the best solution: never drink too much alcohol and never drink out of compulsion, but enjoy what you like in moderation.
Alternatively, there are now a variety of non-alcoholic wines and spirits available, such as non-alcoholic martini, prosecco, Captain Morgan, gin and more!
The original for this post Expert tip: This is how alcohol is a hindrance to losing weight comes from Bunte.de.
Reading tips