Today we're going to discuss an important topic that I know many people are unaware of, and that is exactly why drinking alcohol makes us gain weight.
Here's the thing, alcohol is loaded with calories, there's really no big surprise here, and when you consume too many calories, especially in liquid form, your body converts them very easily to fat.
Now if it was all about "just the calories", then there would be some easy ways to get around this, such as drinking your alcohol with some foods that tend to slow down digestion and slow the insulin response which causes the calories to be stored as fat.
BUT, and this is a huge BUT, the big reason why alcohol is making us fatter is a hormonal reason.
When it comes to drinking, I know many of us are guilty of thinking that they'll just burn off the extra calories the next day (I know I'm guilty of thinking this way too), but the real reason that alcohol causes us to gain weight so tremendously easy is that it actually BLOCKS and INHIBITS the release of certain fat-releasing and burning hormones.
For the life of the alcohol in your system, that is, the amount of time it takes to be fully metabolized by your body, it completely shuts off your body's ability to mobilize any fat, thus you are not physiologically able to burn any fat when you drink.
What's more is that alcohol also has the ability to prevent muscle building.
Thus, if you just came from the gym and had a great workout, then decided to head out and have a few drinks, you have most likely severely limited the positive effect that your workout had on your body.
I don't want to completely turn everybody off from alcohol, because it is a great thing to include in our social lives, and it has a big role in many of our lives.
What you should take away from this is the knowledge of why alcohol makes us fat.
Excessive, chronic intake of alcohol is a surefire way to pack on the pounds, even if it's just light beer you are drinking.
There have been plenty of studies done over the years that have shown the benefits of drinking a glass or two of red wine per day, and if you can limit yourself to the recommended volume, you should be safe.
What's more is that the hormone altering effects of alcohol don't really show themselves until you surpass this volume of intake.
So alcohol is relatively safe when you limit yourself to just 1-2 ounces per day.
To enjoy alcohol without packing on the pounds, you should try to limit yourself to no more than two drinks per day.
And from a calorie perspective, choosing lower calorie drinks will obviously also help you stay leaner more so than high-sugar drinks.
Here's the thing, alcohol is loaded with calories, there's really no big surprise here, and when you consume too many calories, especially in liquid form, your body converts them very easily to fat.
Now if it was all about "just the calories", then there would be some easy ways to get around this, such as drinking your alcohol with some foods that tend to slow down digestion and slow the insulin response which causes the calories to be stored as fat.
BUT, and this is a huge BUT, the big reason why alcohol is making us fatter is a hormonal reason.
When it comes to drinking, I know many of us are guilty of thinking that they'll just burn off the extra calories the next day (I know I'm guilty of thinking this way too), but the real reason that alcohol causes us to gain weight so tremendously easy is that it actually BLOCKS and INHIBITS the release of certain fat-releasing and burning hormones.
For the life of the alcohol in your system, that is, the amount of time it takes to be fully metabolized by your body, it completely shuts off your body's ability to mobilize any fat, thus you are not physiologically able to burn any fat when you drink.
What's more is that alcohol also has the ability to prevent muscle building.
Thus, if you just came from the gym and had a great workout, then decided to head out and have a few drinks, you have most likely severely limited the positive effect that your workout had on your body.
I don't want to completely turn everybody off from alcohol, because it is a great thing to include in our social lives, and it has a big role in many of our lives.
What you should take away from this is the knowledge of why alcohol makes us fat.
Excessive, chronic intake of alcohol is a surefire way to pack on the pounds, even if it's just light beer you are drinking.
There have been plenty of studies done over the years that have shown the benefits of drinking a glass or two of red wine per day, and if you can limit yourself to the recommended volume, you should be safe.
What's more is that the hormone altering effects of alcohol don't really show themselves until you surpass this volume of intake.
So alcohol is relatively safe when you limit yourself to just 1-2 ounces per day.
To enjoy alcohol without packing on the pounds, you should try to limit yourself to no more than two drinks per day.
And from a calorie perspective, choosing lower calorie drinks will obviously also help you stay leaner more so than high-sugar drinks.
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