Español Mind + Body + life transformation
Mind + Body + life transformation
The truth about alcohol
For those of us who indulge, mixing, mingling and making merry this holiday wouldn’tbe the same without alcohol.But for those of us with determined to win the weight-management battle, adding alcohol to the equation makes this a tough one to balance. Here’s why:
Alcohol is the second most potent source of calories
Hanging out with alcoholis fun because we like feeling intoxicated, but this intoxica- tion comes with a caloric price tag. One gram of alcohol is 7 calories, which is more than one gram of carbohydrate (4 calories) and protein (4 calories).
We don't burn extra calories to metabolize alcohol
... like we do from digesting carbs, fat and protein. The “thermic effect of food†uses energy to digest food into small, absorbable components. Because alcohol is so easy to absorb, it enters our bloodstream withoutburning any extra calories.
Your liver does the dirty work
Because alcohol is seen as a toxin, the liver prioritizes metabolizing alcohol first (get inline, fat... it’s not your turn!) whichmeans you won’tbe burning caloriesfrom other sources while that happens. The liver is only able to clear alcohol at a rate of around one ounce liquor per hour, which is why consuming more than this will leave you feelingtipsy.
Alcohol makes your blood sugar drop
This drop makes you want to reach for carbs. The liver helps keep our blood sugar steady, but a liver busy at work metabolizing alcohol can’t do this effectively, causing your blood sugar to drop and stay low until the alcoholis metabolized. This explains why you crave carbs and wake up the next day with a headache.
Alcohol calories that aren't burned are stored as fat
This is true for all extra calories eaten no matter the source, but what makes alcohol calories worse is that they are stored in your liver first. It takes time for the liver to ship out the alcohol-induced fat for proper storage in your fat cells. If the liver doesn’t do this fast enough (or if you drink too much, too often) the fat stays stuck in your liver and aroundyour abdomen givinga “beer belly.â€
5 Tips for smarter holiday sips
Thisof course doesn’tmean you need to completely dodge all socialsips this season.Here are some tips to help preventyou from gainingtoo much of your holidaycheer:
