Are you thinking of getting rid of those extra calories giving you an obnoxious look? Well, that’s a good idea to get into that perfect shape for a perfect look. But are you a regular blotto! This might be a hurdle in your weight losing process. Yes, having a drink at the end of a hectic day is normally the habitat of nearly 80% people. However, this may lead to a great loss to your full day diet or workout. Let’s face the fact that, alcohol and weight loss do not walk hand in hand, however, having a drink occasionally is good for your health too.
Even having one drink regularly would bring a rise in your blood pressure, and having more than it would surely break your dream of decreasing weight. Alcohol makes changes in the metabolism of your digestive system, which makes the digestion process different than the normal or regular process. Alcohol when enters into the body in the form of toxins, doesn’t require to be digested, which means it quickly reaches your stomach, liver and brain. The process of digesting food is slow as compared to alcohol, and hence, alcohol makes a way speedily to the small intestines and gets absorbed in the bloodstream too. In short, your digestive process would be disturbed and the metabolism process would take a break, giving you extra calories, increasing your weight. So, if you are thinking to plan a diet for losing weight, put a big cross on alcohol for desired results. Have a look at the fact about alcohol and weight loss.
Alcohol and Weight Loss – How Does Alcohol Hinder Weight Loss?
Alcohol brings high calories and sugars, which in any form of alcohol would cause problems if you are looking to reduce weight. Here are some concerns about alcohol and weight loss.
1. Alcohol Comes With Double Calories
The intake of alcohol comes with twice the number of calories than proteins and carbs you might receive from your meals. Alcohol lacks any kind of nutrients, which means it is a big loss for your metabolism process, increasing the storage of fats in the body. The more alcohol you have, the more your metabolism process is affected with extra carbohydrates and calories, which release a kind of insulin. This insulin fastens the storage of fat in the fat cells directly. Hence, whether you choose wine, beer or merely a cocktail, you are surely going to increase weight instead of losing.
2. Alcohol Affects Your Appetite
Alcohol has a contrary effect on the appetite as it loosens the inhibitions. The drinker may not be aware of the adverse effects alcohol gives to your health. Drinking loosens your inhibitions and hence, you would not be aware of the quantity of alcohol you have or the food you are having along with it. This makes you have more calories and fats in your body. As alcohol doesn’t have any kind of nutrients, it increases your appetite. It leaves you craving for food at the same time. This, in short, would disturb your dieting plan and motivate you to have recipes eliminated from your diet.
3. Directly Damages Your Stomach, Kidney And Liver
Alcohol is an addendum of yeast. This can cause you irritation in the lining of the stomach and would weaken the kidneys and liver. This irritation can cause serious health problems leading to death. The weakening of the stomach would also weaken the process of digestion, leading to metabolic problems. This indirectly would cause problems for those who are looking for weight loss. Alcohol damages the liver, which through toxins breaks the fats, as a result, your weight increases. Alcohol also leads to loss of water in your body and dehydration, as it is a diuretic. This also reduces vital nutrients like magnesium, calcium, potassium, etc., which play a vital role in the maintenance of fluid balance, muscle contraction, chemical reactions, relaxation, etc. in your body.
4. Reduces The Testosterone In Your Body
Testosterone is a fat burner in your body. It is also a kind of anabolic hormone, which helps in accumulating lean muscle mass, which are helpful in the metabolism process. The lower your metabolic cells, the less you would lose weight. The intake of alcohol reduces your testosterone levels as well as your metabolic cells, and hence, your weight loss process would also stopover. Alcohol inhibits the production of testosterone and indirectly lowers your metabolism, which indirectly increases your weight.
5. Alcohol Increases Your Craving For Food
For those who are on diet plans, this point is quite crucial. Having alcohol would affect your appetite, and increase your craving to have more food. The more alcohol you have, the more you would feel hungry and have heavy meals. Alcohol is a toxin and directly gets into its route without the process of digestion, due to which, your stomach would feel empty and you would eat more than usual meals.
Hence, alcohol in one way or the other can be said to be a prime barrier for those who are willing to lose weight or tone the body.
How To Reduce The Effect Of Alcohol On Your Body Weight?
No doubt alcohol has several health detriments, but you can still limit its adverse effect on your health to some extent. Here are a few tips on alcohol and weight loss or would work parallel to your weight loss diet.
1. Make Sure You Eat While Drinking
While having any kind of alcohol or cocktails, make sure you are not only consuming it without any kind of eatables. The right way to have alcohol is by combining it with food, which would reduce the consumption of alcohol. This would also give you other important nutrients for your body. Also choose the right dishes, avoiding randomly chosen recipes, for reducing the effect of alcohol. Choose ingredients which are rich in fiber and protein, which would provide you with fats and control your blood sugar levels.
2. Know Your Drink Before You Have It
Having any of the alcohol alone would surely give you double the calories in your body and would also increase the sugar level. To reduce the levels, know the best drink you can combine it with to lessen the effects. Like there are some cocktails which contain a high amount of sugar, but when mixed with other fancy drinks, it gets balanced and hence, also works in controlling your craving for food. Similarly, combining vodka, gin, bourbon, etc. with club soda or other dilutes would work positively on your appetite and cravings. Avoid juices, sweet and syrupy liquors, tonics, colas, etc. which when mixed with alcohol work increases the chances of health problems like obesity.
3. Decrease The Number Of Drinks
Putting a limitation on the number of drinks you have is also the best way to control its adverse effect on your weight. Limiting the number of drinks to one or two for a day is moderately accepted to some extent. But the worst thing is that it would still have fewer effects on your diet plan. Having no drinks on week days and then consuming more on weekends is not also a choice. This would increase the intake of calories in your body and reduce the effects of weight loss diet. Hence, limit your drinks to one a day or one a week for better results.
4. Be Ready For The Next Day Diet
Having a large quantity of alcohol would not only bring hangover the next morning but would also bring you the carvings to have recipes made of cheese or other greasy fast food items. Another effect of the alcohol to your body would be dehydration, which also increases your hunger. Your body would also demand from you a heavy meal to get the lost energy and fight against the damage caused to your systems last night. This energy is obtained through fats, and hence, you would love to have fast food items filled with cheese. To avoid the damage caused to your weight loss program, and to start a fresh day for losing weight, have a glass of water firstly. This is also to be taken while going to bed the night you had heavy alcohol consumption. You can also have some snacks that are rich in proteins and fiber. Fiber remains in your tummy for a long time, fighting the damages caused to your systems. This would also make you feel less craving the next morning.
Alcohol can be said the first thing you need to avoid when thinking of reducing weight. Other than obesity, it can cause several other problems like kidney failure, damage to the lungs, paralysis, brain disorders, heart attacks, etc. out of which some can also lead to death. You can reduce the intake by drinking smartly along with other precautions so that your weight loss plan is not affected or least affected. Having a drink or two in a week would surely not cause you harm, nevertheless, it will be better to avoid it for a fit and healthy tomorrow.