Does Alcohol Make You Fat?: 6 Effects of Alcoholic Beverages on Your Body Weight

It's a common saying that alcohol makes you gain weight, but how true is it? Find out with Yes You Can!

Will having that glass of beer at your friend’s birthday party ruin your diet and exercise program for weight loss? Not necessarily! While alcoholic drinks can have several adverse effects on our bodies, including possible extra weight gain, it all depends on the alcohol intake and frequency of consumption. As well as other habits that form part of our daily routine, such as poor food choices and low energy expenditure.

If you want to understand how alcohol can make you fat, keep reading to learn about the effects alcoholic beverages have on your body and how to combat them.

Alcohol and Obesity: How Does Alcohol Affect Your Body?

Alcohol is a product that has almost as many calories per gram as fats. It has other effects on the body that can contribute to weight gain, or at least make it harder to lose weight through diet and exercise. Here are six effects of alcohol that can impact your body weight.

It Produces a Feeling of Hunger

According to information from the American Diabetes Association, one of the harmful effects of alcohol on your figure is that it activates the part of the brain responsible for making us feel hungry. It also reduces blood sugar levels, causing cravings for carbohydrates.

Combined with the disinhibition that these drinks produce, this facilitates an increase in calorie intake, as when drinking, we usually don’t pay attention to the quantity and quality of the foods we consume.

Promotes Abdominal Fat Storage

If you’ve heard the popular term “beer belly”, it’s time to know that it’s not just a myth. While a deficient proportion of the calories from alcohol are converted into fat, its consumption affects how the body burns fat, as it focuses on burning calories from alcohol rather than fat deposits.

Contains “Empty” Calories

As mentioned before, alcohol has almost the same amount of calories per gram as fats, but the most relevant aspect is that these are “empty” calories. What does this mean? The additional calories from alcoholic beverages do not add any nutrients to your body. They can be used as energy, but have no other components that make them valuable to your body.

Used as a Primary Energy Source

Speaking of empty calories, when you drink alcohol, the body uses the calories consumed as the primary energy source, preventing calories from other sources—such as carbohydrates and fats—from being burned. This can contribute to the accumulation of adipose tissue in the long term and, consequently, weight gain.

Contributes to Poor Sleep Quality

Alcohol could also negatively affect your sleep cycle. Although some people claim that a drink before bed helps them fall asleep, some studies have proven the opposite. Consuming alcohol could cause more prolonged periods of wakefulness during sleep cycles. And how does this impact your weight? Sleep deprivation can alter the balance of certain hormones that influence feelings of hunger, satiety, and energy levels.

Affects Hormone Production

It has been found that alcohol can also impact testosterone levels. This can impact metabolic processes such as fat-burning and muscle generation. Additionally, a study in the journal Diabetes found that low testosterone levels can be related to the appearance of metabolic syndrome in males.

Other Effects of Alcohol on Health

Besides affecting your weight loss goals, excessive alcohol consumption can have other harmful effects on your health, including:

• It impacts some internal organs, especially the liver, which filters substances that enter the body.
• It influences the process of digestion and nutrient absorption.

Alcohol is also related to heart disease and cardiovascular disease, liver disease and increment in violent incidents and car accidents.

How Much Alcohol Leads to Weight Gain?

A study published in the journal Psychological Issues states that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption should not affect our weight. However, exceeding our intake of alcohol can lead to a risk of weight gain.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), excessive consumption is defined as exceeding three drinks per day for women (or seven per week), and four drinks daily or 14 per week for men. A more specific classification can be seen in the table below.

Calories in Various Alcoholic Beverages

The following table presents the caloric content of some of the most popular alcoholic beverages and the equivalent of those calories in foods. This will give you a clearer idea of what each drink entails. Note that the table handles pure beverages, not cocktails, which would increase their caloric load due to the sugar that prepared drinks usually contain.

Yes You Can! Products to Burn More Calories

One way to combat the negative effects of alcohol on your figure is to use supplements that help reduce your calorie intake. At Yes You Can!, you will find a wide variety to choose from, allowing you to find the one that best suits your routine and needs. To start, we recommend our Carb-Blocker and Appetite Suppressant.

Carb-Blocker

Yes You Can! Carb-Blocker helps reduce the absorption of carbohydrates you consume. If you allow yourself a food indulgence like a good plate of pasta, some bread, or a high-carb snack during or after your alcohol consumption, this product will help your body not absorb all those carbohydrates and extra calories. This way, you can treat yourself occasionally without guilt and without negative effects on your diet.

Appetite Suppressant

Our Appetite Suppressant is a capsule supplement designed to help you reduce cravings and urges for unhealthy foods with high-calorie content. Taking one capsule during the first hour of your day can combat those mid-morning or mid-afternoon cravings that often ruin your dietary regimen.

Aim for a Healthier Life with Yes You Can!

A healthier lifestyle doesn’t mean giving up occasionally sharing a couple of glasses of wine or beer at a party. The key to avoiding the risks of alcohol, both in our physical appearance and well-being, lies in moderating its consumption and maintaining other good habits that counteract its negative effects. A healthy diet, a good weight loss program, and consistent exercise are the keys to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Start cultivating those good habits today with the help of Yes You Can! and enjoy all aspects of your life. Cheers!