coolvending5's Journal
Drinking = No weight loss, a harsh reminderOct 06 2009 00:13
Funny how my weight did start dropping after I ditched weekly campus beer specials and 3 nights of wine/hard liquor. Coincidence? I think not!
Read: Effects of Alcohol & weight loss @ http://correct-weight-loss.net/2009/02/04/effects-of-alcohol -on-weight-loss-part-1/ ; (or BELOW)
A lot of people try to lose weight while on a “Liquid Diet”! What I mean is that a lot of people try losing weight while simultaneously consuming considerable amounts of alcohol.
Well if you are serious about losing weight and you do consume alcohol regularly, here are the facts about alcohol and weight loss.
A research paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition can shed some light on what happens in the body when a person consumes alcohol.
Eight men were given two drinks of vodka and sugar-free lemonade spaced 30 minutes apart. Each drink contained less than 90 calories. Fat metabolism was measured before and after consumption of the drink.
Researchers found that for several hours after drinking the vodka, the whole body lipid oxidation (this is a measure of how much fat your body is burning) decreased by a massive 73%.
The researchers also found that only 5% of the alcohol calories were converted to fat. The rest of the alcohol was converted into a substance called acetate. Acetate was measured at 2.5 times the normal value in the vodka drinking participants. This apparently brought fat burning (lipid oxidation as mentioned earlier) to an almost grinding halt!
It seems that alcohol acts like jet fuel in the body! It surpasses all other forms of fuel in the body to become the main fuel of choice to meet the body’s energy needs. The body stops burning fat or even carbohydrates. It resorts to burning only alcohol until alcohol is completely depleted.
The consumption of alcohol becomes even more detrimental when consumed with a meal.
In a study in the International Journal of Obesity, the researchers wanted to find out the effect of consuming wine and beer on the amount of food consumed. 22 non-obese men were served a meal with beer, wine or a carbonated soft drink and the calories consumed measured.
The researchers concluded the study as follows;
“The data indicates that alcoholic beverages and wine in particular, may enhance total EI (Energy Intake or amount of calories consumed) at a meal relative to a soft drink, when served with no restriction.”
The study seems to indicate that consuming alcohol generally increases appetite. So if you take wine with a meal, the study suggests that you would eat more than you would if there was no wine.
Looking at the 2 studies together, the following could be happening to our avid weight loss aspirant;
- Someone consume alcohol with a meal
- One eats more than you would eat if there was no alcohol
- All the alcohol consumed would become the body’s main fuel of choice
- The body’s fat burning is reduced massively
- All the calories consumed at the meal are stored as fat. Mind you that one would have eaten more than one would if you had not consumed alcohol.
Some may argue that they don’t eat when they drink. Well these people would obviously drink more. The alcohol would stay in the blood longer. Their body’s fat burning system would be shut down longer and they would not be much better off!
What is the take home message!
As long as you are consuming alcohol you can’t be serious about losing weight! Not when the research shows that it decreases fat burning by a massive 70% for a few hours!
You may not have known earlier but at least now you know. Does that mean that you can never drink alcohol! Well not really. I just said that you can’t have alcohol and expect to lose weight at the same time.
Why would you spend an hour on the treadmill to burn 200-300 calories and then bring fat burning to a grinding halt by drinking alcohol? To me, it’s synonymous to driving a car with one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brakes. Remember that the participants of the study only consumed 24 grams of alcohol.
Get yourself down to the body shape that you want. Restrain from alcohol until you are satisfied with the body that you have. Once your body gets used to your new weight, you may indulge in some drinks now and then. But don’t expect any fantastic weight loss while continuing to consume alcohol. Remember this is not my personal opinion. (As some would go to the ends of the world to refute this claim). Scientific studies indicate so!
A lot of people would insist that they can get in shape while drinking alcohol. I am also sure there are those out there who can. I am sure thought that it can’t be a big number. Alcohol is not a part of Correct Weight Loss.
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