Dec
31
The Alcohol And Fat Connection
New Year’s Eve may be the highest alcohol consumption night of the year, so it may be a good time to review alcohol’s effect on weight loss. Most people associate the beer gut with the calories in alcohol. But there is a more important component to the alcohol and fat equation.
Because of the liver’s need to metabolize toxic substances first, the body shuts down fat metabolism activities until all alcohol in the body is metabolized. That means that as long as there’s alcohol in your system, you won’t be burning any body fat.
So, if you have one or two drinks, you might halt your fat loss for a few hours. If you have many drinks, it might be as long as four days before you are metabolizing fat again.
Drinking also raises cortisol levels which causes the body to store fat in the abdominal region. It also affects your blood sugar levels and lowers inhibitions, both of which can influence your desire to reach for fatty carbohydrate meals while alcohol is in your system.
So, party your little booty off tonight, but if you’re looking for a huge body transformation in ‘09, prepare yourself for cutting back on the booze in the new year!
Cheers!
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Thanks for the reminder. I know this but it hasn’t sunk in yet. reading about the abdominal fat makes me cringe.