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Alcohol and Weight Gain

Posted Mar 31 2010 3:08am

Alcohol does contain a lot of calories, and beer in particular has been termed the cause of beer bellies for years.  But the correlation between alcohol and weight gain is still not clear.

alcohol and weight gain

Calories in Alcohol and Weight Gain

Alcohol is produced by fermentation of sugars and starches, which translate into calories.  Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram. If you consume 12 ounces of beer you have drank about 150 calories, if you drink the whole six pack you can multiply that times 6 and you have just added 900 calories to your daily caloric intake.

Alcohol contains a significant amount of calories.  This is especially detrimental to your weight if you over indulge.  The calories in alcohol do not contain carbohydrates and therefore cannot be used by the body.  Instead the body breaks them down into acetates.  Acetate in your blood stream is used before your stored calories are used.

Metabolism of Calories in Alcohol and Weight Gain

Alcohol is a depressant and this quality slows down your metabolism significantly while makes it harder for your body to burn fat naturally. The effect of slowed metabolism can last 24 to 48 hours. When your metabolism is decreased you are not using calories that are stored in your body.

The effects of metabolism of alcohol in the body have a negative affect particularly to the aspect of metabolizing fats.  We receive energy from fats through the process of fats being metabolized in our body and alcohol limits this significantly. The American Journal of Clinical Research published findings that just a small amount of alcohol can hinder the ability of the body to oxidize lipids or the burning of fats.

When alcohol is processed through the liver it forms acetate and instead of burning fats for energy use the body will instead burn the acetate because it views the acetate as a toxin.

Hormones of Alcohol and Weight Gain

Alcohol has an effect on some of the hormones in your body.  One of which is estrogen which is contained in hops used to produce alcohol.  This hormone can cause you to store fat in your abdomen.  Another hormone affected is the production of testosterone in the body.  This hormone is important for muscle growth.  Drinking too much alcohol can decrease the amount of muscle you are able to build and increase the amount of fat you store in your body.

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