Alcohol and Weight Loss

Alcohol and weight loss

How much do the calories in alcohol affect your weight loss? Does a few drinks each night or weekend really make that much difference? We look at the reasons why alcohol consumption might be holding your weight loss right back!

Alcohol is the most social and common kind of 'drug' we can take, and it's a normal part of our society and socialising to have a few drinks. We've been drinking alcohol for centuries from simple fermented drinks to classy wines, champagnes, and exotic cocktails. There are obvious health and social problems associated with excessive or binge consumption of alcohol, but what about it's effects on people aiming for weight loss?

Calories in alcohol

Just like any food or drink you consume (water excepting!) alcoholic drinks contain energy or calories. There are 7 calories per gram of alcohol (29kJ), and a 'standard drink' or unit contains 8 grams of alcohol, which is equal to 56 calories. Alcohol compares favorably to the energy content of fat at 9 calories per gram, but is worse than protein or carbohydrate at 4 calories per gram.

The other downside of alcohol is that a 'standard drink' isn't so standard anymore! One pint of beer has 2.5 units of alcohol, a 125ml glass of wine (this is a small glass!) has 1.5 units, and a nip of spirits 1 unit. The original guidelines for standard drink sizes have become outdated as we serve stronger beer (5% not 3%), stronger wine (13% not 10%) and larger portions of all drinks eg double shots are standard in most pubs. So you can see that a 'standard drink' contains a significant amount of calories from alcohol....and that's not including the calories from mixers sugar in the alcoholic drink and then any mixers you have!

So what's the best drink to have for low calories and weight loss? (No prizes for guessing it's water)

So all alcoholic drinks contain a significant amount of calories per serve, and we often have more than just one serve! But how much damage does this do for your weight loss efforts? Well, in an ideal dietary plan you'd reduce your calorie intake by 250-500 calories per day to achieve a good amount of healthy weight loss per week. If this is your target then you can easily see that 1-2 drinks per night puts pay to any good nutrition plan you might follow during the day.

Another way to look at the effect alcohol has on weight loss is to compare the equivalent time you would need to spend doing fitness training to burn these calories off!

One beer takes 30mins of walking, or around 15mins of running to burn off. So does a glass of wine or a shot of spirits.

So you can see there's a lot of work to be done if you have a few (or more) drinks. Think of all the sweat, tears, and hard work that can go into a great fitness session....and how easily it can be reversed by drinking alcohol. Also, alcohol contains no essential nutrients and reduces the absorption of Vitamins A, D, E, K, folate, B I, and B2. As well, alcohol does not contribute to muscle glycogen, so you may be left short on carbohydrates, which you need in order to train hard.

To find out more about alcohol, alcohol and weight loss, and the effects of alcohol on weight loss please contact us!