I know I know. This is similar to choosing between cookies, pies, and cakes for fat loss. Either way, alcohol is a part of life and many of my patients drink it so I should address it.
In my book The Fat Loss Prescription (Get through Amazon here, and PDF here), I make the recommendation of not drinking any of your calories (other than protein shakes). To make a long story short, you’re getting extra calories that can be stored as fat and you’re not getting the satiety and nutrients that whole foods bring –> Storing fat and staying hungry.
Avoiding calorie containing beverages usually refers to sugar sweetened beverages, but what about our beloved alcohol? I swear I see a new study every other week that shows that moderate consumption of alcohol helps you become super human and live longer. In fact, this study just came out on the possible relationship of moderate alcohol consumption and decreased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Alcohol is different
In school we learned that per gram, carbohydrates and protein contained 4 calories, fat contained 9 calories, and alcohol contained 7 calories. This may lead us to believe that gram for gram, alcohol is more fattening than protein and carbohydrates. The truth is that it is much more complicated as alcohol isn’t really efficient at being stored as fat in our body. However when ingested with other sources of calories (fat and carbohydrates mostly), those become much more readily stored as fat. Alcohol is not a nutrient that is stored in our body and of course it can be toxic at high levels so it has priority when being metabolized by our body.
Either way, alcohol can still be fattening
Regardless of metabolism, especially if you’re having alcohol with a meal, you might as well count those calories. Alcohol also lowers your inhibitions, so when you usually stay away from the junk food, you will be more likely to eat it (or more of it) if you’re drinking alcohol. Beer goggles apply to more than just the opposite sex!
Just shut up and tell me what and how much to drink!
If you’re a non-drinker, I wouldn’t start drinking (unless you want to). Yes there MAY be benefits to a moderate consumption of alcohol, but it is not worth starting just for this possibility. However, if you do want to start to enjoy a drink (or two if you’re a male) at night, follow these guidelines:
- Moderate consumption = 1 standard drink for a woman, 2 standard drinks for a male
- Standard drink = 12 oz regular beer (1 bottle), 5 oz glass of wine, or 1.5 oz 80-proof liquor
- One 12 oz bottle of beer has about 150 calories
- One 5 oz glass of wine has about 120 calories
- One 1.5 oz shot of 80-proof liquor about 70 calories
- Wine has the most data for health (especially red)
- Stay away from sugary mixed drinks
- Use skinnier wine and shot glasses and/or measure out your alcohol (you will drink less)
So for fat loss, it seems that we would want to choose straight liquor. However, if you’re ONLY drinking 1-2 drinks per day, the difference in calories between the three drinks will likely not matter in the grand scheme of things. So pretty much drink whichever one you like most, but only 1-2 per night. If you are going to drink more than 1-2 per day, then maybe choose the liquor.
I have many patients who drink a whole bottle of wine per night or case of beer per night. This is of course problematic on multiple levels and not just for fat loss. If you find yourself drinking more than 3-4 drinks EVERY night, it would be a good idea to cut back. If you need help doing it, talk with your doctor.
