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The Effects of Alcohol in Weight Loss
There is some debate
about the effect of alcohol in weight loss on a
low-carbohydrate diet.
Dry drinks like vodka and dry wines contain no carbohydrates, but they
do contain alcohol. This provides energy at 7 calories per gram and,
as
alcohol is absorbed rapidly by the body, this source of energy can
be
used as a source of fuel by the body in place of carbs. The late Dr
Albert
Pennington, who had considerable experience of high-fat,
low-carb diets
in the treatment of obesity in the middle third of the
20th Century, says
that alcohol checks the combustion of fat in the
body.
This is probably true. We know that alcohol does not raise insulin
levels,
it is not stored as fat and, thus, will not itself make us
fat. However,
it can stop weight loss. If the calories provided by
alcohol are used
preferentially, that will mean calories from both
glucose and body fat
will not be used until the energy supplied by the
alcohol is used up.
This must have an effect on weight loss. (Note
that here I am talking
about the
alcohol
in a drink, NOT the
carbohydrate
content of that drink. That will contribute to weight gain.)
On the other hand, there is
Banting's
evidence.
He took six glasses of claret a day and a glass of rum or
something like
that most nights when he went to bed, and still he lost
weight.
Another researcher working with low-carb diets, Dr Gaston Pawan, of the
Middlesex Hospital, London, mentioned the intriguing possibility that
alcoholic drinks, by dilating the blood vessels in the skin and making
it work harder, may step up metabolism to an extent which more than
compensated
for the calories taken in as alcohol. This increased
metabolism, coupled
with increased loss of water from the skin and in
the urine, he opined,
could then result in weight loss. There is
experimental evidence for this.
Pawan's colleague, Professor Alan Kekwick found that obese patients who
were losing weight satisfactorily on a high-fat, low-calorie diet,
would
still continued to lose if alcohol was added in amounts up to as
much
as 500 calories a day — which is equivalent to about a
seven fluid
ounces (190ml) of 37.5% gin or vodka. But if that extra
500 calories were
given as a carbohydrate-rich food such as chocolate
or bread, they stopped
losing weight and started to gain. It seems
probable that all alcoholic
drinks except those such as beer or sweet
wines and liqueurs which contain
large amounts of carbohydrate, are
not fattening.
It might be wise to consider, however, that the stimulation of appetite
and the removal of inhibitions by alcohol may mask the slimming effect
by tempting you to overeat the fattening, carbohydrate foods which are
so often provided with drinks.
Read teenage alcohol abuse articles to get tips on how to deal with teenage loved ones who are abusing alcohol for one reason or another.
Last updated 22 August 2011
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