How To Drink Beer And Not Get Fat?

How To Drink Beer Without Getting Fat

1. Avoid binge drinking. This is a no brainer since anything in excess is something you want to stay away from in general health wise.
2. Avoid binge eating.
3. 3.
4. Rotate in nonalcoholic or alcohol-free beer.
5. Pick your calories.

Is there a way to drink beer and not get fat?

The Truth About Beer and Your Belly What really causes that potbelly, and how can you get rid of it? Have years of too many beers morphed your six-pack abs into a keg? If you have a “beer belly,” you are not alone. It seems beer drinkers across the globe have a tendency to grow bellies, especially as they get older, and especially if they are men.

But is it really beer that causes a “beer belly”? Not all beer drinkers have them – some teetotalers sport large ones. So what really causes men, and some women, to develop the infamous paunch? It’s not necessarily beer but too many calories that can turn your trim waistline into a belly that protrudes over your pants.

Any kind of calories – whether from alcohol, sugary beverages, or oversized portions of food – can increase belly fat. However, alcohol does seem to have a particular association with fat in the midsection. “In general, alcohol intake is associated with bigger waists, because when you drink alcohol, the burns alcohol instead of fat,” says Michael Jensen, MD, an endocrine expert and obesity researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Beer also gets the blame because alcohol calories are so easy to overdo. A typical beer has 150 calories – and if you down several in one sitting, you can end up with serious calorie overload. And don’t forget calories from the foods you wash down with those beers. Alcohol can increase your appetite. Further, when you’re drinking beer at a bar or party, the food on hand is often fattening fare like pizza, wings, and other fried foods.

When you take in more calories than you burn, the excess calories are stored as fat. Where your body stores that fat is determined in part by your age, sex, and hormones. Boys and girls start out with similar fat storage patterns, but puberty changes that.

Women have more subcutaneous fat (the kind under the ) than men, so those extra fat calories tend to be deposited in their arms, thighs, and buttocks, as well as their bellies. Because men have less subcutaneous fat, they store more in their bellies. Beer bellies tend to be more prominent in older people because as you get older, your calorie needs go down, you often become less active, and gaining weight gets easier.

As hormone levels decline in men and women as they age, they’re more likely to store fat around the middle. Menopausal women who take tend to have less of a shift toward more belly fat than those who do not. Studies suggest that smokers may also deposit more fat in their bellies, Jensen says.

1. Belly fat in the midsection does more than reduce your chances of winning the swimsuit competition.
2. It’s linked to a variety of health problems, from to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
3. Carrying extra pounds in your thighs or hips is less risky than carrying them in the abdominal region.

Further, subcutaneous fat that you can grab around your waist and on your thighs, hips, and buttocks is not as dangerous as the visceral fat that’s found deep within the abdominal cavity surrounding your organs. Visceral fat within the abdominal wall is frequently measured by waist circumference.

1. When waist circumference exceeds 35 inches for women and 40 for men, it is associated with an increased risk of, metabolic syndrome, and overall mortality,” Jensen says.
2. He cautions that these numbers are simply guidelines, and recommends keeping your waist size below these numbers.
3. There is no magical way to tackle belly fat other than the tried-and-true method of cutting calories and getting more physical activity.

Monounsaturated fats and so-called “belly fat” diets won’t trim your belly faster than any healthy, low-calorie diet, Jensen says. Because of the link between alcohol calories and belly fat, drinking less alcohol is a good place to start. Avoid binge drinking, which puts you at risk for damage and other serious health problems.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’ s 2010 D ietary Guidelines recommend limiting alcohol to one serving per day for women and two for men. Beer lovers should opt for light beers with 100 calorie or less, and limit the number they drink per day. Another option is to drink alcohol only on weekends, and to alternate drinks with low-calorie, non-alcohol beverages.

Don’t forget to have a healthy meal before or with your drinks to help you resist the temptation of high-calorie bar food. Doing sit-ups, crunches, or other will strengthen your core muscles and help you hold in your belly fat, but won’t eliminate it.

1. The only way to lose belly fat (or any kind of fat) is to lose weight.
2. Aerobic exercises like running,, cycling, and tennis are some of the best to help reduce body fat.
3. But “any kind of will help you keep the weight off more effectively than diet alone,” Jensen says.
4. The good news is that when you start losing weight, you tend to lose it in the midsection first.

“Visceral fat is more metabolically active and can be broken down quicker than other fat,” Jensen says, “so it is usually the first to go, especially when you have a lot to lose.” Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, is director of for WebMD. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.

How can I get in shape and still drink beer?

Healthy Lunch and Snacks – While I’m all about a boozy lunch, the key here is moderation. If you know you’re going to be hitting the bar after work, keep your calories light and nutritional throughout the day. Eat a nutritious breakfast and lunch with easy, healthy snacks in between (bananas, almonds, etc.).

Can you drink beer and stay lean?

Can You Drink Alcohol and Get Lean? Diet and exercise are the first things most people look to when considering weight loss. However, for many of us, alcohol intake should be at the top of that list too. For example, drinking 2 glasses of wine with dinner totals around 620 calories alone.

• Coming off a weekend, or spending time with friends and family surrounding the holidays, it’s not surprising that many questions surround alcohol consumption and weight loss.
• There’s often some debate about whether one can drink alcohol and get lean.
• The short answer is YES, but as with all things quantity and quality matter.

Admittedly, I too enjoy my favorite cocktails, beer and wine. More often than not, an adult beverage goes well with a good meal or social occasions. Many clients upon their enrollment in a customized meal plan with Healthy Meals, Inc. will want us to know about the libations they enjoy and account for them when customizing their daily meal regimen.

Why is Belgian beer so good?

We’ve noticed an anomaly in the statistics of our viewers on the Craft Beer Channel. As expected, the countries famous for their beer make up our biggest audiences; the US and UK are far and away our biggest fans, followed by Australia and Germany. All the big beer nations, right? No.

1. In fact, the country with the arguably richest brewing tradition in the world isn’t even in our top 10.
2. So we’ve had to face the facts – Belgium hates us.
3. We think we know why.
4. All the foundations that craft beer was built upon – traditional methods, a focus on quality and an independent outlook – have always been there in Belgium.

They never went through the decades of wilderness from the ‘70s onwards that most countries did – a time when most beer was either soda water or dishwater – unless they drank Stella through them, in which case they had a very different, very blurry kind of wilderness.

• Belgium is responsible for some of the most important beer styles and traditions in the world ­– some vital, some silly.
• They are the barons of barrel aging, putting many of their beers in wooden casks to age with fruits; they show the world that 9% beer shouldn’t be downed from a tinnie and a brown paper bag, but from a chalice to be slowly supped in the sun.

However, they also occasionally demand one of your shoes as a deposit for a litre glass of beer. Seriously. But what makes Belgian beer so special is that even an amateur beer enthusiast can pick a Belgian beer out from any other. Whether it’s a pale ale, a dubbel, a fruit beer or a golden ale, Belgian beers taste unique, and that’s down to one thing: yeast.

Belgian yeast comes in lots of forms, but it all has a floral, sweet kind of edge to it that’s completely in contrast to the crisp, bitter stuff used in most beers. In fact, as beer becomes more and more of an art around the world, people are realising that the yeast is just as important as any other ingredient in the beer.

When it eats the sugars from the barley it leaves more than alcohol behind – along with carbon dioxide it leaves more chemicals which can taste and smell delicious or, sometimes, goddamn awful. More and more I see beer aficionados arguing about the best strains, the fruity “esters”, funky “phenols” coming off them, and their uses in different styles.

But in Belgian styles it’s much more important than in any other beer, because Belgians aren’t really down with the hop thing. They find other ways of making aromas. They use herbs, fruits and old fusty hops that smell like carpet. But mostly they use beautiful yeasts, all with their own distinctive smell and taste, and all unique to Belgium.

And that means it’s in big demand. Some breweries keep their yeast close to their chests (usually a sign of infection, but not in this case) while others sell their strains or trade them. Of course, some breweries use wild yeast, which is in the very air we breath, that simply falls into their open tanks – that yeast is pretty hard to share.

• So it may seem obvious to say, but the best Belgian beer is still made in Belgium, brewed for drinkers who only remember good beer, in tanks older than the people who drink it, using recipes older than the tanks that brew them, invented by monks who seem as old as the religion they follow.
• You can’t argue with that kind of heritage.

So here’s three beers born of Belgian yeast and giving it new life today: Orval (5.2% Belgian pale ale) This is one of the most famous Belgian beers and with good reason. It’s light and drinkable, but hugely complicated – the kind of trick every brewer wants to pull off. Orval pours a bright, clouded amber and has a lightly hopped, spicy aroma that’s a signature of all Belgian pales.

But the difference is that Orval is made with brettanomyces, a super funky yeast that adds a sour tang to beer. It’s only subtle, but it just lightens the beer and balances the sweetness of the malt to make a really refreshing, but still complex beer. Westmalle Dubbel (7% dubbel) Dubbels take their name from the fact that the brewer uses double the amount of malt, to ramp up the alcohol.

So dubbels are dark, malty beers that are loaded with dates, raisin and cinnamon-like aromas, but this one has an extra banana-like smell that makes it a little lighter. The aroma of banana always comes from the yeast, and is most famous in German wheat beers where it is sometimes the overriding flavour too. St. Bernadus Blanche (5.5% wit bier) St. Bernadus are most famous for being a former brewer of Westvleteren 12. They used to brew under the St Sixtus name, which is the brewery behind the world-famous and rare-as-hell Westvleteren quadruple beer. That agreement ended in 1992, but they still brew beer to a similar recipe and they are damned good at doing it.

This wit, too, is one of Belgium’s finest. It was developed in partnership with Pierre Celis, the masterbrewer of Hoegaarden. You may not like that beer (and let’s face it, the glasses are ridiculous) but this one is a brighter amber with lots of spices and floral aromas, along with plenty of sweetness from the wheat.

It’s got a full, treacle-like feel in the mouth and just a touch of hops and spice over the apple, banana and pear-like yeast. For more countries from Jamie’s Foodie World Cup, click here,

Can beer belly be lost?

2. Increase Physical Activity – Increasing physical activity is essential to losing a beer belly because visceral fat tends to be mobilized first during exercise. Exercise can help decrease fat around the midsection by pushing the liver to use up fatty acids, particularly from visceral fat deposits.

1. To burn belly fat, you will need to stick with an exercise routine that includes a combination of cardio, strength and core work.
2. While regular moderate cardio is important for building endurance and aerobic capacity, be sure to include some strength training in your workout plan as well.
3. Lifting weights will help your body build more lean muscle mass, which will cause you to keep burning calories throughout the day, even when you’re resting.

Try to target your core with moves that specifically work the abdominal muscles like situps, crunches, burpees and holding a plank position.

Will 2 beers ruin my diet?

Of course, alcohol is not ideal when it comes to healthy eating and weight loss. However, the good news: if consumed in moderation and alongside foods high in protein and fiber, a pint of beer isn’t going to spoil your diet.

Does beer turn straight to fat?

If you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight, the first step is to look at what you’re eating regularly and decide if it’s helping you meet your nutritional goals. But it’s not just paying attention to food. What you drink can be a factor too, including the beers you might enjoy during a summer cookout or the bottle of wine you share with a friend over dinner.

1. Weight is certainly not the only factor when it comes to health, but if you think booze may be affecting your weight, there are a few things you may want to know about alcohol intake and body composition.
2. You might have heard the term “empty calories” used in relation to alcohol.
3. This means your body can convert the calories from alcohol to energy, but those calories contain little to no beneficial nutrients or minerals, Krissy Maurin, MS, ACT, lead wellness coordinator at Providence St.

Joseph Hospital’s Wellness Center told Health, “Alcohol isn’t treated like other nutrients in food; in fact, the digestive system works extra hard to eliminate it from the body, prioritizing the elimination of alcohol ahead of all other nutrients,” Maurin said.

“If you were to have a meal with your alcoholic beverage, the nutrient uptake from the meal would be greatly decreased due to the body working so hard to eliminate the alcohol from the body.” Typically, carbohydrates are the body’s first choice to digest for energy from food, but that completely changes when alcohol is consumed.

“The body recognizes alcohol as toxic and shuts down its ability to access all other stored macronutrients—carbs, proteins, and fat—in order to utilize and burn off the alcohol first,” Maurin explained. Though you may have heard the term “beer belly” before, Maurin said the belief that alcoholic beverages cause increased fat stores around the stomach area isn’t accurate.

• In fact, a very small percentage of the calories you drink from alcohol is turned into fat.
• The main effect of alcohol is to reduce the amount of fat your body can burn for energy,” Maurin explained.
• You are basically shutting down your metabolism, which then leads to weight gain.” In general, drinks made with alcohol are high in calories.

“Protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 but alcohol has 7,” Ginger Hultin MS, RDN, owner of ChampagneNutrition, told Health. “When you look at mixers like juices, soda, syrups, cream, whipped cream, or coconut milk, the calories in an alcoholic beverage can be really high.” Speaking of syrups and whipped cream, some cocktails can be sneakily high in calories.

1. Some margaritas, daiquiris, and pina coladas can be very high in added sugar and saturated fat,” Hultin added.
2. If you want to drink alcohol and are keeping your weight in mind, Hultin suggested several lower-calorie options.
3. Hultin’s recommendations include beers with a lower ABV (alcohol by volume), like Pilsners or Lagers (which are around 100 calories per bottle, compared to 150 calories in a “regular” beer), and dry red or white wine (which are around 120 calories per 5-ounce glass).

“Aim for 4% to 5% ABV in beer and 10% to 12% in wine,” Hultin said. If beer and wine don’t get your taste buds going, spirits mixed with water or soda water can also be a lower-calorie option, like vodka and soda, which has about 100 calories per standard 7.5-ounce glass.

1. Hormones play a crucial role in the healthy functioning of the body’s tissues and organs.
2. When the hormone system is working properly, the right amount of hormone is released at exactly the right time, and the tissues of the body accurately respond to those messages,” Maurin explained.
3. Drinking alcohol can impair the functions of the glands that release hormones and the functions of the tissues targeted by those hormones, which can result in a range of health issues.

“Alcohol consumption causes increased levels of the hormone cortisol, which has been linked to weight gain,” Maurin said. According to a 2013 review published in Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America, long-term, excessive alcohol intake can cause hormone changes that disrupt thyroid function, immunity, and bone health to name a few.

Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how much alcohol causes this increase in cortisol. “There’s no black-and-white answer here; everyone is unique in how their bodies react and break down alcohol,” Maurin explained. Maurin also noted that many studies on this topic include an “intoxicated” study group and/or alcohol-dependent individuals, who may require a larger amount of alcohol to be affected.

It’s not unusual for people to use alcohol as a sleep aid. “Since alcohol has sedative effects that can induce feelings of relaxation and sleepiness, it can help an individual unwind and get settled for bed,” Maurin explained. However, Maurin pointed out that consumption of alcohol—especially in excess—has been linked to poor sleep quality and duration.

• In fact, individuals who are dependent on alcohol commonly experience insomnia symptoms,” Maurin said.
• Many people find their sleep is quite disrupted after drinking alcohol, and sleep deprivation is strongly linked to weight gain over time,” Hultin said.
• According to a small 2016 study published in Sleep, during the sleep-deprived phase of the study, participants consumed more food and found it harder to resist tempting snacks.

After a couple of drinks, the munchies often kick in—meaning you’re more likely to grab any quick and easy snack without really thinking about it. Those hunger pangs are caused by a couple of different things, Hultin explained. First of all, alcohol can cause blood sugar levels to dip.

This can trigger hunger cues and sometimes cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods,” Hultin said. People with diabetes should be extra careful: According to the American Diabetes Association, alcohol combined with diabetes medications can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), especially when consumed on an empty stomach.

Also, researchers have found that alcohol affects an area of the brain that controls appetite and this can cause intense hunger, especially the day after drinking. According to a 2017 study published in Nature Communications, the nerve cells in the brain’s hypothalamus that are generally activated by actual starvation can be stimulated by alcohol.

Those intense hunger cues can make you reach for high-calorie foods, like pizza and burgers. There’s also evidence that alcohol can influence hormones linked to feeling full, such as leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which inhibits food intake. The end result is eating more food than usual because signals to stop eating are blunted by alcohol.

“This is paired with the fact that alcohol lowers inhibitions, meaning many people reach for foods that they’d normally avoid, such as those high in fat or sodium,” Hultin added. Alcohol can have various effects on your health. To help keep your body working at its best, be aware of your alcohol consumption.

Will I gain weight if I drink beer everyday?

How alcohol could cause weight gain – While the relationship between alcohol consumption and obesity remains unclear, there are good reasons to think that alcohol may play a role:

It stops your body from burning fat. It is high in kilojoules. It leads to greater hunger and less satiety (the feeling of being full). It can lead to cravings for salty and greasy foods.

Will 1 beer ruin your workout?

Rehydration Is Key – After a rigorous workout or sports competition, your body needs to refuel, rehydrate and rebuild muscle. Alcohol does just the opposite. It promotes dehydration, which can hinder recovery. In fact, rehydrating after one alcoholic drink can require up to twice as much water, says Kelli Santiago, board-certified sports dietitian and wellness coach at University Hospitals.

• And that doesn’t include the amount of water needed to rehydrate from the exercise.
• The more alcohol you drink, the more dehydrated you’ll become, which can have serious consequences on recovery and overall health,” Santiago says.
• A light beer or drink with a lower alcohol content may have less of an effect on this than a drink made with hard liquor.

But that doesn’t mean you can drink an unlimited amount of light beer,” says Santiago. “Alcohol in any amount can have an detrimental effect on hydration, recovery and performance.” Drinking one low-alcohol beverage after a light workout is not likely to be detrimental.

Can I drink beer if I go to the gym?

– Rehydration and restoring electrolytes is the number one priority post-workout. Therefore, drinking alcohol after your workout isn’t ideal. For the best results — especially when it comes to muscle growth — avoid alcohol and refuel with plenty of protein and carbs.

Can I enjoy beer and still lose weight?

If you’re trying to lose weight, you don’t have to stop enjoying an alcoholic drink now and then. Moderation is the key. Keep in mind: To lose 1 pound a week, you need to consume 500 fewer calories a day than the body burns.

Can beer be a cheat meal?

How Does Alcohol Affect Me If I’m Trying to Lose Weight? – Despite being a fluid, alcohol contains nine calories per gram, which is the same as dietary fat. As such, drinking more than a couple alcoholic drinks could potentially wipe out any caloric deficit that you achieved by eating less.

• Also, your body treats alcohol as a priority fuel.
• When there is food and alcohol in your digestive system, your body will use the alcohol for energy and store the calories from food as fat.
• Alcohol can also inhibit your willpower and make you hungrier.
• As such, you won’t just consume more calories in the form of alcohol; you’ll probably want to eat more, too.

There is a reason that takeouts are so alluring after a few drinks! It should be clear that consuming large quantities of alcohol can completely derail weight loss. Just like cheat meals, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can undo your calorie deficit.

Is Heineken a Belgian beer?

Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate ; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fosters (in Europe and Vietnam), Sagres, Cruzcampo, Skopsko, Affligem, Żywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Zlatý Bažant, Laško and Birra Moretti,

Is Belgian beer stronger?

Specialty Beers – Despite its reputation for excellence, Belgium beer is still not well known in the US. Its small but growing export market is hampered by the fact that some varieties don’t travel well, and many are made in small quantities. Connoisseurs avoid the mass-produced labels (Leffe, Stella, and Hoegaarden — all owned by AB InBev, which owns Budweiser in America).

• Specialty beers can be much more alcoholic than what you’re used to back home, and tourists often find themselves overwhelmed by a single pint of Belgian brew.
• Bottles (and often menus) list the alcohol percentage of each type of beer.
• For comparison, most mass-market American beers are 4–6 percent alcohol by volume, while a heavy Belgian ale can run to 7–9 percent — and a few powerful beers can be 10–12 percent or even higher.

Monk-run Trappist breweries have given the beer world the terms Enkel, Dubbel, and Tripel (single, double, triple). While originally these indicated the amount of malt used to gain a higher alcohol content, these days they have more to do with the style of beer: Enkel is a very light (nearly “lite”) blonde ale; Dubbel is a dark, sweet beer; and Tripel is a very strong, golden-colored pale ale.

Is it hard to lose weight if you drink beer?

– Share on Pinterest As alcohol is high in calories, it may hinder a person’s ability to lose weight. In a word, yes. Drinking alcohol can make it harder to lose weight. There are many reasons for this, including:

Alcohol is high in calories, and so are the mixers that are popular to use in many drinks.Calories from alcohol are empty calories, as they do not help the body meet its nutritional needs.People typically consume alcoholic drinks as extras, adding to their regular daily calorie intake.Drinking alcohol relaxes people’s inhibitions, which can make them more likely to overeat or opt for unhealthful foods.Alcohol interferes with the body’s fat-burning mechanisms.Drinking too much alcohol can reduce an individual’s interest in exercise.

Although some studies have found that drinking light-to-moderate amounts of alcohol is not necessarily linked to weight gain, researchers suggest that drinking alcohol can sometimes be a risk factor for obesity. For some people, alcoholic beverages contribute a significant number of calories to the total amount that they consume each day.

Does beer turn straight to fat?

If you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight, the first step is to look at what you’re eating regularly and decide if it’s helping you meet your nutritional goals. But it’s not just paying attention to food. What you drink can be a factor too, including the beers you might enjoy during a summer cookout or the bottle of wine you share with a friend over dinner.

• Weight is certainly not the only factor when it comes to health, but if you think booze may be affecting your weight, there are a few things you may want to know about alcohol intake and body composition.
• You might have heard the term “empty calories” used in relation to alcohol.
• This means your body can convert the calories from alcohol to energy, but those calories contain little to no beneficial nutrients or minerals, Krissy Maurin, MS, ACT, lead wellness coordinator at Providence St.

Joseph Hospital’s Wellness Center told Health, “Alcohol isn’t treated like other nutrients in food; in fact, the digestive system works extra hard to eliminate it from the body, prioritizing the elimination of alcohol ahead of all other nutrients,” Maurin said.

“If you were to have a meal with your alcoholic beverage, the nutrient uptake from the meal would be greatly decreased due to the body working so hard to eliminate the alcohol from the body.” Typically, carbohydrates are the body’s first choice to digest for energy from food, but that completely changes when alcohol is consumed.

“The body recognizes alcohol as toxic and shuts down its ability to access all other stored macronutrients—carbs, proteins, and fat—in order to utilize and burn off the alcohol first,” Maurin explained. Though you may have heard the term “beer belly” before, Maurin said the belief that alcoholic beverages cause increased fat stores around the stomach area isn’t accurate.

In fact, a very small percentage of the calories you drink from alcohol is turned into fat. “The main effect of alcohol is to reduce the amount of fat your body can burn for energy,” Maurin explained. “You are basically shutting down your metabolism, which then leads to weight gain.” In general, drinks made with alcohol are high in calories.

“Protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 but alcohol has 7,” Ginger Hultin MS, RDN, owner of ChampagneNutrition, told Health. “When you look at mixers like juices, soda, syrups, cream, whipped cream, or coconut milk, the calories in an alcoholic beverage can be really high.” Speaking of syrups and whipped cream, some cocktails can be sneakily high in calories.

“Some margaritas, daiquiris, and pina coladas can be very high in added sugar and saturated fat,” Hultin added. If you want to drink alcohol and are keeping your weight in mind, Hultin suggested several lower-calorie options. Hultin’s recommendations include beers with a lower ABV (alcohol by volume), like Pilsners or Lagers (which are around 100 calories per bottle, compared to 150 calories in a “regular” beer), and dry red or white wine (which are around 120 calories per 5-ounce glass).

“Aim for 4% to 5% ABV in beer and 10% to 12% in wine,” Hultin said. If beer and wine don’t get your taste buds going, spirits mixed with water or soda water can also be a lower-calorie option, like vodka and soda, which has about 100 calories per standard 7.5-ounce glass.

• Hormones play a crucial role in the healthy functioning of the body’s tissues and organs.
• When the hormone system is working properly, the right amount of hormone is released at exactly the right time, and the tissues of the body accurately respond to those messages,” Maurin explained.
• Drinking alcohol can impair the functions of the glands that release hormones and the functions of the tissues targeted by those hormones, which can result in a range of health issues.

“Alcohol consumption causes increased levels of the hormone cortisol, which has been linked to weight gain,” Maurin said. According to a 2013 review published in Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America, long-term, excessive alcohol intake can cause hormone changes that disrupt thyroid function, immunity, and bone health to name a few.

• Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how much alcohol causes this increase in cortisol.
• There’s no black-and-white answer here; everyone is unique in how their bodies react and break down alcohol,” Maurin explained.
• Maurin also noted that many studies on this topic include an “intoxicated” study group and/or alcohol-dependent individuals, who may require a larger amount of alcohol to be affected.

It’s not unusual for people to use alcohol as a sleep aid. “Since alcohol has sedative effects that can induce feelings of relaxation and sleepiness, it can help an individual unwind and get settled for bed,” Maurin explained. However, Maurin pointed out that consumption of alcohol—especially in excess—has been linked to poor sleep quality and duration.

“In fact, individuals who are dependent on alcohol commonly experience insomnia symptoms,” Maurin said. “Many people find their sleep is quite disrupted after drinking alcohol, and sleep deprivation is strongly linked to weight gain over time,” Hultin said. According to a small 2016 study published in Sleep, during the sleep-deprived phase of the study, participants consumed more food and found it harder to resist tempting snacks.

After a couple of drinks, the munchies often kick in—meaning you’re more likely to grab any quick and easy snack without really thinking about it. Those hunger pangs are caused by a couple of different things, Hultin explained. First of all, alcohol can cause blood sugar levels to dip.

This can trigger hunger cues and sometimes cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods,” Hultin said. People with diabetes should be extra careful: According to the American Diabetes Association, alcohol combined with diabetes medications can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), especially when consumed on an empty stomach.

Also, researchers have found that alcohol affects an area of the brain that controls appetite and this can cause intense hunger, especially the day after drinking. According to a 2017 study published in Nature Communications, the nerve cells in the brain’s hypothalamus that are generally activated by actual starvation can be stimulated by alcohol.

Those intense hunger cues can make you reach for high-calorie foods, like pizza and burgers. There’s also evidence that alcohol can influence hormones linked to feeling full, such as leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which inhibits food intake. The end result is eating more food than usual because signals to stop eating are blunted by alcohol.

“This is paired with the fact that alcohol lowers inhibitions, meaning many people reach for foods that they’d normally avoid, such as those high in fat or sodium,” Hultin added. Alcohol can have various effects on your health. To help keep your body working at its best, be aware of your alcohol consumption.