Does calories in/calories out apply to alcohol?

2»

Replies

  • michaelmASU
    michaelmASU Posts: 3 Member
    edited June 2015
    First, I like how nobody reads the actual question and just responds to the subject... Second, here is a good article that breaks down the subject into a lot of detail coming from the intermittent fasting site, LeanGains
    Summary

    * Moderate alcohol consumption is assocoiated with an abundance of health benefits. The long-term effect on insulin sensitivity and body weight (via insulin or decreased appetite) may be of particular interest to us.

    * The thermic effect of alcohol is high and the real caloric value is not 7.1 kcal: it's ~5.6 kcal. However, it's still easy to overconsume calories by drinking. Calorie for calorie, the short-term effect of alcohol on satiety is low. Adding to this, intoxication may also encourage overeating by disinhibition of dietary restraint.

    * The negative effects of alcohol on testosterone and recovery has been grossly exaggerated by the fitness mainstream. Excluding very high acute alcohol consumption, or prolonged and daily consumption, the effect is non-significant and unlikely to affect muscle gains or training adaptations negatively.

    * The effect of alcohol on muscle protein synthesis is unknown in normal human subjects. It is not unlikely to assume that a negative effect exists, but it is very unlikely that it is of such a profound magnitude that some people would have you believe.

    * Alcohol is converted to acetate by the liver. The oxidation of acetate takes precedence over other nutrients and is oxidized to carbon dioxide and water. However, despite being a potent inhibitor of lipolysis, alcohol/acetate alone cannot cause fat gain by itself. It's all the junk people eat in conjunction with alcohol intake that causes fat gain.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Perhaps it's different for alcoholics. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2913463

    Or maybe it's because "The thermogenic effect of EtOH (on average 15 % of its metabolizable value) is much greater than that of the main substrates utilized by the body" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11115785
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    edited June 2015
    if you are over your allotted calories it will slow it down.

    I drink beer nearly every day and have spent the past 2 months pretty much in a drunken stupor on my neighbors back deck every fri and sat night and ive still lost/lose a consistent 2 pounds per week.... but I also account/ plan for all those calories and worked my food around it LOLOL
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Alcohol has a LOT of calories, which need to be counted. If you drink 500 calories of alcohol, and your caloric limit is 1500, then you can only eat 1,000 calories of actual nutrition. Is alcohol more important than your health? It was to my youngest brother, who died this year at the age of 53 from an overdose of alcohol and prescription drugs. But he was skinny as a doornail, because he rarely ate.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Yes
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I may or may not be part alcoholic (if either of my kids came up to me and asked me to stop drinking... I would not hesitate to be sober the rest of my life that's where the, "part alcoholic," comes in). I had to cut down my drinking (5+ drinks in one sitting) to only twice a week. But I always make sure it fits in and I'm still losing about a pound a week. I actually find if I don't drink for a week I don't lose as fast as if I had drank at least twice that week.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Perhaps it's different for alcoholics. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2913463

    Or maybe it's because "The thermogenic effect of EtOH (on average 15 % of its metabolizable value) is much greater than that of the main substrates utilized by the body" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11115785

    The first link concludes the weight loss from replacing carbs with alcohol comes mostly from loss of fluid and nutrients instead of a deficit.
    And the second one just said that replacing carbs with alcohol does not lead to more fat gain. Also 15% is right in the middle between carbs and protein.
  • runrascal
    runrascal Posts: 53 Member
    Ever hear about "alcorexia"? popular with a subset of young women in UK. Undereat all week so you can binge on alcohol at the weekend. Their weight is unaffected because their total calorie intake over the week is within maintenance. Of course, their livers may be a bit podgy...
  • jsuner
    jsuner Posts: 1 Member
    edited June 2015
    Alcohol throws a bit of a wrench into your machinery called your metabolism. The liver has to process the alcohol quickly before it does damage to the body putting other things on hold. On top of this, since your body becomes dehydrated then muscle stops being built efficiently (if you don't believe me do this: Work out a muscle group, then drink a protein shake before going to bed and feel the soreness the next day. Repeat this with alcohol and feel the soreness again. Which case feels more sore? Which case takes longer for the muscle to stop being sore?) alcohol puts a damper on your overall fitness. Your liver and kidneys have to regenerate and to add insult to injury you probably feel so groggy and tired the next day you don't eat properly or work out at the gym to the max. I love drinking, I just can't do it if want the body.
    My two cents.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories