Does alcohol really affect weight loss

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited January 2019
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    lin_be wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    Alcohol has two problems. It is remarkably high in calories (Full corn syrup regular Coke 140 calories, equivalent calories in 100 proof vodka 992). And, if you drink 12 oz of vodka, you are probably drunk and will not keep track of calories and not make good food choices.

    12oz?! I wouldn’t be drunk. I’d be dead.

    This is why (for most people) it isn't realistic to compare alcohol to soda. It's not uncommon for someone drinking soda to toss back 12-24 ounces or more, much less common for people to do that with vodka (and if they are, the calories aren't their primary health concern).
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    lalalacroix wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    bishopjulia wrote: »
    If a person counts alcohol into their calories for the day will it affect their weight loss? Slow it down? Prevent?

    no, but booze makes me retain water so it may mask some of the weight loss.

    That's really interesting because alcohol has the opposite effect on me. I always figure I am very slightly dehydrated and get a small loss on the scale.

    When I was younger and got so drunk I got seriously hungover then I would see a loss from dehydration, but these days a couple of cocktails or glasses of prosecco adds a bit of water weight.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    Well, ladies, I wish you were right about portion size for alcohol. But, as a former bartender I think you would be surprised by how much people actually drink. I might have seen a lady or two waiting for a meal friends get out with 2oz of vodka, but understand that a classic martini is served in a 6-8oz glass a little more than half full.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited January 2019
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    Well, ladies, I wish you were right about portion size for alcohol. But, as a former bartender I think you would be surprised by how much people actually drink. I might have seen a lady or two waiting for a meal friends get out with 2oz of vodka, but understand that a classic martini is served in a 6-8oz glass a little more than half full.

    Well, then it's probably something for the women you are serving to consider. But since most people here so far seem to think that 12 ounces is an awful lot of vodka, it indicates that the relative calorie density compared to Coca-Cola isn't a factor in our cases.

    When I make a martini at home, I use 1.5 ounces of gin and a half an ounce of vermouth. When I'm ordering a martini out, it's still gin and I don't have several.

    Again, if you're consuming 12 ounces of vodka or gin on the regular as if it is Coca-Cola, there are issues that probably should be evaluated before the impact of the calories on weight control. If someone here *is* doing that, I strongly recommend them to consider the impact that is having on their total life and health, including their weight.

    You may disagree, but that's my position.
  • lin_be
    lin_be Posts: 393 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    Well, ladies, I wish you were right about portion size for alcohol. But, as a former bartender I think you would be surprised by how much people actually drink. I might have seen a lady or two waiting for a meal friends get out with 2oz of vodka, but understand that a classic martini is served in a 6-8oz glass a little more than half full.

    No doubt that people can drink 12oz of vodka. I’m hoping, in your experience, that that was the exception and not the rule. But hey, YOLO, amiright?
  • magnusthenerd
    magnusthenerd Posts: 1,207 Member
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    Alcohol is weird as it’s treated strangely in the body. It also shows a very weird relationship with body weight. Weight often goes up with alcohol intake in men but either stays the same or goes down in women. What few direct studies exist suggest that alcohol intake does not cause compensation of food intake later on. So what explains the gender difference? Most likely, men drink in addition to eating (beer and wings) while women drink instead of eating (glass of wine for dinner). Oddly, at least one piece of research suggests that regular drinkers may be more active. It may also be that drinkers under-report their true food intake. At least some work suggests that alcohol may improve insulin sensitivity. More research is needed to explain this.
    Lyle McDonald: https://bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/a-short-history-of-beverages-and-how-our-body-treats-them-research-review.html/

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