Alcohol And Fat Loss – What You Need To Know

As a follow up to a discussion we had at a few of our Concord training sessions, here is a guest post from Dr. Saman Bakhtiar on the subject of Alcohol and it’s affects on your metabolism and recovery. 

You have a choice to make when it comes to consuming alcohol on a regular basis as it relates to your goals. Our job is to educate our clients to make optimal choices as it relates to their training goals and outcomes.

In this article Sam outlines three things you need to know as it relates to:

1. Calories
2. Fat Burning
3. Recovery

Is total abstinence necessary to reach your goals?

Probably not.

But like anything else that you eat or drink, it does need to be considered.

Here we go.

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Alcohol And Fat Loss – What You Need To Know

Guest post by Dr. Saman Bakhtiar

This time of year we can’t avoid the Holiday parties and it’s evil twin “Alcohol”.

If you know me, you know that I am a big advocate of a balanced lifestyle. I preach moderation NOT restriction.

So without further ado, let’s talk a bit about our friend “alcohol”

Alcohol And Fat Loss – What You Need To Know

One question that often presents itself to many dieters who are trying to shed the excess weight that has accumulated over time is whether or not alcohol can be included in their diet plan.

Alcohol is something that most adults do like to indulge in from time to time – some more often than others.

So what’s the real deal about alcohol and your progress? Is this something that you can make room for in your diet or is it something that you need to give the boot?

Alcohol And Calories

The very first thing that you need to take note of is how many calories are found in alcohol. Alcohol itself contains seven calories per gram, whereas both proteins and carbs contain just four. Fat comes in at the highest calorie value per gram at nine, which places alcohol right in the middle.

But what’s often worse is what the alcohol is mixed with. If you’re drinking your alcohol with high calorie or fat mixers such as cream, sodas, or sugary mixers you could easily end up with a drink that packs in well over 300 calories per serving.

If you take in three or four of these over the course of the night, it’s really going to add up.

Alcohol And Fat Metabolism

The second important thing that you need to note is the impact that alcohol consumption will have on your fat metabolism. The minute that you put alcohol into your body, all fat burning is going to come to a halt.

Your body views alcohol as a toxin and as such, as soon as it comes in, it’s going to do everything it can to rid itself of this alcohol. No further fat will be burned off until it’s out of your system. Only then will you start burning up body fat again. So if you consume quite a bit of alcohol one night, you can expect to see your rate of fat loss drop off for a more significant period of time.

Alcohol And Your Recovery

Finally, the last important thing to note about alcohol consumption is the impact it will have on your recovery rates.

In addition to putting the breaks on all fat burning taking place in the body, the second thing that alcohol is going to put the breaks on is protein synthesis.

This means that no further lean muscle tissue will be built up as long as that alcohol is in the body.
Again, you can imagine what this is going to do to your workout goals.

So as you can see, if you want to be truly successful with your fat loss and workout program, it’s best if you can forgo alcohol for the time being.

One drink every now and then may not hurt all that much, but if you’re taking in any more than this, it will definitely hinder the progress that you see.

Comitted to your health and fitness goals,
Dr. Saman Bakhtiar