Maybe you’ve heard that drinking red wine is good for you because it has resveratol in it. And some people are saying that a few glasses of red wine before bedtime will suppress your appetite and help you to lose weight.
Now THAT sounds like a dream come true.
But should you do it?
In this article, we’ll talk about alcohol and weight loss!
1. Alcohol is a Fat-Loving Toxin
One of the reasons people gain weight is because of toxins they are exposed to. Your body deals with toxins by storing them in your fat where they can do the least damage to critical organs.
So, in order to release the fat and lose weight, you have to create an environment in which you are not taking in more toxins.
When you eat healthy meals to lose weight, you shift your body into detoxification mode. That helps you to release and burn your fat stores.
Now let’s say you pour yourself a glass of wine after eating your healthy dinner because you heard that alcohol can help prevent obesity.1
What happens next? Your body is forced so to protect itself from the poisonous effects of alcohol– by creating fat.
As a result, the fat-burning process you set up with all your healthy meals completely stalls.
The alcohol from the wine, along with your meal will both be stored as fat– especially in the absence of physical activity as you sleep.
2. Resveratol & Alcohol
You’ve probably read about the studies that say red wine will help you lose weight because it contains a nutrient called resveratol. That’s not quite true.
Min Du, the Washington State University researcher who did these studies says that much of the resveratol has been filtered out2 in the wine-making process. Fresh fruit like grapes and berries have much more resveratol than a glass of wine.
Furthermore, the studies on resveratol3 were done on mice.
While the study does make an interesting connection, it’s stretch to say that humans should drink red wine to lose weight.
The truth is, alcohol is an ‘ANTI-nutrient’. It literally pulls important vitamins and minerals from your system, and you become malnourished as a result.
Your ability to burn fat depends on having plenty of vitamins and minerals from real foods.
Alcohol also works as an anti-nutrient by interrupting protein synthesis, which is how your body builds and repairs valuable lean muscle and tissues like skin, bones, organs and hair.
Once that important pathway is impaired by alcohol, energy from your food is not spent on building things in your body. Over time, your lean mass will decrease.
The less lean mass you have, the slower your metabolism, and your body burns less fat.
3. It’s a Binge-Trigger (Unless You’re a Bee)
Let’s move on to another claim about red wine– that it will help to suppress your appetite.
Arizona State researchers noted this effect in honeybees.4 So the important lesson here is: drunk honeybees might not eat as much.
But for people, alcohol is a devilish trigger for binge-eating.
Alcohol makes that happen in two ways…
First, alcohol drops your blood sugar. And second, it dehydrates your body. Separately, these two conditions are enough to make you feel hungry.
When you combine low blood sugar and dehydration, the effect is magnified— you can’t help but crave something to eat.
Especially salty things.
Once you hit that magic point where you are kind of hungry, kinda buzzed– you’re all up in the beer nuts or that bag of chips.
And your warm and fuzzy brain is saying ‘sorry not sorry’ about your weight loss goals. (We’ve all been there!)
What You Could Drink Instead of Red Wine & Booze
So what do you do when you want to have a drink and still lose weight?
Our best advice is to fake it until you make it to your goal.
Here’s a list of yummy mocktail recipes you or your bartender can mix. They are sugar and alcohol free so you can drink them and still lose fat. Click the image below to check it out!
Hey, It’s Your Goal. You got this.
If you’ve made the decision to lose weight, avoiding alcohol might sound monumental at first. But you can do it. And you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how good you feel without the headaches, wooziness, and lingering brain fog you get from drinking.
Stay with it, and your body will shift from being a fat-hoarder to a lean, mean fat-burning machine.
How cool is that?
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The Science
- This Harvard study is frequently cited as proof that women who drink may gain less weight over time. But it doesn’t say that drinking will help you lose weight. Don’t be fooled!
- Resveratol (not wine) prevents weight gain in mice.
- The mouse-resveratol researcher Min Du states that wine doesn’t have very much resveratol.
- Bumble bees eat less when fed resveratol, but no humans were found in this study.
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About the Writer: 100 pounds ago, Jan knew what it is like to be obese, unhappy, and stuck. She has spent the last 17 years as a fitness writer, trainer, yoga teacher, and Weight Loss Coach. Today, she’s proud to be a part of the Personal Trainer Food team so she can continue her goal to help others live their fullest lives possible. Email [email protected] if you have any questions!
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Absolutely on the mark. I gained a beer belly and a lot of weight just by drinking a couple of bottles of wine daily. Consumption starts slowly with one glass and then increases daily over time. Avoid this route.
Hi Ryan. Everyone is different, and sometimes it can become a slippery slope, most can not just have a sip. We definitely have seen the effects of wine/alcohol stalling weight loss. Like you said, mileage may vary 🙂
Wine has carbs; Beer has carbs; if you keep an electronic food journal, then you’ll see exactly how much. But the truth is, they also have alcohol mixed in with the carbs. A small amount of carbs, like that found in vegetables is fine. Your body will likely burn the carb before storing it as fat. The body is rudimentary when it comes to dealing with things ingested. First, it will always deal with toxins above all else. So, if you simultaneously ingest alcohol and carbs, then your body will immediately get to work metabolizing the alcohol. Since it is working to metabolize the alcohol, it can’t metabolize the carbs–But it also knows that it can’t let carbs stick around in your blood–so it will store the carbs as fat. Mileage may vary because metabolism varies. If you put too much load (too much alcohol) at once then metabolism of carbs (and fat) will slow down to an eventual full halt. If you drink regularly, your metabolism will get messed up pretty fast–that is, you will never get your metabolism ramped back up into peek efficiency.
I like the mocktail recipes. However, recent studies show that sugar free drinks (aspartame) has caused increased susceptibility to Alzheimer’s
Carole, I completely understand your apprehension. Luckily, there are more and more natural zero-cal sweeteners on the market that we can use. Stevia and Lo Han are two of my favorites. Thank you for stopping by!