Oh, this glass of wine is too fattening! – said no one ever. And in the milieu, we keep on drinking one glass after the other, without realising how we are adding to our calorie count. Just a whole lot of calories and zero spec of health in it.
Here’s taking a look at how weaning yourself away from alcohol will do you a lot of good by helping you lose weight.
1. Get rid of the unnecessary calories.
The below instruction paints a clear picture of the number of unhealthy calories you pile up on for some of the most common varieties of alcohol.
| Type Of Alcohol (per glass / pint / can) | Calories Consumed |
| Wine | 123 |
| Whiskey | 105 |
| Gin | 105 |
| Sangria | 215 |
| Margarita | 200 |
| Mojito | 242 |
| Mimosa | 160 |
| Vodka | 100 |
| Beer | 154 |
Now, if you cut down on alcohol, it implies that you are cutting down on all the extra calories that you would otherwise have, if you were to drink them. Considering the daily intake of calories on an average is 2,000 calories, you would have to cut down on food to level your calorie intake and not add on some extra calories due to your obsession with alcohol. And whoever restricts themselves to just one glass, can, or pint of alcohol, especially when you’re in the mood to drink. So, then imagine the number of calories you’ll add to yourself – calories that only do your harm and no good. Just remember not to give in to the urge of replacing alcohol with sodas and other calorie-laden aerated drinks because that will defeat the purpose of ditching alcohol.
2. Do away with sugar intake.
As you may already know, mixers and sodas are loaded with sugar content. And so is your red wine and champagne (it’s made of fermented grapes, duh!). Whenever you increase your sugar intake, your calorie intake invariably shoots up. Why, you ask? Consuming too many sugars causes inflammation in your body, leading to weight gain and making it more difficult for you to lose weight.
3. Improve your quality of sleep.
Yes, that’s right! You might be of the impression that alcohol induces sleep and you’re not wrong in thinking that. What we’re talking about is not the number of hours of sleep but its quality. Alcohol hampers sleep quality and disrupts your sleep cycle, that is, the number of hours you normally sleep everyday. Low-quality of sleep or sleep deprivation, due to alcohol in this case, happens because those few drinks you had last night have raised the stress hormones, making it a challenge for your body to lose fat. So, ditch that drink to keep your stress levels under control and, in turn, improve your sleep quality to help your body burn down fat.
4. Reduce food cravings.
When do you just drink without bingeing on pizzas or at least a bowl of chakna ready to be refilled as soon as it has been devoured? Hardly anyone! Alcohol tends to lower blood sugar, which again makes you crave for junk foods that are full of carbs. To top that, your choice of food goes down when you’re under the influence of alcohol, wrecking havoc on your daily calorie count.
5. Better your ability to digest food.
The human interprets alcohol as a toxin. No wonder, it is referred to as neurotoxin and carcinogen. Our digestive system works extra hard to remove alcohol from our system. Without these toxins, our digestive system can focus on easier functions, which may lead to weight loss. While the body works extra hard to remove the toxins, digesting glucose – a form of sugar – is relegated to a second position when it comes to digestion. This gives glucose the time to get stored as fat.
The list of cons does not end here. Alcohol may trigger stress on the intestines and stomach, reducing digestive secretions, compromising with the number of nutrients that get broken down and absorbed by our body. On quitting drinking, you can enhance the metabolism of the organs involved with digestion, which play an integral role in managing weight.
P.S.: Binge drinking can cause a drop in your weight but that’s entirely because of malnutrition. In such cases, the body loses weight, but your overall health is bound to get adversely affected. That’s a heavy price to pay when you want to reduce your weight by drinking gallons.
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