Alcohol has sedative effects that may help you relax and make you sleepy after a drink. Still, research has linked excess alcohol use to poor sleep duration and quality. People with alcohol use disorder (AUD) have a higher can you gain weight from vodka insomnia risk than others. The calories in alcohol are “empty,” meaning they contain little to no beneficial nutrients or minerals. Alcoholic beverages are often high in empty calories, with about seven per gram.
Why Do We Get A Beer Belly? + 11 Tips For Getting Rid Of It
It’s not just your digestive organs that can be damaged from drinking too much vodka every night. Rather, pretty much every organ in your body takes a beating when you overindulge in alcohol in different ways, and none of them are pretty. Have you noticed that ever since you started drinking vodka every night that you’ve been more likely to get sick during cold and flu season? Did you used to never get sick, but now you can’t seem to avoid it? If so, it’s possible that your daily vodka intake is responsible for you getting under the weather, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The Connection Between Alcohol and Weight Gain
I’ve spent the last seven years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. Additionally, I examine the way mental and physical health as well as our relationships with others impact the reasons people drink and their role in maintaining sobriety long-term. Alcohol disrupts your metabolism and lowers testosterone which, in addition to the added calories, contributes to weight gain. That’s an additional 2,000-3,000 calories of fatty, salty, nutritionally poor food sitting in your stomach, which is still reeling from the 4,000+ nighttime calories you crammed into it less than 12 hours ago. So to recap where we are currently, you’ve just consumed anywhere from 1,000-2,000 calories at the pub, and now you’re inhaling another 1,500-2,000 calories of high fat, high sodium food. Alcohol also makes us lose our inhibitions, messes with our hormones (adrenaline and cortisol), and increases our cravings for high-fat, high-carb foods.
- Most importantly, it contains calories but offers no nutrients for those calories.
- For example, an 80-proof vodka will contain about 40 percent alcohol.
- However, as with all alcohol consumption, it’s important to consider the impacts of weight gain.
- High fiber snacks such as nuts and fruits also help reduce dependence on alcohol.
More on Diet & Weight Management
But if you aren’t able to eat right when drinking, it’ll significantly affect how you accumulate fat. There are many grey areas when drinking alcohol and if it will actually cause weight gain. The biological mechanisms that happen once you drink alcohol can hinder fat burning in your body. Weight loss — or, more appropriately, fat loss — has to do with a number of factors, including genetics. But at its core, it relies on creating a calorie deficit, or consuming fewer calories than you expend each day. When you remain in a calorie deficit for a period of time, your body will begin to burn fat stores for energy.
Generally, glands in your body release the right amount of hormones at an exact time, which send messages to your tissues. Those messages aid in your body’s stress response and help control your energy and metabolism. Drinking alcohol can impair the functions of your glands that release hormones, which may cause weight gain.
Best alcoholic drinks for weight loss
- If you’re doing everything else right in your diet and exercise program, then having an alcoholic beverage or two shouldn’t contribute much to weight gain.
- As you might know, pre-mixed spirits are lower in alcohol content than your traditional vodka (about 7% ABV, or alcohol by volume).
- As the saying goes, “a moment on your lips, forever on your hips,” and alcohol can certainly be one of the biggest culprits when it comes to sabotaging our waistlines.
- Drinking alcohol with diabetes medicine, especially on an empty stomach, may cause low blood sugar.
If you’ve been drinking alcohol, you should drink water to quickly get rid of bloating in your face and stomach. If you’ve noticed you’ve gained weight or tend to bloat when you drink alcohol, you may want to consider cutting back on your alcohol consumption. Even drinking a little too much (binge drinking) on occasion can set off a chain reaction that affects your well-being. Lowered inhibitions can lead to poor choices with lasting repercussions — like the end of a relationship, an accident or legal woes. Each of those consequences can cause turmoil that can negatively affect your long-term emotional health.
We also describe how drinking alcohol can interfere with weight loss. Regular physical activity can help offset the caloric intake from alcohol. Incorporate a mix of cardio and strength training exercises https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/meditation-for-addiction-recovery-methods-and-techniques/ to boost metabolism and support weight management. The effects of alcohol on opioid, serotonergic, and GABAergic pathways in the brain all suggest the potential to increase appetite [62–65].
