Whether you’re of Irish descent or not, St Patrick’s Day  seems to bring out the party animal in everyone! What better excuse to celebrate an Irish tradition than to head out to a  local bar or festival to down a few gallons of green beer with your friends!  But, before you reach for your next one, let’s take a look at the real effects of what you’re putting in your body.

No, I’m not gonna bore you with what you already know. Most  of us have already heard how bad alcohol is for you. We know that it can cause a host of health issues, including liver  and pancreatic cancer, kidney dysfunction, hyperglycemia, malnutrition and cirrhosis of the liver to name a few.

However, if that’s not enough to scare you away from excessive alcohol consumption, let’s talk about another way that it  can negatively impact your life. If you’re fitness-minded, let  me be the first to break the news to you that alcohol can (and will) single-handedly sabotage your fitness gains, and more specifically – your fat loss efforts!

Now, you may be thinking that I’m gonna give you a lecture on limiting your carbohydrates to control your weight, yada yada. But, no, alcohol has nothing to do with your carbohydrate  intake. Though you may only hear about light beers bragging  about being low carb, the fact is, almost all alcohol is low  in carbohydrates because they are burned off in the fermentation process. So, if you’re monitoring your carbohydrate intake (which you should be if you’re watching your waistline), alcohol  most likely will not be an influencing factor.

The real problem with alcohol is that it provides what are  known as empty calories, that is, calories that have no real  nutritional value. If you’re trying to lose weight, yet drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol, you’re not giving yourself a  good enough chance to create the caloric deficit that is absolutely necessary for weight loss. Sure, there are some lower calorie selections out there. For example, most beers only  contain about 120 calories, 4 ounces of wine only contain about 110 calories, and 1.5 ounces of most liquor only contain about 100 calories.

The trouble is, if you’re having a few “harmless” drinks with your meals, you’re adding up to 360 calories to your diet without any specific nutritional benefit. That’s at  least an extra 45 minutes of vigorous exercise that’s needed to burn off those extra calories…sounds like a lot of work to negate the effects of a couple of casual cocktails!

I encounter people everyday that are trying desperately to lose weight yet drink 8-10 beers every Friday and Saturday night.  Adding 2000 calories to your diet is not an intelligent path to weight loss! Furthermore, studies have shown that alcohol has a definite ability to increase your natural appetite, so people who are drinking typically consume more calories through their food intake as well. Unfortunately, most people don’t tend to  crave a medley of steamed vegetables while they’re drinking. The natural tendency is to reach for foods that are high in fat and starch to counterbalance the effects of the alcohol.

The other challenge that alcohol presents in the struggle for weight loss is its proven ability to slow the process of  burning fat. Your body recognizes alcohol as a poison (which it is), and therefore attempts to rid of as rapidly as possible. The result is that the process of lipid oxidation, which is simply the utilization of fat cells for energy use, is significantly delayed, since the body will burn off the alcohol for fuel before anything else. Research from the American Journal of Clinical nutrition has  proven that most people experience a 73 percent decrease in their lipid oxidation process for up to 24 hours after the consumption of  alcohol. This occurs mostly because alcohol not store as glycogen.  Instead, it converts to a substance know as acetate, which hinders the fat cells from being mobilized.

Weight loss aside for a moment, alcohol has also proven to lower testosterone levels. If you’re trying to develop a consistent exercise regimen, I dare you to try to do so with depleted testosterone levels. I know I wouldn’t be rushing to the gym to pick up heavy weights or go for a long run if I wasn’t feeling energized! The point is, alcohol can also hinder you from any fitness goal, even if you’re not necessarily trying to lose weight!

So go out and have a great holiday celebration. Just remember that before you reach for that next drink, your organs AND your waistline will thank you if you can keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum!

Happy St. Patty’s Day!!

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