| Hey there, According to many fitness folk, drinking even lightly or sporadically inexorably leads to weight gain. If you want to be in shape, they say, you have to give up booze. Happily, research shows otherwise. For starters, studies show that moderate drinking is associated with lower body weights, not higher, and can result in more weight loss when dieting, not less. What's more, research shows that calories from alcohol itself don't affect body fat levels in the same way other calories do. After analyzing the diets of almost 2,000 adults, scientists at the University of São Paulo found that an increase in calories from alcohol alone didn't result in the weight gain that would've occured if those calories had been from food. In fact, when compared to nondrinkers, drinkers took in an average of 50-to-130 more calories per day (from alcohol) and yet weren't any fatter than their alcohol-free counterparts. It's almost like the extra calories simply "didn't count." There are two likely reasons for these observations. First, alcohol can decrease appetite, which helps with weight loss, and improves insulin sensitivity, which can help with fat burning. Second, the body can't directly convert alcohol into body fat like it can with food because it's processed differently. The chemistry is complex, but you can think of it like this: wood contains about 4 calories per gram, but no amount of wood shavings on our salads or sawdust in our shakes can make us fatter because our bodies don't produce chemicals for digesting and absorbing them. My point? The calories that matter are those that our bodies can process and use, and calories in alcohol don't matter in the same way as those in food. That said, alcohol can contribute to fat gain in a unique way: By blunting fat burning and enhancing the conversion of carbs and fat into body fat. In other words, while alcohol doesn't provide usable calories for the creation of body fat, it constipates our body's fat-burning mechanisms and augments its fat-making ones. This can't significantly impact your body fat levels without a regular calorie surplus (lean gaining, for instance), but it should be noted. Therefore, you can drink alcohol without scuttling your fitness goals, but you should follow three tips: 1. Limit yourself to no more than two servings per day while cutting and maintaining (because of satiety and health) and one serving of alcohol per day while lean gaining (because of the calorie surplus). 2. Choose lower-calorie wines, beers, and spirits over higher-calorie drinks like heavy beer, cider, and fruity cocktails. 3. Consider alcohol a treat (part of the 20 percent of daily calories you can use indiscriminately) and include the calories in your meal plan. Also: If you want to learn more about the art and science of getting the body you want by eating (and drinking!) the foods and beverages you like, check out one of my bestselling fitness books. For men trying to gain their first 25 pounds of muscle or get to 10 to 15% body fat: ⇒ https://legionathletics.com/products/books/bigger-leaner-stronger/ For women trying to gain their first 15 pounds of muscle or get to 20 to 25% body fat: ⇒ https://legionathletics.com/products/books/thinner-leaner-stronger/ For advanced lifters trying to reach their genetic potential for muscle and strength: ⇒ https://legionathletics.com/products/books/beyond-bigger-leaner-stronger/ These books have helped tens of thousands of people of all ages and circumstances build their best bodies ever, and you could be next. Go for it! Mike | 
No comments:
Post a Comment