The REAL Effects of Alcohol On Your Body - Part 1 of 2

If you are curious as to the effects of alcohol onIn another American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
the body, this could be the most eye-openingstudy, there was evidence to suggest that
article you will ever read.consumption of alcohol lead to an increase in
Many of us associate the effects of alcohol onappetite over that of any other carbohydrate
the body with the heart, lungs, liver, brain,type drink. [5]
memory, etc. Furthermore, if asked aboutResearchers over in the Research Department of
effects of drinking alcohol in terms of our fitnessHuman Nutrition and Center for Advanced Food
goals, most people will let you know about theStudies in Denmark [8] concluded that
infamous beer belly.consumption of alcoholic beverages, and wine in
You know what I'm talking about right?particular, may enhance total energy intake at a
Drink too much and you end up storing too manymeal relative to a soft drink, when served with
calories as fat.no restriction.
Many people will choose low calorie alcohol drinks3- Decrease in Testosterone and an Increase in
or low carb alcoholic beverages in an attempt toCortisol
avoid the fat storage issue. They feel that byA study of 8 healthy male volunteers observed
making this choice the only bad effects of alcoholthat after drinking alcohol, the effects of a
- increased fat storage - will be minimized.significant decrease in testosterone and an
But what you didn't know is that only about 5%increase in cortisol (a muscle destroying hormone)
of the calories from alcohol are stored as fat! [14]lasted up to 24 hours! [6]
Then it hit me as it should hit you right aboutThe only real question to ask yourself is this...
now...If you are serious about building muscle and
The effects of alcohol on the body are far moreburning fat, you want all the free testosterone
damaging than can be predicted by the numberlevels you can get and you want to reduce
of empty calories in some alcoholic beverage.cortisol in any way you can. That means go lite
The truth is...on the drinking because it does affect your
1- Alcohol really affects the amount of fat yourhormones.
body can and will burn for energy!What more...
In a study done by the American Journal ofIs that the effects were even worse if you
Clinical Research [4] they concluded that just aexercise before drinking. [1] This means that if
mere 24g of alcohol consumption showedyou are going out and will be drinking more than a
whole-body lipid oxidation ( the rate at which yoursmall amount of alcohol, you might as well skip
body burns fat) decreased by a whopping 73%!the gym.
When alcohol goes thru the liver, the by-product isNot shocking is a study done by the Department
called Acetate. It would appear that acetate putsof Radiology, Sahlgrenska Hospital, Goteborg,
the proverbial brakes on fat burning.Sweden [2] that determined increased waist to
Your body can use many types of fuel. Protein,hip ratio of alcoholics may include not only changes
carbohydrates and fat. In many cases, the fuelin adipose tissue, but also in muscle tissue
used is dictated by it's availability.distribution.
Trouble is...In layman's terms.. that means more fat around
Your body tends to use whatever you feed it forthe waist and less overall muscle mass.
fuel right? As your acetate levels increase, yourLook for Part 2 of this article to learn the other 4
body burns more acetate as fuel.reasons why excessive alcohol might destroy
What this means is...your muscle gains and hinder your fat loss.
Fat burning takes a back seat!Do you suffer from any of these effects of
What it all boils down to is this...a) You consume aalcohol on your body? Who else wants to
couple of alcoholic drinks or more. b) Your liverdiscover the simple but proven methods of
metabolizes that into acetate. c) Your body usesnutrition and training that will allow you burn fat
the acetate for fat as fuel.and build muscle quickly?
2- Increase in appetite