Does Alcohol Really Make You Gain Weight? The Truth About Drinking And Belly Fat

Whether alcohol really makes you gain weight has been controversial for decades. Technically speaking, you don’t instantly store alcohol as body fat – alcohol is oxidized ahead of other fuels. (Meaning, your liver has to clear it as a toxin before anything else is metabolized). Moderate drinking has also been debated, with some studies suggesting cardiovascular benefits and others arguing alcohol has no place in a healthy lifestyle. Looking at both classic and newer research reveals surprising insights about alcohol, insulin resistance, abdominal fat… and why some people drink and gain fat while others don’t.

The truth about the beer belly

A classic study by Ulf Riserus and Erik Inglesson was based on the Swedish Uppsala Longitudinal cohort. The researchers found that alcohol intake in older men did not improve insulin sensitivity, which contradicted their own hypothesis and numerous previous studies.

They also said there was a very “robust” association between alcohol intake, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio. They pointed out that a high alcohol intake, especially hard liquor, was closely associated with abdominal body fat, not just overall body mass.

Abdominal fat accumulation is not just a cosmetic problem, it can be a serious health risk. Abdominal fat, also known as “android” or “central” obesity, increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, glucose intolerance and elevated insulin levels.

Many other studies have also found a link between alcohol intake and abdominal fat, but this too has been controversial. A older study that was widely publicized by the BBC dismissed the concept of the “beer belly.”
Nevertheless, it looks like there’s some scientific support to it after all (or at least a “liquor belly”).

Hormones may be strongly involved because high alcohol intake has been shown to decrease blood testosterone in men, and also increase cortisol levels, which can lead to visceral fat accumulation.

Why is there so much controversy? Why the discrepancy in research findings about alcohol’s influence on obesity, abdominal fat, and insulin sensitivity?

Well, here’s the real story of why some people don’t get fat when they drink:

A lot of the confusion is because epidemiological research can’t show cause and effect relationships and mistakes are easily made in drawing associations based on limited data.

With the nature of these longitudinal studies, you have to look at the lifestyle and nature of drinkers in general. Also, the Swedish study focused on older men, so age may have been a factor. You may be more likely to deposit alcohol right on your belly as you get older.

When you hear that alcohol increases belly fat, you also have to look at what else is going on in the life of the drinker, particularly what the rest of a person’s diet looks like, and how alcohol intake affects appetite and eating habits.

Research says that alcohol can mess up your body’s perception of hunger, satiety and fullness. If drinking stimulates additional eating, or adds additional calories that aren’t compensated for and which lead to positive energy balance, then you get fat. You may also get fat in the belly, no thanks to what booze does to hormones.

Another thing that confounds the reports on whether alcohol contributes to weight gain is the fact that the game changes in heavy drinkers.

We know that alcohol contains 7 calories per gram and these calories always count as part of the energy balance equation… or do they?

With chronic excessive alcohol consumption, it’s possible that not all of these calories are available for energy. Due to changes in liver function and something called the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), alcoholism may be a real case of where some calories don’t count. Many alcoholics also skip meals and eat less with increasing alcohol consumption.

Alcohol metabolizing pathways notwithstanding, even if binge drinkers, daily drinkers or heavy drinkers consume most of their calories from alcohol, if they eat very little, and remain in a calorie deficit, they will not get fat.

Compound this with the hormonal effects and you witness the skinny, but under-nourished, unhealthy and atrophied alcoholic (even though the heavy drinkers are the ones you’d think most likely to have a beer belly).

It’s the calories that count

The bottom line is, the idea that alcohol just automatically turns into fat or gives you a beer belly is mistaken. It’s true that alcohol suppresses fat oxidation, but mainly, alcohol adds calories into your diet, messes with your hormones and can stimulate appetite, leading to even more calories consumed. That’s where the fat gain comes from.

If you drink in moderation, if you’re aware of the calories in the alcohol and the calories from additional food intake consumed during or after drinking, and if you compensate accordingly, you won’t get fat.

If a light bulb just went off in your head and you’re saying to yourself, “You mean I can drink and still lose fat? I just need to stay in a calorie deficit?”

Yes, that’s what I mean, but just hold that thought for a minute while you consider that the empty alcohol calories displace the nutrient dense calories:

When you’re on a fat loss program you have a small calorie budget, so you need to give some careful thought to how those calories should be “spent.”

For example, if a woman is on a 1500 calorie per day diet, does she really want to “spend” 500 of those calories – one third of her intake – for a few alcoholic drinks, and leave only 1000 for health-promoting food, fiber and lean muscle building protein?

I realize some people may answer “yes” to that question, but then again, if some people spent their money as frivolously as they spent their calories, they would be in deep trouble!

To summarize this into some practical, take-home advice, here are 7 of my personal tips for alcohol consumption in the fitness lifestyle:

1. Don’t drink on a fat loss program.

Although you could certainly drink and “get away with it” if you diligently maintained your calorie deficit as noted above, it certainly doesn’t help your fat loss cause or your nutritional status.

2. If you drink, drink in moderation during maintenance.

For lifelong weight maintenance and good health, if you drink, do so in moderation and only occasionally, such as on weekends or when you go out to dine in restaurants. Binge drinking and getting drunk has no place in a fitness lifestyle (not to mention hangovers aren’t very conducive to good workouts… and alcoholism can wreak havoc in every area of life).

3. Don’t drink daily.

Moderate drinking has been associated with cardiovascular health benefits. However, I don’t recommend daily drinking because behaviors repeated daily become habits. Behaviors repeated multiple times daily become strong habits. Habitual drinking may lead to heavier drinking or full-blown addictions and can be hard to stop if you ever need to cut back.

4. Count the calories.

If you decide to have a bottle of beer or a glass of wine or two (or whatever moderation is for you), be sure to account for the alcohol in your daily calorie budget.

5. Watch your appetite.

Don’t let the “munchies” get control of you during or after you drink (Note to chicken wing and nacho-eating men: The correlation to alcohol and body fat is higher in men in almost all the studies. One possible explanation is that men tend to drink and eat, while women may tend to drink instead of eating).

6. Watch the fatty foods.

When drinking, watch the fatty foods in particular. A classic study by Angelo Tremblay  suggested that alcohol and a high fat diet are a combination that favors overfeeding.

7. If you’re going to imbibe in moderation, do it without guilt.

If you choose to drink (moderately and sensibly), then don’t feel guilty about it or beat yourself up afterwards, just enjoy it… and don’t let it escalate.

Tom Venuto,
Author of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle
Founder of Burn the Fat Inner Circle

About Tom Venuto, The No-BS Fat Loss Coach
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking. Tom is a former competitive bodybuilder and today works as a full-time fitness coach, writer, blogger, and author. In his spare time, he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and backpacker. His book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and now as a hardcover and audiobook. The Body Fat Solution, Tom’s book about emotional eating and long-term weight maintenance, was an Oprah Magazine and Men’s Fitness Magazine pick. Tom is also the founder of Burn The Fat Inner Circle – a fitness support community with over 52,000 members worldwide since 2006. Click here for membership details

www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com

References:
(1) Alcohol Intake, Insulin Resistance, and abdominal obesity in elderly men. Riserus U, Ingelsson E., Obesity. 15(7): 1766-1773. 2007