Alcohol and Body Fat - the Truth Revealed :: Holistic Healing :: Functional Foods/Nutraceuticals :: M-R

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Alcohol and Body Fat - the Truth Revealed
by author Brad J. King, MS, MFS

The holiday season is a time for rejoicing with friends and family and along with the fun often comes plenty of alcoholic beverages. Before you indulge, take a closer look at the way alcohol affects your 30 billion fat cells.

The scientific truth is alcohol is really a “non-food” in the sense that it is not a macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, or fat), but instead is a totally separate source of energy for the body. Alcohol doesn’t offer nutritional value to our bodies, yet it still contains a substantial amount of calories-seven calories per gram.

So if you’re counting calories and still plan to “have a few,” make sure you don’t forget to add these calories to all the other ones you’re consuming.

Only about five per cent of alcohol calories ever become fat. This is because the body uses the alcohol as energy-all the while leaving fat where it is. Why? Because alcohol is broken down by the liver, first into a substance called acetaldehyde, and then into acetate, which is the substance that prevents fat from being burned as energy.

Researchers from the University of California studied eight men who consumed two alcohol drinks each within a period of 30 minutes. For several hours after consuming the alcohol, the subjects’ ability to utilize body fat as energy declined by a whopping 73 per cent.

Alcohol, the Appetite Enhancer

Alcohol increases appetite by stimulating the liver to convert stored sugar (glycogen) into glucose (blood sugar). The excess glucose stimulates insulin production, and insulin in turn stimulates the powerful fat storage hormone lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which is responsible for “beer-belly syndrome” by directing fat to the abdominal cavity for storage.

Alcohol, the Stressor

Alcohol also expands your waistline by causing a rise in the muscle-wasting stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol breaks down muscle tissue-causing a decline in your overall ability to burn calories. One single night of drinking can raise cortisol for up to 24 hours.

Alcohol, the Hangover King

The reason we experience the dreaded “hangover” is due to the substance acetaldehyde. As alcohol is metabolized into acetate, some of the acetaldehyde escapes the breakdown and is released into the bloodstream. Acetaldehyde happens to be a very potent neurotoxin that causes a great deal of free-radical damage, and the morning-after headache. One of the best ways to avoid hangover headaches is to drink at least one glass of water for every alcoholic drink you consume. Make sure to do this while you’re drinking the alcohol, not the next day or at the end of the night. Eating foods rich in antioxidants can also combat the free-radical damage of acetaldehyde. Try having a breakfast with colourful fruits and vegetables for the most antioxidants. Probiotic supplements, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, will help replenish healthy bacteria in the stomach that alcohol may have destroyed.

Also try consuming the following mix of nutrients before and after a night of drinking.

L-cysteine-200 to 500 mg
Vitamin C-1000 mg
High potency B-complex

Warning: (Cysteine must be taken with vitamin C, in an amount three times that of cysteine to prevent cysteine from being converted to cystine-which may form kidney or bladder stones).

Brad J. King, MS, MFS, is a nutritional researcher, and author of the International best seller Fat Wars: 45 days To Transform Your Body and the new Fat Wars Action Planner. To subscribe to his free monthly newsletter, the Fat Wars Chronicle, see: fatwars.com

Source: alive #254, December 2003

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