The following guest article is written by Christine Howell of DNP Programs, a guide to doctor of nursing practice programs and careers.
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When you are trying to shed those few extra pounds it is very important to watch what you eat and drink. One thing you should try to avoid, when possible, is the consumption of alcohol beverages. It is said that in moderation alcohol can help to maintain a healthy heart, but when it comes to weight loss efforts, alcohol has many negative effects on your dieting attempts.
Some of these negative effects include:
- Having a direct link to the body’s increased fat levels.
The human body will use the carbohydrates in the alcohol first. This means that the fat from the food that you have consumed is laying in your stomach turning into sugars that are absorbed and deposited as fat.
Alcohol contains empty calories meaning that there are no vitamins or minerals for your body to benefit from so the result is a bloating effect which fills in with the fat that is deposited.
- Alcohol causes your body to dehydrate.
When the dehydration occurs this effects the muscles in the human body. The reason that this happens is primarily due to the fact that alcohol actually prevents the muscle from being able to function correctly and does not allow proteins to synthesis.
This ultimately results in the muscle not getting any nutrients to give it the energy to burn the fat.
- A decrease in the body’s strength, endurance and overall power.
This will have a negative effect on your ability to keep up with any type of exercise regimen that you may use to help in your dieting process. You will feel an overall decrease in endurance which is needed to stay at a constant pace to burn fat.
- A larger sense of depression and tiredness.
Depression and tiredness are linked to many people eating more and consuming larger amounts of calories. Most often people choose “comfort foods” which are loaded with fat and negative calories.
Depression can also effect the person’s emotional state in which they feel a sense of non-accomplishment and want to give up. This causes many people to forget their dieting attempts.
The feeling of tiredness again will cause the inability to want to exercise or do any type of activities that would contribute to fat burning or muscle toning.
Tags: alcohol, drinking, fat loss, Healthy Lifestyle, weight loss
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does alcohol have a big impact on the results from a workout. For example, if my wife and I drink a bottle at dinner, that wouldn’t detract from my morning workout would it?
Alcohol is not good for your body. If you are serious about losing fat, gaining muscle, or improving performance, drinking alcohol will not help you achieve your goals. If you drink in moderation it may not hurt you too much, but it definitely doesn’t help. I’d like to see you drink a bottle the night before a rest day, rather than the night before a training day.