Alcohol and Weight Gain

A Look at How Alcohol Consumption Can Affect Your Weight

Even recreational alcohol consumption may affect your weight according to researchers.  If you are trying to lose weight you may want to consider giving up alcohol altogether in order to shed the pounds.

A recent study published on Alcohol Consumption and Obesity, finds that  consumption of carbohydrate rich alcoholic beverages and lifestyle choices by those who are heavy drinkers such as lack of physical activity contribute to obesity.  The article also finds that insufficient sleep can increase the likelihood of weight gain.  Alcohol has been shown to affect sleep cycles in adults.

Some research has produced inconsistent results but overall most studies agree that alcohol can affect your body mass index.  How often you drink and the amount you drink has a direct effect on the potential for weight gain.  Drinking alcohol may greatly increase the number of calories that you are intaking, if you are not burning those additional calories you will likely see weight gain.

The most important takeaway is that alcohol can impact your health.  Whether it prevents you from keeping a healthy weight or increases the chances of long-term health conditions like cancer and liver disease, alcohol abuse can impact every area of your life.