Alcohol and Weight Gain: Causes, Relationship, and Solutions

The amount you drink matters too—more drinks mean more calories, which can add up to temporary weight gain. Alcohol can also influence hunger via several central mechanisms. The effects of alcohol on opioid, serotonergic, and GABAergic pathways in the brain all suggest the potential to increase appetite 62–65.

• Alcohol can possibly trigger the Whoosh Effect if you’ve been dieting and exercising hard for a while.
• Instead, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise that you drink in moderation.
• If you’re doing everything else right in your diet and exercise program, then having an alcoholic beverage or two shouldn’t contribute much to weight gain.
• Within the large body of observational research, contradictory findings exist, which warrant further exploration 3•, 4.
• It doesn’t help that many flavored vodkas have a sweet flavor profile (like vanilla, raspberry, peach) that can easily lead you to drink more than you intended, leading to weight gain.

Temporary Weight Gain After Drinking Alcohol: The TL;DR

Also use intermittent fasting combined with C8-MCTs to promote additional fat-burning. The Whoosh Effect is a real phenomenon that happens when your body suddenly flushes out the stubborn weight. Many who drink alcohol will also retain water the next day, causing your weight to can drinking vodka make you gain weight increase. However, the alcohol bloat will last only 1-3 days if you get right back on your diet and exercise routine. But will drinking any alcohol prevent you from losing any unwanted fat?

Vodka: Are There Health Benefits?

When you drink too much, these calories can replace those of more nutrient-rich foods and drinks, leading to weight gain. By cutting back on binge drinking, you could inadvertently lose weight to achieve a lower body mass index (BMI) without making any other changes to your lifestyle. It’s Halfway house not just you; many people experience temporary weight gain after consuming alcohol. This can be a confusing and frustrating experience, especially if you’re trying to maintain or lose weight. It’s not just your digestive organs that can be damaged from drinking too much vodka every night.

Cross-sectional Evidence

When that happens, your body may try to hold on to as much water as possible. This causes water retention and bloating, which can result in a temporary increase in weight when you step on the scale the following day. After a long day at work or at a particularly stressful event, there are few things more refreshing than a cold vodka cocktail. After all, a serving of vodka delivers a nice punch of alcohol to your system, relaxing you and getting the dopamine flowing in your brain. Suddenly you’re less worried than you were before and enjoying the warmth of the beverage as it spreads through your body. Talk with a doctor if you’re finding it hard to limit your alcohol intake or if you have questions.

Alcohol can make you more relaxed and may lead you to eat food that’s high in added sugar or fat, fried, or processed. Cocktails that are mixed with juice, mixers, or sugary sodas can spike blood sugar, especially if you drink too much. We’re not judging; all of us are familiar with that G&T craving come Friday night (or even Tuesday…).

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But there are a few specific ways it can affect your weight, too. Women who participated in binge drinking were not only more likely to have obesity but were also more likely to be attempting weight loss. If you’re working on losing weight, then you know it can involve a lot of ups and downs (literally). You’ve likely considered what you’re eating, what you’re not eating and of course, how much you’re moving.

As a result, people with diabetes may need to practice caution with alcohol. Drinking alcohol with diabetes medicine, especially on an empty stomach, may cause low blood sugar. Overall, Simon says, that the best protection against weight gain is “sticking to that average of four or less drinks a week for women, and less than two drinks a day for men.”

• Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can develop if high blood sugar is uncontrolled.
• First, it has been found that alcohol intake increases energy expenditure, likely due in part to the fact that it has a high thermogenic effect 53.
• No medical authority suggests that people who do not drink should begin drinking in order to access health benefits.
• If you are going to drink beer, find a light beer with low carbs.
• The extent to which wasted energy from regular alcohol consumption contributes to weight gain prevention is unclear.
• However, it’s important to balance these potential benefits with the risks of excessive alcohol consumption, like weight gain and liver disease.

Bottom Line on Alcohol and Weight Gain

Most importantly, it contains calories but offers no nutrients for those calories. One serving of vodka, which is 1.5 fluid ounces, according to the National Institutes of Health, contains almost 100 calories, per USDA data. Drinking actual alcohol leads to dehydration, as many of us already know (11). As your body senses this dehydration, it’ll try to hold onto water. Your body’s job is to try and survive, so if it senses you’re losing valuable water, it’ll try to hold onto water reserves in return. Alcohol can break down your intestinal walls leading to leaky gut and other health issues (9).

The extra calories from a drink here and there won’t do too much damage, but drink vodka drinks regularly and you could reach that 3,500-calorie mark more quickly than you realize. Eating nutritious foods and controlling your calorie intake will put you on the fast track to sustainable fat loss and improved health. Cardio exercise helps you burn excess calories to deepen the calorie deficit, and strength training builds muscle, which increases your metabolic rate — the speed at which your body burns calories.