Alcohol and weight gain

[theMot]

Weight, in and of itself, is a rather poor indicator of general health.

Sugar and alcohol are close cousins from a metabolic standpoint. Both of them place a large burden on your liver and your insulin/glucagon system. After a certain amount of abuse, you body will degenerate into a pre-diabetic state, and your liver will begin to "rebel" by rapidly converting sugar and alcohol to fat. The fat will concentrate around your waist area.

The location and type of fat is critically important to its effect upon your health. Sub-cutaneous fat, which is more evenly distributed throughout the body, can actually have a protective health benefit up to a certain point. Fat which is localized around the mid-section, a.k.a. the "beer gut," is associated with nearly disastrous health condition that you can imagine (heart disease, many forms of cancer, diabetes, just to name a few).

The take home message here is that sugar, specifically fructose, is terrible for you (this includes both table sugar as well as HFCS). Stack it up with alcohol with the sugary drinks, and you're just setting yourself up for disaster. Pay less attention to weight, and more attention to where it's distributed. The beloved American reverse hourglass figure should set off alarm bells - this is a serious sign that your liver has had enough of your bullshit. You do not want to piss off your liver.

This man knows what he is talking about.

Just to add, some types of alcohol are ok. Vodka and scotch will do you no harm in moderation. Beer and wine Are total shit for your health.

 

[xsq]

This man knows what he is talking about.

dat avatar tho

 

[F4U57]

I drank so much beer on the 17 days I had off. About 8 cases of beer. One day I drank a 30 slab of VB cans. That's a shitload of beer... I basically drank myself sober. Anyway, my gut is paying for it.

I'm off alcohol for a while (I do this now and then). I've got a Buck's day on the 4th of Feb so I'll try and hold out until then.

 

[Heinz]

1/4 bottle of scotch in a weekend? I'd have none left...

I drink a fair bit, I'm a bit on and off with it but when I drink I drink. I'm talking 6-8 pints of beer on a saturday night no problem, half a bottle of scotch no problem sometimes more. I used to drink a bottle of wine or more every night when I was really down there, had a terrible time coming off. Never really put the weight on bar maybe 5 or so kilos, probably because I didn't really eat that much and smoked like a chimney. Now those days are mostly gone but the ability to drink is still present, love the stuff in fact I've got a pint right now.

 

[MattBlah]

Do you have sugar in coffee or tea? I stopped putting sugar in my coffee and cut back on soft drinks and it made a huge difference. It was a bit hard the first week, getting used to coffee without sugar, but now I can't stand coffee with sugar.

And I still drink shit loads of beer, but I'm no longer gaining weight. All the sugar in drinks makes a huge difference.

 

[smokehouse]

I try really hard not to drink my calories. It's super easy to do and I'll admit that I've slipped back into some really horrible habits over the past year. Sugar is the main thing, but booze is another. I was on a hard beer kick last summer and have been on a hard scotch/whiskey kick for well over a year. I let slip the soda ban too.

I've really curbed things lately...no booze for now, cutting sugar from my coffee, and zero soda. I need to get back on track.

 

[LoneSage]

smokes does alcohol affect ur IBS

 

[smokehouse]

smokes does alcohol affect ur IBS

Possibly...not 100%.

I won't bore you with all of the fine line details, but I'm trying to make heads/tails about of this whole "IBS" diagnosis. I went off Prevacid back in Oct and by many accounts, the greatly reduced stomach acid has caused a miss diagnosis of IBS in many patients.

I'm trying to get my system straight at the moment, still battling daily heartburn. I figured that at this point, cutting out the liquor could only help things along.

I'll admit that I love whiskey too much just to walk away from it completely. For now, I just want to get my gut straight then work with adding things back into the mix to see how it effects my overall health.

 

[@M]

I used to be a fatass in my teens and early twenties, but that was from eating too much and not getting enough exercise, not alcohol. While I don't drink anymore, I did occasionally partake at the time, especially when I was out with my younger brother and/or friends, but it was most definitely my physical inactivity and the large amounts of food I was eating, not the drinking, that was packing on the pounds. I was still fat, and getting fatter, even after I quit the booze, it wasn't until I started limiting my food consumption and getting regular exercise that I lost the 75+ pounds of extra weight I was lugging around and I've kept it off to this day.

 

[ChrisB]

1/4 bottle of scotch in a weekend? I'd have none left...

I drink a fair bit, I'm a bit on and off with it but when I drink I drink. I'm talking 6-8 pints of beer on a saturday night no problem, half a bottle of scotch no problem sometimes more. I used to drink a bottle of wine or more every night when I was really down there, had a terrible time coming off. Never really put the weight on bar maybe 5 or so kilos, probably because I didn't really eat that much and smoked like a chimney. Now those days are mostly gone but the ability to drink is still present, love the stuff in fact I've got a pint right now.

Yes only really quarter of a bottle, don't get me wrong I could drink half a bottle if I wanted to easy, but limited myself to a quarter no more really.

 

[ChrisB]

Do you have sugar in coffee or tea? I stopped putting sugar in my coffee and cut back on soft drinks and it made a huge difference. It was a bit hard the first week, getting used to coffee without sugar, but now I can't stand coffee with sugar.

And I still drink shit loads of beer, but I'm no longer gaining weight. All the sugar in drinks makes a huge difference.

I don't take any sugar in coffee or tea, and drink loads of tea and coffee, I do a couple of cappuccino a day or a latte but there like 100 cals a cup if that. I cant stand sugar in coffee or tea, I gave up sugar in hot drinks about 5 years ago, the thought of it now is disgusting.

 

[LoneSage]

What's up with being really thirsty and drinking lots of water if you quit beer for a day or two, anyone else encounter this

 

[smokehouse]

Yes only really quarter of a bottle, don't get me wrong I could drink half a bottle if I wanted to easy, but limited myself to a quarter no more really.

The thing is...a "bottle" (750ml) is only 25oz or 16 or so shots. Polishing off 1/2 a bottle in 2 says would literally be drinking 3 shots, two nights in a row. Not really all that much.

 

[Tripredacus]

Before I quit drinking, I had noticed that some pants were starting to get a bit tight in the waist. Nothing noticable as far as my body went, but enough I guess. After quitting, sure there was some amount of loss, those pants aren't tight fitting anymore. Been thinking about drinking again to gain some pounds, because food certainly doesn't do it for me.

 

[Heinz]

What's up with being really thirsty and drinking lots of water if you quit beer for a day or two, anyone else encounter this

I drink more water than booze, water is my second love. But yeah I get that, insatiable thirst.

 

[F4U57]

What's up with being really thirsty and drinking lots of water if you quit beer for a day or two, anyone else encounter this

My body craves sugar more than anything. I usually binge on chocolate, which I rarely do otherwise.

 

[SNKNostalgia]

Yeah, my binge drinking days are over as of this year. It just got old staying up way too late, sleeping in and feeling hungover all day. I have the weight gain around the belly that started small 3 years ago, and then holy shit +20lbs. I basically am down to drinking once every 5 days and soon to be once every 10, until I basically don't drink at all for several months to reset my habit completely. This way, I will just drink on occasions instead of anxiously wanting to get drunk every 3 days. It was bad for a while there. I was drinking a minimum of 7-9 and a max of 10-14 units in one night over a 6-8 hour period. Weird how my tolerance got stronger the past 2 years. Yep, my reward system adapted in a bad way.

 

[hyper]

coffee, tea, espresso are good all day & night.. redbulls if you're at a nightclub or afterhours.

I don't drink alcohol, at all.. prefer caffeine & water they work well in tandem

 

[LoneSage]

Weight, in and of itself, is a rather poor indicator of general health.

Sugar and alcohol are close cousins from a metabolic standpoint. Both of them place a large burden on your liver and your insulin/glucagon system. After a certain amount of abuse, you body will degenerate into a pre-diabetic state, and your liver will begin to "rebel" by rapidly converting sugar and alcohol to fat. The fat will concentrate around your waist area.

The location and type of fat is critically important to its effect upon your health. Sub-cutaneous fat, which is more evenly distributed throughout the body, can actually have a protective health benefit up to a certain point. Fat which is localized around the mid-section, a.k.a. the "beer gut," is associated with nearly disastrous health condition that you can imagine (heart disease, many forms of cancer, diabetes, just to name a few).

The take home message here is that sugar, specifically fructose, is terrible for you (this includes both table sugar as well as HFCS). Stack it up with alcohol with the sugary drinks, and you're just setting yourself up for disaster. Pay less attention to weight, and more attention to where it's distributed. The beloved American reverse hourglass figure should set off alarm bells - this is a serious sign that your liver has had enough of your bullshit. You do not want to piss off your liver.

I legit haven't had a beer in 5 days because of this post, GBG.

*God Bless galfordo

 

[hyper]

The beloved American reverse hourglass figure

 

[StevenK]

I legit haven't had a beer in 5 days because of this post, GBG.

*God Bless galfordo

I hated that post, because I know it's true.

 

[ChrisB]

I hated that post, because I know it's true.

LOL well guys ive jumped back in after about 4 - 5 months of giving up drinking, ive had a scotch the last few nights hell I gave up drinking to loose weight, I wont drink wine now as people have said its bad for you, I don't touch beer I went off that, so ive had probably two doubles of highland park 12 year single malt the last few nights. I can tell you for one, im not so grumpy and two I slept a whole lot better. That's it guess im doomed to have a gut forever

 

[StevenK]

Buy your booze from a shop at the top of a hill and jog there.

 

[ChrisB]

Buy your booze from a shop at the top of a hill and jog there.

Run fat boy run

 

[BeefJerky]

Whiskey is great for weight loss. Probably because you can't afford food if you drink a fifth every night.