Physical Wellness

1 in 4 People Ruin Their Diets By Drinking Alcohol

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Oct 24, 2013 02:56 PM EDT

A new survey reveals that more than a quarter of people are ruining their diets by drinking alcohol.

Researchers polled 1,000 dieters and found that alcohol comprises of more than a quarter of weekly calorie intake for 26 percent of dieters.

The survey also revealed that four out of ten people drink 1,000 calories in one just night out.

Researchers said the latest study reveals that many dieters are not making their weight loss goals because they are ignoring the effects of alcohol.

The findings revealed that more than half of people said that drinking alcohol made them hungrier, and four out of five people said it reduced their willpower and lead to them eating junk foods like burgers, pizza or a bad of chips.

Researchers said that people should cut back their alcohol intake if they want to lose weight.

"Studies show that alcohol increases your appetite by suppressing leptin, the hormone which normally tells your brain to stop eating," said Lee Smith, of the company Forza Supplements, according to the Daily Mail.

"It also negatively affects many other brain chemicals that are involved in appetite suppression," said Smith. "It makes us lose our inhibitions, making the decision to have a slice of pizza all the more easy."

"The other really damaging thing is that as few as two standard alcoholic drinks can slow down your body's fat-burning process by a whopping 73 percent," he said. "Your liver recognizes the by- products of alcohol as toxins, so your body stops processing nutrients from food you've eaten while it takes care of the 'bad guys' first."

"As a result, your body burns empty alcohol calories (those low in nutrients) for energy while the digestion of nutrient-rich food is put on the back burner," Smith explained. "By the time your body gets around to burning food calories, it might not need the energy and ends up storing the extra calories you've eaten as fat cells. So the key to successful dieting is cutting out the booze."

© 2023 Counsel & Heal All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics