When fighting extra pounds, you need not only to eat dietary meals and the right foods, play sports and monitor your drinking regime, but also follow a certain set of rules.
Usually prohibited when losing weight are: eating food several hours before bedtime, eating sweets and fatty foods, overeating or excessive fasting, alcohol abuse, etc.
See: all the principles and basics of proper nutrition.
As a rule, alcohol and PP are incompatible things. But what to do if a grand celebration or a ceremonial feast is planned during the diet? Then it’s worth finding out what kind of alcohol you can drink while dieting and how much this drink affects your weight.
In what cases is it strictly forbidden?
If the diet is prescribed by the attending physician for medical reasons, then there can be no options. In this case, alcohol should be excluded from the diet unambiguously and absolutely. An absolute ban may be associated both with the characteristics of the disease and with the interaction of medications with it. Some medications lose their properties when mixed with alcoholic drinks, while some, on the contrary, increase their effect significantly or give side effects.
Harmful effects of alcohol on the body
It has been repeatedly proven by scientists and doctors that alcohol has a detrimental effect on the human body, especially with excessive abuse. This is fraught with such terrible diseases as cirrhosis of the liver, diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, deterioration of the gastrointestinal tract and all internal organs. With regular consumption of alcoholic beverages, even in small doses, concentration is lost, constant migraines and insomnia begin. And if you gradually increase the frequency of intake and the volume of drinks, you can develop not only illnesses of varying degrees of complexity, but also cancerous tumors and diseases.
Allowable alcohol during diet
When it comes to the usual voluntary choice of a healthy diet, then allowing yourself a glass or two of wine, dry or semi-dry, is quite acceptable. But it’s still better to consume it after at least a small snack, since any alcohol increases appetite and reduces self-control. This can lead to significant absorption of unplanned meals, so alcohol and proper nutrition are not very compatible things.
If a person has excellent self-control and is perfectly satisfied with a piece of low-fat cheese after a glass of wine, then nothing threatens the diet. And even more. Health experts say that with moderate consumption, natural red wines normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular system and improve blood formation, while white wines help normalize metabolism.
In a friendly company, it’s easy to get carried away and have too much alcohol and overdo it with snacks. That is why it is recommended to eat well before taking strong drinks. Food will protect the walls of the stomach from the effects of alcohol, which will have a positive effect both on the stomach itself and on the quality of the diet.
How alcohol affects weight
Why you should not drink alcohol during a diet and how it affects weight is quite easy to find out by studying Internet sources or reading special literature. Alcohol is a high calorie drink .
The higher the alcohol strength, the higher the calorie content.
Empty calories that do not saturate the body are recommended to be removed from the diet of those losing weight. The second reason why alcohol should not be used when losing weight is dulling of consciousness and improvement of appetite. Taken together, these functions of an intoxicated body force you to eat a lot of excess and not think about the consequences.
Features of strong alcoholic drinks
You should not get carried away with strong drinks, such as vodka, cognac, because they cause a strong feeling of hunger, which will most likely provoke the consumption of high-calorie foods. A person who has firmly decided to adhere to a healthy lifestyle must remember that these alcoholic drinks themselves, such as alcohol and cognac, do not have a high calorie content, but provoke high-calorie snacks. In addition, if these drinks are diluted with soda or tonic, then the calories in them skyrocket. For example, when diluting alcohol with soda, this figure can increase to 150 units. A serving of gin diluted with tonic doubles its “value”.
Properties of alcoholic beverages
Quite often, when losing weight, we count only the number of calories in food at the table, but do not take into account regular and alcoholic drinks. Some go to the other extreme, believing that alcoholic drinks can only contribute to the diet, not allowing them to control the amount they eat, and therefore do not drink at all.
However, not all of us know that during a diet, some alcoholic drinks (low calorie), on the contrary, are useful because they help improve digestion and speed up metabolic processes, which will create favorable conditions for losing weight. In this case, you need to know exactly what kind of alcohol you can drink while on a diet, and whether you can drink strong alcohol while on a diet.
To understand what kind of alcohol you can drink during a diet, you need to study the features of its effect on the body. So, it is worth noting that any alcohol-containing drink contains ethanol. This is a fairly high-calorie substance that is well absorbed by our body. There is the following classification of alcohol:
- non-distilled spirits such as wine and beer;
- purified, that is, distilled, drinks, namely vodka, whiskey, alcohol.
Alcohol will contribute to the appearance of excess weight in the following cases:
- If you drink during the holiday feast, you will inevitably have to snack, and since alcohol increases your appetite, you may eat much more than your diet allows.
- Strong alcohol is quite high in calories. That is, if you drink vodka, cognac, whiskey and other strong alcoholic drinks, then you can begin to gain weight, which during the diet will bring all your efforts to naught.
- Alcoholic drinks that contain a lot of sugar, yeast or other nutritional components (cream, milk, eggs, various flavorings) should not be consumed during a diet, as they contribute to rapid weight gain. It is better to drink alcohol with minimal carbohydrate content.
- Even if we don’t take into account how strong alcohol we drink, it’s worth remembering that ethyl alcohol helps slow down the processes of fat processing. In the end, you may not gain weight, but you won’t be able to lose weight on such a diet.
- Moreover, by regularly drinking even low-alcohol drinks, you contribute to the disruption of metabolic processes in the body. This leads to the development of alcoholism and weight gain.
Alcohol is strictly undesirable when following a diet
Alcohol such as beer can be considered a taboo in dietary nutrition, since it is very high in calories. Fortified wines and cocktails can have the same effects as alcohol with cognac, plus they themselves contain a large number of calories due to the high concentration of sugar. If you really can’t refuse them, then in this case it makes sense to resort to tricks and dilute them, but with pieces of ice. After this, you can sip the drink through a straw, but without a snack.
All of the above also applies to a sports diet, with a small addition - if serious training or competitions are coming up, then you should not drink more than two glasses of dry wine the day before. Everyone must decide for themselves whether to drink alcohol while on a diet. And if the scales have swung towards “yes”, then you should take into account all these tips.
Slimness and alcohol
Are diets compatible with alcohol? This is a controversial question to which nutritionists do not have a clear answer. Remember the French: they love to drink wine. Not a single meal is complete without it. However, it is French girls who are considered the most slender. But what about fashion shows where champagne is the main attribute of the evening? And the models still remain insanely thin.
Now let's look at which alcohol is less calorie when dieting.
Beneficial properties of alcohol for the figure
Thought that alcohol only harms the body? This is an erroneous judgment. It even helps you lose weight in some ways! In order not to be unfounded, let's look at this issue in more detail:
- Alcohol contains choleretic substances that enhance the secretory function of the liver, accelerate digestive processes, remove processed products, and reduce the processes of fermentation and putrefaction in the intestines.
- Excess insulin leads to excess weight. But the antioxidants contained in red wine can normalize the level of the hormone in the blood.
- Dry wine, for example, contains enzymes that are responsible for creating lipids. They help the body digest fatty foods.
- White wine contains many beneficial microelements. They accelerate the absorption of iron from food. Moreover, blood composition improves, metabolic processes are launched and energy consumption increases.
- Remember that alcohol burns calories much faster and easier than any food.
- Drinking wine in moderate doses normalizes the amount of acid in gastric juice. The thing is that the acidity of wine is similar to the pH of the digestive organ of a healthy person.
Moreover, the German Wine Academy conducted an experiment on the compatibility of alcohol and diet. As a result, some of the subjects who drank 200 ml of dry white wine every day lost 20% more excess weight than those who replaced alcohol with natural juice.
Rules for drinking alcohol for losing weight
There are several rules that you need to know and use in practice. Let's find out how to properly combine strong drinks and diet.
- Alcohol should be drunk slowly, prolong the pleasure. In this case, the body will simultaneously absorb fats, proteins and carbohydrates. This means that you are not threatened with extra centimeters on your waist.
- You can drink alcohol, but watch the dose. You can drink 2 glasses of beer. Strong drinks (vodka or cognac) – 120 ml. Dry rose wine – 2 glasses.
- It is best to prefer soft drinks, because they have fewer calories.
- Dilute alcoholic drinks with water, tonic or soda to reduce the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream.
- Choose a snack that won't slow down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream.
As you can see, you can safely drink alcohol, even while following a diet. However, you need to be able to choose the right drink, its dose and snack.
Moreover, do not forget that alcohol will not harm your body only if it is of high quality.
Calorie content of alcohol
Why do people even think about what alcoholic drinks they can drink while dieting? Are they that high in calories? We suggest considering the energy value of some drinks per 100g:
- Vodka – 235 kcal.
- Brandy – 225 kcal.
- Whiskey – 220 kcal.
- Gin – 220 kcal.
- Cognac – 239 kcal.
- Rum – 220 kcal.
- Punch – 260 kcal.
- Liquor – 345 kcal.
- Port wine – 167 kcal.
- White wine – 98 kcal.
- Vermouth – 158 kcal.
- Dry white wine – 66 kcal.
- Red wine – 76 kcal.
- Dry rose wine – 65 kcal.
- Beer (4.5%) – 45 kcal.
- Alcoholic cocktail “Mojito” – 52 kcal.
- Brut champagne – 70 kcal.
It is very important to know these numbers if you are following a diet that involves calculating the energy value of your daily diet.
Which alcohol has less calories when dieting? Remember that the higher the strength of the drink, the higher its calorie content. This will help you in your choice.
What to do if you are invited to a celebration?
The question often arises: “How to drink alcohol while dieting if you are invited to a holiday or party where many will insist that you at least try?” Below are some tricks you can use:
- If you decide not to drink in advance, we suggest you come to the holiday by car. The argument “I’m driving” is quite powerful in society.
- If you do not have a car, you can refer to health problems.
- Tell him that you will have your blood tested tomorrow. Therefore, you better give up drinking.
- You can also tell your friends that you are taking antibiotics. As you know, they cannot be combined with alcohol.
- Drink a lot of water before the celebration. Sometimes people confuse normal thirst with the desire to drink alcohol.
- Wash down your food with water, not alcohol.
- You can replace the vodka with regular water while your friends aren't looking.
Use the recommendations above and be smarter. The best option is to try to give up alcohol altogether. Develop your willpower.
If you still can’t give up drinking:
- Choose low-calorie drinks.
- Preference should be given to unsweetened and weak drinks.
- You shouldn’t indulge in snacks like tartlets, canapés, shrimp in sweet sauce, or chocolate-covered strawberries.
We recommend that you learn to refuse others' offers to drink. If these are true friends, then they will understand you and will not be offended. They must realize that health should be protected.
