Reducing or ceasing your alcohol intake may result in weight loss, but there are many factors at play. This may be a personal goal of yours.
Alcohol can cause weight gain in four ways: it stops your body from burning fat, it's high in kilojoules, it can make you feel hungry, and it can lead to cravings for salty and greasy foods.
Whether or not you will gain weight from alcohol depends on what you drink, how much you drink, how often you drink, what you eat when you drink, and your unique body and lifestyle.
Drinking alcohol - particularly in excessive amounts - has many other serious health risks, including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, heart disease, stroke, liver disease and some cancers.
It is unclear whether alcohol consumption is a risk factor for weight gain because studies performed to date have found positive, negative or no association.
Where there is a positive association between alcohol and body weight it is more likely to be found in men than in women.
The present data provide inadequate scientific evidence to assess whether beer intake is associated with general or abdominal obesity.
When considering beer, where there is a positive association, it is more likely to be for abdominal obesity (abdominal fat around the stomach) than for general obesity for men and women.
So yes, it's possible to gain weight from alcohol, but it's not inevitable.
Whether or not you personally gain weight from drinking alcohol depends on many factors. These include:
your behaviours when you drink
what you drink
how often you drink
how much you drink
what you eat when you drink
factors that relate to your unique body and lifestyle
your overall diet
your genetics
your gender
your level of physical activity
your age
your health -- for example the presence of other risk factors such as obesity and diabetes.
But remember, drinking alcohol - particularly in excessive amounts - has many other serious health risks beyond possible weight gain, including high blood pressure, increased triglycerides, heart disease and stroke, liver disease, and some cancers. So it's important to monitor your alcohol consumption as part of a balanced diet, regardless of whether or not you're managing your weight.
While the relationship between alcohol consumption and obesity remains unclear, there are good reasons to think that alcohol may play a role:
It stops your body from burning fat.
It is high in kilojoules.
It leads to greater hunger and less satiety (the feeling of being full).
It can lead to cravings for salty and greasy foods.
Remember
It is unclear whether alcohol consumption is a risk factor for weight gain.
Drinking alcohol -- particularly in excessive amounts - has many other serious health risks beyond possible weight gain, including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and some cancers.
There is no safe level of alcohol during pregnancy.
This page has been produced in consultation with and approved
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