Alcohol and Weight Gain: Can I Drink Alcohol and Still Lose Weight?

Will Drinking Alcohol Make Me Gain Weight?

On that same token…

Can I Drink Alcohol and Still Lose Weight?

These questions have proven themselves to be difficult to answer from a global perspective. After reviewing over a dozen research studies, the data overall remained inconclusive. This isn’t really surprising, as it is near impossible to account for all confounding factors when researching weight change and alcohol consumption including genetics, frequency of consumption, gender and weight of study participants, diet, etc.  

Moderate alcohol consumption has not been significantly associated with weight gain in the overall population. In cases where moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with weight gain, it has been found that those who drink are more likely to choose unhealthy, fatty foods while intoxicated compared to those who are sober. This brings up the question of whether the weight gain these individuals experience is due to the excess calories from the alcohol, the fatty food, or both.  

At this point, the answer to the alcohol and weight gain question is: maybe. Alcohol is just like anything else - the calories you consume from alcohol need to be accounted for when tracking your calorie consumption overall. Just like food, different people absorb and use the calories from alcohol at a different rate. Metabolically speaking, the current research doesn’t elude that the calories from alcohol affect your metabolism in such a way that it leads to a greater propensity to gain weight.  

If you’re trying to lose weight, the best choice would be to eliminate alcohol entirely. The excess, unused calories from alcohol eventually get converted into fat and stored without providing any nutritional benefit. With that said, if eliminating alcohol completely from your life is unrealistic, it is still possible to consume a moderate level of alcohol and lose weight as long as your total calorie consumption is within a reasonable, healthy range.

Is Alcohol Really High In Calories?

Yes. When we refer to the “alcohol” content of an alcoholic beverage, what we really mean is the ethanol content. Ethanol is the form of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages that we drink. When accounting for the total calorie content of alcoholic beverages, it is helpful to know that ethanol is relatively high in calories at 7 kcal/g. When compared to carbohydrates or protein at 4 kcal/g, it is clear that the calories in alcohol can quickly add up.

How Much Alcohol is Considered Okay?

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting alcohol intake to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Any intake beyond these recommendations may lead to adverse health effects including fatty liver, high blood pressure, and digestive problems.

The following are what is considered one serving size of alcohol:

  • 12 ounces of beer or wine cooler (150 kcal)

  • 5 ounces of table wine (120 kcal)

  • 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (90 kcal)

As a caution, most restaurants and bars serve more than one serving size of alcohol in a typical alcoholic beverage. The following are typical restaurant/bar serving sizes:

  • 1 typical pint of beer/cider (20 oz) contains 2 standard drinks

  • Quarter bottle of wine at 12.5% contains 2 standard drinks

  • Full bottle of wine at 12.5% contains 7.5 standard drinks

  • Glass of sherry/port, (2.5oz) contains 1.2 standard drinks

Take-Aways

  • At this point in time, the research on the correlation between alcohol consumption and weight gain is inconclusive.

  • It is best to measure the effect of alcohol on weight gain at an individual level.  Every individual has a different propensity to gain weight, and will respond to the excess calories of alcohol differently.

Additional Resources:

Downer, M. K., Bertoia, M. L., Mukamal, K. J., Rimm, E. B., & Stampfer, M. J. (2017). Change in alcohol intake in relation to weight change in a cohort of United States men with 24 years of follow-up. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 25(11), 1988–1996. http://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21979

Paolo M. Suter & Angelo Tremblay (2008) IS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION A RISK FACTOR FOR WEIGHT GAIN AND OBESITY?, Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, 42:3, 197-227, DOI: 10.1080/10408360590913542

Traversy, G., & Chaput, J.-P. (2015). Alcohol Consumption and Obesity: An Update. Current Obesity Reports, 4(1), 122–130. http://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-014-0129-4