Weight Loss News

Most weight loss plans and diets advise you give up or limit your favorite alcoholic drink. The empty calories (7 calories per gram) are used better in a healthy carb or protien, right?

The average American gets about 400 calories per day from beverages. And some studies suggest our bodies do not trigger the same full and satiated feeling from an equivalent amount calories in liquids as solids, so the reasoning for giving up the cocktail makes sense.

Recent studies involving alcoholic beverages and weight loss can be confusing.

• Some types of alcohol have been found to have health benefits: red wine and cardiovascular health, for instance.
• One study shows that in women, moderate drinking (about 2 drinks per day) was not associate with weight gain.
• Another found that people who had one drink per day, three to seven days per week, had lowest body mass index (BMI) while a binge drinker (someone who has many drinks only a few times per year) had the highest BMIs.

If you're following a sensible and healthy weight loss plan, this doesn't necessarily mean you should include a happy hour in your daily routine. People who drank moderately also tended to have healthy lifestyles such as eating more fruits and vegetables and a regular exercise plan.

Also "moderate" drinking means different things for men and women. Men can have up to two drinks while women should stop at one. It also means choosing your cocktail wisely: a nice glass of wine (100 calories) is not the same as a piña colada at 450 calories.

With all weight loss plans and diets, plan your poison into your total daily food intake, make good food choices and keep active. And be aware of triggers that could allow you to indulge more while you're enjoying your cocktail. Having an indulgent dessert after eating a meal out with a glass of wine could be more tempting than usual; or ordering several fried bar snacks while sitting at a sports bar may sounds like a good "snack."

Source: USNews