Please! Does anyone know wether alcohol can directly store as fat? This info could break my drinking habit completelty. I know it has all these bad properties and the insulin resistance, T-suppression, ect… I am asking wether alcohol can be metabolically changed into some sort of lipoprotein (fat) by any physiological process. Like carbohydrate being changed into fat. I’ve already checked the forum and can’t find what I am looking for.
Beannog, you know what you need to do. If this one piece of info is going to help you break a drinking habit, then YES, IT GOES DIRECTLY to FAT!
No, the main problem with alcohol: each gram of alcohol contains 7 cals. so if you’re chugging a 6-pack the cals really add up, that is most likely the cause of “beer bellies” (that and being an inactive SOB) not the alcohol “becoming fat”. All this typing is making me thirtsy time for a nice cold adult beverage. outlaw.
That’s a good question and I can’t say for sure whether or not alcohol can directly be converted to fat but I do know that when alcohol is in your system your body will burn it and store other forms of energy (protein, carbohydrate, fat) as fat. Interestingly enough…I remember reading some info. years ago that showed chronic alcoholics don’t get fat from drinking alcohol…even when eating a normal diet. Basically what happened is if you added up the persons daily caloric intake they should have been gaining a lot of fat but something else was going on with the alcohol calories. However, this didn’t happen amongst the people who weren’t chronic alcoholics.
I too would like to know the physiological pathway of ethyl alcohol, as I just finished a night downtown on Canada Day! But seriously, for interests sakes, I’d like to know what happens with that little molecule in the body, does it have a caloric value, is it treated like a carb. Anyone care to chime in on this one? I know it’s bad and I don’t want to ingest it much if at all, but I’m just curious!
Here is another alcohol related question: I enjoy drinking and I enjoy training, I feel that balaning all my interests is most important to leading a happy life. I am a young college kid and realise that this is not something I will do for my entire life but as of right now I enjoy drinking and hanging out with my friends, it never effects my training in fact some days after a night of drinking I have even more intense sessions. My question is I am very concious of how I break down my macronutrients in my diet (even following the massive eating meal split protocols) if on a given day I know I will be drinking is it more important to lower other calories from carbs or fat throughout the day? also if I am following massive eating guidlines for meal splits which is a better last meal combo before I hit the bars; p/f p/c? I plan to deffinatley keep protein at normal but I want to also keep my overall daily calories near normal so what is better to limit more the fat or the carbs? Thanks in advance. (like i mentioned, I like to balance my drinking, training, and other activities so please dont flame me with a bunch of rants about how drinking is doing me a diservice) Thanks again!!!
From what I read, alcohol is metabolized like carbohydrates. The amount of alcohol in a typical beer is only 4% by volume (even less by weight, since alcohol is less dense than water). Amount of calories from alcohol in beer is negligible in my opinion compared to the calories from high glycemic index sugars like maltose (its GI is even higher than glucose itself). Even if you drink hard liquor, I think there is quite a bit of sugars in it. Just let a shot of whiskey evaporate and you’ll see a sticky syrupy residue. When I drink I stick to wine. Sure, alcohol is bad for your T-levels, yada yada, but you gotta live sometimes. Normally, grape juice is high GI, but after it has fermented into wine, the sugars have been converted into alcohol (typically 12% by volume) and the acidity goes up. The high acid content slows stomach emptying and lowers the GI considerably. Whatever sugars that remain will mostly be fructose (low GI), which is not readily fermentable by most yeasts. I would venture to say that most regular beer drinkers would stand to lose a few pounds by simply switching to wine. I’d even drink vodka (a pretty pure distillate)rather than beer. Drinking in excessive amounts is bad, regardless of the alcohol source, but if you choose wisely, you can minimize the fattening effects.
I still can’t find this answer. But I do realize that it is used for energy in the bloodstream and can cause other nutrients to be stored as fat. But my dilemma is I usually drink everclear which is 95% alcohol by volume (19 times stronger than beer). This elimates all other calories since I drink with diet soda.
I am gonna quit drinking for 2 weeks. I’ll keep you guys posted on the result. I am even thinking of getting my blood profile checked.
ALCOHOL SUPRESSES THYROID AND SLOWS METABOLISM. This coupled with the empty calories should be enough for anyone trying to cut. Similarly, the effect on t levels is such that its really messes with bulking at anything more than the “less than 20 pounds mass added” newbie level. My rule is that I am unlikely to gain in any week I drink. So I always drop alcohol when Im getting serious about progress and it has the most profound effect on results imaginable.
Went through the same struggles last year. Here’s what I learned, as stated above the body burns the alcohol allowing for ohter calories to be stored as fat. The Alcohol can effectively slows metabolism, (in some instances up to a week). In regards to why heavy alcohol users don’t gain weight, chronic alcohol abuse damages the bodys ability to properly digest and absorb nutrients. Finally, I know to get the cuts I wanted I had to forgo the alcohol all together, but it was well worth it.
Your’e unlikely to get fat from alcohol as most
of the energy from ethanol oxidation is lost as
heat(it’s thermic) and although excessive alcohol intake can negatively effect insulin
function moderate consumption can improve it.
I read somewhere that alcohol on an empty stomach will have much more a chance of being stored as fat when compard to drinking on a full stomach. If anyone is interested I could go find the book and post a more intelligent answer. 
Alcohol is a toxin to the body it can’t be stored the body will use it as fuel before it uses anything else
well, i’m certainly not a scientist in that area and i don’t care too much about the glycemic index either, but as long as you keep the macronutritional ratio reasonable it doesn’t matter where the calories come from, from a certain amount on you’ll gain weight. if you train accordingly that might be lean mass otherwise it’s mainly fat. it’s that simple. of course if you live off everclear exclusively that rule might not be appliable. but even than your body might be able to build up fat with the nutrients from your muscles. weird thinking though.
by the way, alcohol in general does not decrease metabolism nor T-levels. but regular consumption and drinking too much does. small amounts raise metabolism and t-levels instead. i read it somewhere in a scientific paper, but you can tell by your own experience as well: seen her lovely reddened cheeks after a few drinks and feeling like the aircondition broke? that’s your body temperature rising. and as we know and worship: the extra t makes horny, men and women alike (poor guys that claim to have as much fun without it).
by the way, what Thirsty said is true for me as well, some of my best workouts (the worst as well) happened to be in the morning after having some drinks the night before.
enjoy
the problem is that it is NOT stored, alcohol will be used as energy BEFORE carbs, fat or protien. the biggest problem w/this is in recovery. also it will dehydrate you whch will make you weaker, more injury prone, you will cramp easier,ect… no, I am not preaching, I’m a bartender so I make a liveing off of you. but yo’ guy, I know its manly and all but whats up w/the everclear? on the botle it tells you that it “may cause blindness” that should tell you enough about everclear.hey, I’ve done the everclear thing in college (if you did a shot at the door at frat parties you got in for free so you KNOW I drank some in my day) but put some thought into changeing your choice. good luck and take a cab.
I am with HeyTeh- Whats with the everclear? Although I will admit that everclear and Hawaiin Punch are excellent together. (of course H.P. and bacardi 151 is my personal fav.)
From personal experience as a student athlete, and studying the effects of drugs and performance, heavey drinking isn’t good if you want to cut up or bulk up. As hetyey said, it dehydrates you, making you feel drained, killed T levels, kills muscle glycogen, it goes on and on. I don’t see a lot of harm in occasionally having a beer or two, but getting FUBAR is not what you want to do if you care at all about your training. I every so often have a Guiness or two or a shot or two of Vodka. But for healths sake I don’t party with Rugby players.