Many people wish to burn fat but are addicted to alcohol at the same time. Nowadays, we all use social media and consider those slim-fit females and gym-freak male celebrities inspiring. But, you don't find it easy even to burn fat though you are trying to eat healthy to stay fit.
The sole reason is that Alcohol stops fat burning, but do you know how long it takes for Alcohol to do that?
You ignore that Alcohol can affect your fat metabolism, ultimately slowing it down. Alcohol is a toxin in your body's eyes, so when you drink, your body metabolizes it and pushes nutrients like fat aside.
Later on, the liver stores the fat, which can even become the cause of liver disease. Along with time, that fat contributes to weight gain.
In this write-up, find answers to your questions regarding how alcohol stops fat burning and how you can deal with it.
Does alcohol stop fat burning?
Alcohol contributes to extra energy (calories) you take in daily and disturbs an individual's normal metabolic pathways, for instance, “fat burning.” Alcohol prevents fat burning through two separate metabolic processes.
Therefore, these two mechanisms create an excessive NADH (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Hydrogen) in your blood. NADH is a compound produced from Alcohol. Your body uses NADH to make new fatty acids and glycerol (a simple sugar) or enter the electron transport chain, a separate complicated mechanism. Thus, that complicated mechanism also uses it as energy.
Undoubtedly, both mechanisms disturb normal fat metabolism, eventually blocking the usual fat-burning system in your body. In case of excessive alcohol intake, there is a risk of fatty liver disease and heart attack.
Yes, Alcohol stops fat burning, so if you are trying to lose fat, I’m afraid you will not be successful.
How long does Alcohol stop your body from burning fat?
The reason why Alcohol is harmful to your health is your body's negative response to its consumption. Unfortunately, your body doesn't warmly welcome what you love to drink. Instead, it treats it like poison and focuses on metabolizing the Alcohol. During that, your body closes all metabolic pathways except the alcoholic metabolism.
Overall, this behavior of your body treating Alcohol as a poison lasts approximately 12 to 36 hours. However, it entirely depends on the alcohol intake and the individual's metabolism.
If you are someone who drinks Alcohol excessively, it may take more time for your body to break down alcohol than 12 to 36 hours. On the other hand, if you don't drink much, your metabolism will slow down as your body will take more time to metabolize Alcohol.
Nevertheless, there is no fixed rule that not drinking alcohol excessively will not be harmful. Alcohol stops your body from burning fat for a specific time, and you must take care of it instead of worrying about how long.
Can Alcohol help in fat loss?
Alcohol messes up your body's system of burning fat by shifting its focus on breaking down Alcohol. When it's time for your body to burn fat, it is busy metabolizing Alcohol. As a result, you cannot burn fat, ultimately failing to lose weight.
Moreover, Alcohol lowers the testosterone levels in your body, which is a hormone that leads to muscle gain. So, if you think Alcohol can help you lose weight and you choose and skip meals and drink only, you are doing the wrong thing.
To get a body like the models, you think of joining a gym and drinking often, but believe me, you will never be successful. When you drink at night, the next morning, you feel lazy to leave your bed, so forget about going to the gym to burn calories.
Remember, Alcohol is never going to help you in fat loss because it leads to an increase in appetite and affects food choices. When you crave for food than usual, it becomes difficult considering not to satisfy your appetite.
Last but not least, you crave junk instead of healthy food, so do you still think Alcohol can help in fat loss?
How much Alcohol stops your fat-burning process?
The liver plays a significant role in your digestive system and is mainly responsible for breaking down food and metabolism. When you cannot multitask flawlessly, then it’s wrong to expect your liver to do that.
Thus, when you drink, you put an extra burden on your liver, breaking down the food as per its schedule. It cannot multitask, so it focuses on metabolizing the Alcohol instead of breaking the nutrients you consumed recently.
Whenever your body isn't burning fat, and you drink Alcohol, it is busy removing acetate, a harmful component of Alcohol.
Although, no hard and fast rule drinking a particular quantity of Alcohol will not disturb your body's system of burning fat.
As a human being, you can try a few things, like selecting an alcoholic drink having fewer calories. Furthermore, refrain from mixing it with a carbohydrate mixer, for example, margarita mix, bar syrup, or sugared soda) and consider mixing it with water. Reduce the number of drinks at one social event to 2 and drink two to three times a month.
Final Thoughts
Your body burns fat for days, but with one drink, you disturb its schedule. Ultimately, it needs time to return back to its schedule.
For the time being, you feel sad when you are unable to lose weight after avoiding calories and eating healthy food, and spending time exercising in the gym. But in the longer run, Alcohol stopping fat burning can lead to damage to organs like the liver, kidneys, and heart.
On the other hand, we mentioned earlier that Alcohol disturbs hormone balance like testosterone and stops breaking down nutrients to break down Alcohol. Now is the time to revise your drinking habits, not just to lose weight, but to live a healthy life.
We are always open to answer your queries since your health matters to us as it is the biggest wealth one can possess. Feel free to leave a comment, and we will suggest solutions to your problems regarding alcohol and fat burning.
