While we all love a great night out to Sinners, Rusty’s and Powerhouse, alcohol has an unsurprisingly negative effect on the body. But which alcohols are the worst offenders? Everyone’s heard that gin makes you cry, wine makes you happy and beer makes you fat. We are going to look deeper into the physical effects of each alcohol, and while each alcohol explains a different part, the effects are pretty much relevant to all alcohol. First off, let’s tackle a nice cold pint.
Everyone loves a good Foster’s, but the calorie intake for a single pint is 227, which is entirely empty calories. Because your body doesn’t know how to store these calories, the beer temporarily slows fat metabolism. If you’re eating some chips (or nachos, or whatever ‘Spoons is offering) with your pint, the body doesn’t account for the extra calories, so combining the extra 227 calories with the slowed metabolism as you consume your onion rings can cause weight gain. It can prevent your body from absorbing all the nutrients from your food, which can eventually lead to malnourishment. According to the American Journal of Epidemiology, drinking a little beer often is the way to go, since people who drink a lot less frequently tend to gain more weight.
Drinking a little beer often is the way to go, since people who drink a lot less frequently tend to gain more weight.
Wine drinkers out there will be happy to know that a small glass of dry white wine has only 85 calories, although the overall effects of drinking it are similar to beer. The wine you drink goes straight to your liver, which turns out is highly toxic for it. Regular excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and eventually death.
Let’s take cider next. Cider is wonderfully sweet – especially flavoured cider – although this is detrimental to your body’s blood sugar levels for a few reasons. Firstly and most obviously the amount of sugar in a pint of Strongbow Dark Fruits is 12g. Men are recommended to have 37.5g in a day, and women are recommended to have 25g. Apologies, ladies, but two cans of Strongbow and you’ve almost had your entire sugar intake for the day. Secondly, when you consume alcohol, your blood sugar level regulation is pushed aside as the body tries to metabolise the drink. And thirdly alcohol itself inhibits the body’s ability to make glucose, so if your blood sugar levels dropped your body would be unable to produce more to maintain a healthy level.
There was recently an article [...] suggesting that gin can speed up your metabolism and help you lose weight.
And so we move on to spirits. Who doesn’t love trebles or the odd tequila shot on a night out? There was recently an article shared on Yahoo Style which picked up a lot of speed suggesting that gin can speed up your metabolism and help you lose weight. This was, unfortunately, an April Fools prank that got out of hand, and yet has reignited the country’s and the world’s passion for gin. Gin and all spirits have the same effect on the metabolism as any other beverage. A shot of vodka has approximately 105 calories; so turning that into a treble is just over 300 calories. When you’re choosing your mixer for your double vodka, consider a diet mixer, as a normal mixer will contain more empty calories and will affect your blood sugar level as was previously mentioned.
DISCLAIMER: I love a drink and a night out as much as anyone. All I’m giving you is facts with which you can do what you will.