Does drinking cause weight gain?

Of course any amount of calories can lead to weight gain - and alcoholic drinks are no exception, ranging from about 100-200 calories a pop (creamier or more sugar-heavy drinks can run higher). But one study has shown that heavy drinkers are more likely to end up overweight. How might that happen?

Here are the facts about how alcohol contributes to weight gain:

  1. It encourages you to eat more. With those lowered inhibitions, who hasn’t ordered a pizza too many after drinking heavily? But because alcohol is a depressant, you also can become less aware of your inhibitory signals that are supposed to stop you when you’re full.

  2. It hurts your sleep. People who get less sleep are more likely to gain weight, and drinking can both shorten and reduce the quality of sleep you get.

  3. It makes you exercise less. Not only does a wicked hangover make it hard to get up and run; alcohol also makes you dehydrated, which makes it harder to get up the will to exercise.

So if you’re looking to lose weight (based on an unhealthy BMI), consider cutting back or quitting drinking! Stop drinking and lose weight with help from Drinker’s Helper today.