Well, it’s that time of the year again.
The days are getting longer, the weather is heating up, everyone is coming out of their winter hibernation and that means more gatherings, more BBQ’s, the beer is cold and the chilled bottles of Sav are looking mighty tasty!
So, you ponder…. do I partake, or not?
Let me give you a few facts to assist you, and to educate you.
- While it may taste great, and be rather refreshing, and it gives you that feel good feeling, alcohol in excess, is rather toxic to your liver and it just slows everything down!!
- Alcohol contains only empty calories and has no nutritional value…so you may as well be eating cardboard.
- Alcohol blocks your body’s ability to make glucose and to maintain healthy levels of glucose (or blood sugar) in the blood.
- Because your body can’t store alcohol and must metabolize it right away, other metabolic processes suffer. Your body won’t metabolize sugars and fats as efficiently during the metabolism of alcohol, and drinking heavily can cause your metabolism to slow. This can contribute to weight gain, as can the empty calories found in alcohol.
- As if that weren’t enough, alcohol can also stimulate your appetite so you crave junk food during and after drinking….McDonalds, K fried, Hungry Jacks…Pizza, chips and dips, and all sorts of fabulous cheeses and crackers…you name it…. Sounds good to you , NOOOOO!
- It is totally dehydrating, which is why you can wake up with that dreaded headache. All those cells in your body are starving for water!
Below is a few alcoholic beverages, and their calories, to give you an idea of the calories you are likely to consume.
1 average glass wine = 120 calories
1 beer = 130 calories.
1 vodka with soda = 60 calories
These are guidelines and averages, and they sound ok right? But if you add them up over a full on binge…there are a lot of calories going in that are just empty, expensive, and really painful the next day.
So in summary, be sensible, by all means enjoy the odd glass of wine, the cool bottle of corona or cider, or a divine vodka and soda, but remember when you indulge in alcohol you will throw everything out of balance, and the more you indulge the weight will not come off, it will go on!!!!
Cheers!!