Alcohol and losing weight

Example: half a litre of beer at 5% vol. contains about 20 g of alcohol. That is about 140 kcal from the alcohol alone, without the rest of the beer.^[1]

So enter drinks if you count calories.

These are guide values, single products differ. In the EU, drinks above 1.2% alcohol need no nutrition declaration.^[6] So you may find nothing on the label.

An analysis of 22 studies with 701 participants found that people do not make up for the energy from alcohol by eating less. With alcohol they even ate more, on average 343 kJ, about 80 kcal. In total it was 1,072 kJ more, about 255 kcal. The results apply mainly to younger adults.^[2]

A review paints a similar picture: alcohol before or with a meal tends to increase food intake. For long-term weight, however, the data are not clear.^[3]

While the body breaks down alcohol, it uses less fat as fuel. Just 24 g lowered this in 8 men by 73% during the hours studied. Hardly any of it was turned into fat, under 5% of the amount.^[7]

This is mainly a matter of timing. In measurements, alcohol led to more body fat when it came on top of normal needs. When it replaced other calories, things evened out later.^[8]

Alcohol helps you fall asleep less than many think. In 27 studies of healthy adults, falling asleep only got faster at high amounts from 0.85 g per kilogram of body weight. It disturbed dream sleep from 0.5 g per kilogram or less.^[9]

Breathing suffers too: in 14 studies, breathing pauses during sleep rose by 2.3 per hour on average, and by 7.1 in people with sleep apnoea.^[10] Why sleep matters for eating is under Sleep and weight.

It is not that simple. Long-term studies show no clear gain with light to moderate drinking, but more likely with heavy drinking. Results conflict, and people who drink often differ in other ways too.^[11] It does not follow that wine protects you.

DGE sees no amount of alcohol that is safe for health and recommends avoiding alcoholic drinks. If you drink anyway, you should above all avoid large amounts.^[4]

According to WHO Europe, no amount of drinking is free of health risks. Alcohol is classed as carcinogenic and causes at least seven types of cancer.^[12] The German Centre for Addiction Issues advises everyone to drink less and names no alcohol as the best choice.^[13]

If you take medicines, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether alcohol goes with them. According to the German Sleep Society, sleeping pills never go with alcohol.^[14] If it is hard for you to drink less, read When to get medical advice.