Alcohol calories, how do they work?

[serbyte]

I know that alcohol has 9 calories per gram. I was wondering does your body use those calories, and if it does, do you store them as fat, or do you store your carbs and fat as fat because of the extra calories.

I also heard that alcohol from beer is broken down by the body more easily and is therefore used for energy, while the alcohol in hard liquor cannot be broken down as easily and therefore does not count as calories.

I know drinking is not good for muscle growth, but can someone explain to me how bad it is.

Im training very serious right now and not drinking at all, only once in a while on my off days. But its killing me cuz i love it soo much.

 

[dr0832]

yeah I was wondering the same. If you drink beer after working out after a protein shake would your body use the carbs to repair your muscles or whats the deal?

 

[serbyte]

the carbs in beer dont really make you fat. Miller light has only 3, while the skammers at Micheloeb, have marketed their Ultra Low Carb Beer with 2.7 carbs. Its not Ultra low carb if it has one less carb than the leading light beer, they are just fucking scammers.

Besides my anger at Michelob, i think that its the calories from alcohol that get you fat (beer belly). This is what im trying to find out from this post

 

[Cut]

yeah I was wondering the same. If you drink beer after working out after a protein shake would your body use the carbs to repair your muscles or whats the deal?

Please don't do that.

Following an intense workout cortisol can rise 61 per cent higher when alcohol follows weightlifting. Cortisol is stress hormone that promotes fat storage (particularly the midsection) and also signals the body to use muscle protein for energy.

 

[anthrax]

Have you ever seen an heavy beer drinker ?

It should answer you question

Carbs from beer are no good and should not be "used" postworkout

You may take a beer before working out/cardio since you'll eliminate those calories, but never after

 

[Stryc-9]

The alcohol itself is converted to acetone in the liver and burned preferentially to glucose - hence, fat burning stops until the alcohol is completely out of your system. As for the carbs in beer, they are processed just like carbs from any other source.

 

[Clean]

What, you never drink after a workout? You must not be very big...


j/k, I think that would make me feel like shit if I drank after a workout.

 

[GodOfThunder]

Arnold was known to eat a whole chicken and a pitcher of beer Post workout, and I bet you it wasn't any candy ass light beer either!

 

[ZKaudio]

^when he was a powerlifter... not a bb'r

 

[collegiateLifter]

geez. Alcohol has 7kcal/gram not 9. also its is burned as acetone, but it is important to know that these calories must be burned and can NOT be stored as fat. Its generally those extra fat and carbohydrate cals you encounter that are stored as fat.

 

[KWKSLVR]

So does this mean that ANYTHING you consume gets stored as fat if you have ANY alcohol in your system?

 

[ZKaudio]

not necessarily.

 

[KWKSLVR]

So lets blow this out, if alcohol contains empty calories, does this mean that someone could consume 2000 calories of a day on top of say a whole 5th of Southern Comfort (roughly 1500 calories), not eating anything while intoxicating, and essientially only having consumed 2000 calories that day since the alcohol can't be stored?

And say that person is completely under the influence and eats 500 cals of something, all 500 cals are stored as fat since the alcohol must be burned first?

 

[serbyte]

That would mean that eating while drunk is the worst time to eat. That sux considering that after a night of partying, a late nite meal is one of the most satisfying meals.

 

[Musmar]

Empty calories mean that they have no nutritional value ie protein, carb, fat etc...Alcohol still has caloric significance in one's diet!

 

[Mr.X]

My problem w/ alcohol is this:

Alcohol slows fat burning - the body uses fat for energy. Alcohol blocks this ability to burn fat for energy, resulting in 30% less energy coming from fat. We certainly don't want unnecessary delays in burning the fat in our bodies. Thus, it would occur to me that alcohol consumption would be a no no for dieters.

Mr.X