Posted on August 29, 2016 by Jenny Cromack

So we all know weekends are great, no work and plenty of time to spend time with friends and family, but often this can be socialising and that often includes alcohol.

One of the biggest problems areas a lot of our clients have is shifting abdominal fat. It’s always the first area we store fat and quite often the last to leave. You will have read in blogs before that training and diet plays a massive part in shredding away the abdominal fat. However one key culprit that will certainly not help your issue is alcohol. If you want a six pack then you need to look at reducing your alcohol intake.

A number of studies have found that even minimal consumption of alcohol on a regular basis is associated with an increase in stomach fat and the findings are even higher in men. A study from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011 studied more than 250,000 people from 10 countries. The study looked at alcohol use, body composition and related factors. Each participants complete detailed questionnaires and had their body composition tested by trained professionals. As little as one drink a day increased their abdominal fat, with both beer and wine showing increases however beer showing a greater increase. Men who consumed four or more drinks a day showed to have a significantly higher body fat % compared to those who drank less.
It was also reported that those who drank more had an increased consumption of calories.

So Why Avoid Alcohol?
Its not just about the added calories (which is a lot by the way) which is the problem. When you drink alcohol your body puts a hold on all your metabolic processes prioritising the processing of the alcohol. This is because the body can’t convert the calories of the alcohol to fat, so it has to use them up before it can continue burning up the other fat stores.

Another major negative of drinking alcohol is that it majorly effects your hormones. Your cortisol levels (stress hormone) and less testosterone for men. This isn’t good!

There are number of health risks involved in consuming alcohol however the effect on increased abdominal fat is just as alarming so cut out the booze if you want to chisel out those abs!

For more information on how to drop abdominal fat then take a read of these blogs.

Tips to Drop the Belly Fat 

Belly Fat Facts 

How to Get a Six Pack Abdominals

Ref – Bergmann, M., Schutze, M., et al. The Association of Lifetime Alcohol Use With Measures of Abdominal and General Adiposity in Large-Scale European Cohort. European Journal of Clinical Nutriton. 2011. 65, 1079-1087