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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ALCOHOL

Let's talk about alcohol, because for many of my patients this is the number one problem in weight control.

We live in a society where drinking is so much a part of our way of life that it is much harder to turn down a drink than a dessert - even if we like desserts better.

Yet alcohol is a powerful deterrent to a low-carbohydrate diet. If you've read about the Drinking Man's Diet, you know that alcohol is not usually considered a true carbohydrate. And if you enjoy a sociable drink, you will hit upon that fact to justify adding alcohol to your diet.

But this is one diet where alcohol acts just like a carbohydrate. It makes your body discharge insulin and stops you from putting out FMH (fat mobilizing hormone).

There is no hard-and-fast rule about how much alcohol converts into gram-equivalents of carbohydrate, because there is remarkable individual variation in this department.

But this rule of thumb that I use represents the best average value: For every ounce of 100-proof spirits count 20 grams (carbs). In other words, one ounce of 84-proof Scotch might be thought of as 16.8 grams of carbs. Or four ounces of 24-proof wine might be counted as 19.2 grams of carbs.

This is pure alcohol equivalents. If drinking beer, remember there are actual carbohydrates in that too! So you are getting a LOT more carbs.

Even though the alcohol may not kick you out of ketosis, the lingering effects of it may last for days. Remember that your body uses alcohol first over any other nutrient, and while it is burning the alcohol, it is NOT burning fat.