Alcohol and weight loss: what drinks really do to your weight

Does alcohol stop weight loss?

Alcohol does not stop weight loss on its own, but it often slows it down. The extra calories from drinks, the snacks that tend to come with them and a restless night’s sleep all add up.

How much it matters depends on how much and how often you drink. One small glass at a family meal now and then makes little difference to most people. Several drinks on several evenings a week can easily cancel out the changes you make to your meals and your walking.

This page explains what alcohol does in your body, how many calories common drinks contain and what guidelines say about lower-risk drinking. It also covers what to watch out for with diabetes, medicines and after weight-loss surgery, and where to find help if cutting down feels hard.

We do not judge anyone for drinking or for not drinking. Our aim is to give you honest, practical facts, so you can make your own choices with a clear picture.

Not drinking at all is completely normal

Many of our readers never drink alcohol, for reasons of faith, health, culture, family history or simple preference. That is a common and healthy choice, not an unusual one.

A large Global Burden of Disease analysis in The Lancet estimated that only about one in three people aged 15 and over worldwide had drunk any alcohol in the past year. In other words, roughly two out of three people did not drink at all.

The same analysis found that the level of drinking linked to the lowest overall health risk was zero. So if you do not drink, please do not start because you have heard that a glass of wine is good for your heart or your weight.

If you do not drink, much of this page is still useful. You may want to support a partner or friend who is cutting down, or you may be choosing alcohol-free drinks and want to know which ones are light on sugar.

How many calories are in alcohol?

Pure alcohol (ethanol) provides about 7 calories (kcal) per gram. That is nearly twice as much as sugar or protein, which give about 4 kcal per gram, and close to fat at about 9 kcal per gram.

Alcohol is often called “empty calories”, because it brings energy but almost no vitamins, minerals, protein or fibre. On top of the alcohol itself, many drinks contain sugar from the grain, fruit or mixer.

The table below gives approximate values for common drinks. We calculated them ourselves from the USDA SR Legacy food composition database, which lists energy per 100 g, and converted to typical serving sizes using approximate densities.

Real drinks vary with brand, recipe and strength, so treat every number as a rough guide and check the label where you can.

Two things stand out. First, a single creamy or sweet cocktail can hold as much energy as a small meal. Second, the size of the glass matters as much as the type of drink: a large glass of wine has two thirds more calories than a standard one.

Where the calories in a drink come from

In most beers, wines and spirits, the alcohol itself supplies the larger share of the calories. A 330 ml beer at 5 % holds about 13 g of pure alcohol, which works out at roughly 90 kcal before you count any sugar.

This is why “low-carb” or “low-sugar” beers and wines are not much lighter unless they also contain less alcohol. A lower alcohol percentage on the label usually means fewer calories.

What is a “standard drink”?

A standard drink is a fixed amount of pure alcohol that health agencies use to give advice. The trouble is that countries do not agree on how much that is.

A survey of government definitions in 37 countries by Kalinowski and Humphreys found standard drinks ranging from 8 to 20 g of alcohol, with 10 g the most common size. Low-risk limits also differed widely from country to country.

In daily life, glasses are often bigger than one standard drink. A large glass of wine or a strong craft beer can easily count as two or more, so it helps to read the strength (% ABV) on the label.

What happens to alcohol in your body

Your body treats alcohol as something to clear quickly, because it cannot store it. Most alcohol is broken down in the liver, at a fairly steady pace.

A review of alcohol metabolism in Physiological Reviews describes how, in one study, men and women both cleared on average about 7 g of alcohol per hour. That is roughly half the alcohol in a regular bottle of beer, so several drinks keep the liver busy for hours.

The same review explains that eating before or while drinking slows the emptying of the stomach. Alcohol then reaches the blood more slowly, and peak levels are lower than on an empty stomach.

Why fat burning slows while you drink

While your body is busy with alcohol, it burns less fat. In a classic experiment published in the New England Journal of Medicine, eight healthy men spent two separate 48-hour stays in a room that measured exactly what their bodies burned.

When alcohol was added to their food, or replaced part of it, the amount of fat they burned over 24 hours dropped by roughly a third. The fat that was not burned was effectively saved for later.

This does not mean alcohol turns straight into body fat. It means that calories from alcohol come first in the queue, so the fat from your meal, and your stored fat, wait longer to be used.

How alcohol affects appetite and food choices

Alcohol tends to make people eat more, not less. Most of us do not quietly eat a smaller meal to make room for the calories in our drinks.

A systematic review and meta-analysis by Kwok and colleagues pooled controlled trials that compared a meal with an alcoholic drink against a meal with an alcohol-free drink. Adults did not compensate for the energy in the alcohol by eating less.

In fact, after the alcoholic drink they ate on average about 80 kcal more food. Counting the drink as well, their total intake rose by roughly 250 kcal compared with the alcohol-free comparison. The trials mostly involved younger adults, so results may differ for other ages.

Why a drink makes snacks harder to resist

Alcohol relaxes the part of you that usually plans and holds back. Crisps, chips, takeaway food or a late-night sandwich can seem like a very good idea after two drinks, even when you were not hungry before.

The American Diabetes Association also points out that drinking can make you lose track of what you are eating. Bowls of nuts and crisps on the table get refilled without anyone counting.

Some people drink to cope with stress, boredom or difficult feelings, much as others turn to food. If that sounds familiar, our page on emotional eating offers ways to recognise the pattern and respond with more kindness to yourself.

Plan the food, not only the drinks

Because alcohol nudges food choices, it helps to decide what you will eat before the first drink. Eat a proper meal with vegetables and protein, so you are not drinking on an empty stomach.

If snacks are part of the evening, put a single portion in a small bowl rather than eating from the bag. Our guide to portion control has simple tricks for snacks and evenings out.

Alcohol, sleep and the next day

A drink may help you fall asleep faster, but it makes the second half of the night worse. That trade usually leaves you more tired, not more rested.

A review of all known studies on alcohol and sleep in healthy volunteers by Ebrahim and colleagues found that alcohol shortens the time it takes to fall asleep at every dose. In the second half of the night, though, sleep becomes more broken.

The review also found that dream (REM) sleep starts later, and at moderate and higher doses there is less of it across the night. These changes can leave you groggy the next morning.

After a poor night, many people find healthy eating and a daily walk harder to manage. Our page on sleep, stress and mental health explains this link in more depth.

A practical rule: if you drink, stop at least a few hours before bed and drink water alongside. Better still, keep weeknights alcohol-free, which many people find gives them their best sleep of the week.

Does alcohol cause a beer belly?

Heavier drinking is linked to more fat deep inside the belly, around the organs. The evidence comes from observational studies, so it shows a link rather than proof that alcohol alone causes it.

A large study used precise body scans (DXA) in 5,761 men and women from the Oxford Biobank. In the quarter of drinkers who drank the most, a larger share of their body fat sat deep in the belly: over 10 % more, relative to the quarter just below them.

That difference held after allowing for age, smoking, activity and total body fat. The top quarter drank a median of about 24 UK units (roughly 190 g of alcohol) a week for men and 14 units (about 110 g) for women.

The study looked at alcohol in general, not at beer alone. Visceral fat matters because it is closely tied to type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which is why a shrinking waist is good news even when the scale moves slowly.

You cannot remove fat from one spot by cutting one drink. Less alcohol together with good food, daily movement and enough sleep is what helps. Our page on belly fat sets out the full approach.

For more on why many men gain weight around the middle and how to start losing it, see our guide to weight loss for men.

Does alcohol make you gain weight?

Heavy drinking is fairly consistently linked to weight gain; for light drinking the picture is mixed. That is the conclusion of a research update by Traversy and Chaput in Current Obesity Reports.

Several long-term studies found that people who drank small amounts did not gain more weight than people who did not drink. The authors point out that regular light drinkers often have other habits and circumstances that protect them, so the drink itself is unlikely to be the reason.

Heavy drinking and binge drinking are a different story. They bring a large number of extra calories and are more clearly tied to weight gain over time.

The authors conclude that alcohol may be a risk factor for obesity in some people. For anyone trying to lose weight, the practical answer is simple: fewer drinks make the job easier.

Can alcohol cause weight loss?

Yes, but only in a harmful way. When someone drinks heavily for a long time, they may lose weight because alcohol has pushed out food and the body has started to struggle.

A review on nutrition in alcohol-associated liver disease by Bhavsar-Burke and colleagues describes malnutrition as common in people with this condition. Eating less, poorer absorption of nutrients and money problems all play a part, and malnutrition is linked to worse outcomes.

Weight lost this way can come with shortages of important nutrients. It is a sign of illness, not a sign that a diet is working.

Weight loss you did not plan, especially together with heavy drinking or a poor appetite, needs a doctor’s visit soon. Please do not wait or try to manage it alone.

You may also see online “alcohol diets” or claims that certain spirits melt fat. They do not work and can be dangerous. Our page on weight loss myths looks at other popular shortcuts that do not hold up.

Best alcohol for weight loss? An honest answer

No alcoholic drink helps you lose weight. The honest answer to “what is the best alcohol for weight loss” is: none, and less of any of them is better.

If you do choose to drink, some choices add far fewer calories than others. Going by the table above, these swaps make the biggest difference:

• Choose a smaller glass. A 150 ml glass of wine instead of 250 ml saves about 85 kcal each time.
• Choose lower-strength drinks. A light beer has about a third fewer calories than a regular one; a stronger craft beer has more.
• Use sugar-free mixers. A gin with diet tonic has about 55 kcal less than one with regular tonic.
• Skip the creamy and sweet cocktails. A piña colada can hold more than twice the calories of a glass of wine.
• Make it a spritzer. Half wine and half sparkling water gives a long drink with half the alcohol.
• Alternate with water. Every second glass can be water, sparkling water or an alcohol-free drink.

Watch out for the idea that a “low-calorie” drink means you can have more of them. Two light beers contain more alcohol and more calories than one regular beer, and the effects on sleep, appetite and health still count.

Alcohol-free drinks that still feel like a treat

Alcohol-free drinks let you join in without the calories and after-effects of alcohol. There are more options in shops and bars now than ever before.

• Sparkling water with lemon, lime, cucumber or fresh mint, served in a nice glass with ice.
• Alcohol-free wine. In the USDA data, a glass has around 10 kcal, against about 120 for regular wine.
• Alcohol-free beer. Calories vary a lot by brand. The USDA entry for malt drinks, which includes some alcohol-free beers, comes close to regular beer, so check the label.
• Diet tonic or soda with bitters and a slice of citrus, for a drink that looks like a cocktail.
• Iced tea or herbal tea without sugar, hot or cold.
• Kombucha in a small glass, checking the label for added sugar.

Be careful with “mocktails” made with juice, syrup or cream. They are alcohol-free but can still contain as much sugar as a soft drink.

Holding a drink you enjoy makes it easier to say no to alcohol at a party. If someone asks, “I’m driving”, “I’m sleeping better without it” or simply “No thanks” is more than enough.

For everyday drinks beyond parties, our guide to weight loss drinks shows which ones really help.

How much is lower risk? What guidelines say

Health agencies agree that less alcohol is better and that no level is completely without risk. Where they differ is in how they set their limits.

Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, developed by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction with funding from Health Canada, describes risk as a sliding scale over a week:

The Canadian guidance adds that more than two standard drinks on one occasion raises the risk of injuries and violence. It states that there is no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy or when trying to become pregnant, and that not drinking is safest while breastfeeding.

So if you are pregnant or trying for a baby, do not drink alcohol at all. Our page on obesity and pregnancy covers healthy weight and eating at that time.

Other countries set different limits, and some are less strict. Check the guidance in your own country, and remember that limits are about health risk in general, not about weight loss. For weight loss, the fewer drinks the better.

Alcohol with diabetes, blood pressure and other medicines

Alcohol can interact with many common medicines and with diabetes treatment. If you take regular medicines, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether alcohol is safe for you, and how much.

Diabetes and low blood sugar

For people who use insulin or sulfonylurea tablets, the main danger is low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). The American Diabetes Association explains that the liver gives priority to clearing alcohol over releasing sugar into the blood.

That can cause a low, particularly when you drink without eating. The low may come hours after your last drink, sometimes during the night, and is more likely if you have also been active.

Signs of a low, such as confusion, drowsiness, slurred speech or unsteady walking, look a lot like being drunk. People around you may not realise you need help.

• Eat a meal or a snack with starchy food when you drink, and do not drink on an empty stomach.
• Check your blood sugar before bed and in the morning after drinking, as your diabetes team advises.
• Carry glucose and wear or carry something that says you have diabetes.
• Tell someone you are with how to recognise and treat a low.

Alcohol also adds calories and can raise blood sugar over time when drinking is heavy. Our page on insulin resistance explains how food, walking and weight loss help blood sugar control.

Other medicines

The US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism lists many medicines that can react badly with alcohol. These include some medicines for high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, pain, seizures and infections.

Effects range from dizziness, drowsiness and fainting to stomach bleeding and liver damage, for example with some painkillers. Older people are at higher risk, because the body clears alcohol more slowly with age and many older adults take several medicines.

Some cough syrups and other liquid medicines contain alcohol themselves. Read the label, and ask your pharmacist if you are unsure.

If you take medicine to help with weight, ask the doctor who prescribed it about alcohol too. Whether medication is right for you is something to discuss with your doctor. Obesity Foundation does not recommend or promote weight-loss medication; our focus is good food, appropriate exercise and walking.

Alcohol after bariatric surgery

After weight-loss surgery, alcohol hits harder and faster. This is one of the most important things to discuss with your surgical team before and after the operation.

The review in Physiological Reviews explains that both gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy change how alcohol is absorbed. Less of it is broken down in the stomach, and it reaches the blood much faster, so peak blood alcohol levels can be about twice as high from the same drink.

Alcohol problems can also grow after surgery. In a large US study of nearly 2,000 people who had bariatric surgery, signs of an alcohol use disorder were found in 7.6 % in the year before surgery and in 9.6 % in the second year after it.

The risk was higher after gastric bypass than after a gastric band, and higher in people who drank regularly before surgery, smoked or were younger. In this study, the rise showed up in the second year after surgery, not the first.

• Follow your surgical team’s advice on alcohol, and ask them directly if it has not come up.
• Do not drive after drinking; the same drink can now push your blood alcohol much higher than before.
• Watch for changes in your own drinking, and tell your team early if alcohol has become more important to you.

Our page on bariatric surgery explains the different operations and the long-term follow-up they need.

How to drink less while losing weight: a practical plan

Small, planned changes work better than strict rules you cannot keep. Talk to your doctor first if you drink heavily every day, because stopping suddenly after long, heavy drinking can cause dangerous withdrawal symptoms and should be planned with medical help.

For most people who drink moderately, the four-week plan below is a gentle way to start. Pick what fits your life, and keep the steps that work.

A few more ideas that help many people:

• Do not keep alcohol in the house, or keep only a small amount out of sight.
• Decide your limit before you go out, and tell a friend so they can support you.
• Eat before and while you drink, choosing a meal with vegetables and protein.
• Swap the evening drink for a short walk after dinner. Our walking page shows how to begin gently at any weight.
• Notice the savings in money, sleep and energy, not only on the scale.

Festive weeks often bring more drinks than usual. Our guide to holiday weight gain has a simple plan for parties and celebrations.

If your weight still does not move after cutting down, other things may be in the way. Our page on not losing weight walks through the most common reasons.

When to get help with drinking

If cutting down is harder than you expected, you are not alone, and it is not a sign of weakness. Alcohol use disorder is a common medical condition that can affect anyone, and most people with it recover or markedly improve with treatment, according to the NIAAA.

It may be time to talk to someone if you notice any of these:

• You often drink more, or for longer, than you meant to.
• You have tried to cut down and could not.
• Drinking gets in the way of work, family or your health.
• You need more alcohol than before to feel the same effect.
• You feel shaky, sweaty, restless, sick or unable to sleep when the alcohol wears off.

If you drink heavily every day or get withdrawal symptoms when the alcohol wears off, do not stop suddenly on your own. Withdrawal can be dangerous, even life-threatening. Your doctor can help you stop safely, and medicines can make withdrawal safer. Seizures, confusion or seeing things that are not there need emergency help.

Your family doctor is a good first step. They can talk through options, check your health and refer you to specialist help if needed. Many countries also have a free, confidential national alcohol helpline; your doctor or a local health service can give you the number.

If you live with obesity, you may have had difficult experiences with health professionals. You deserve to be treated with respect. Our doctor visit checklist helps you prepare, and our page on psychological support explains what talking therapies can offer.

How Obesity Foundation helps you lose weight, with or without alcohol

We help people lose weight and feel healthier with good food, suitable exercise and walking. Everything we offer is free, and nobody will lecture you about drinking.

• Your own free eating plan, with meals and drinks that suit your taste, budget and health: request your free eating plan.
• 150 free exercise videos at three levels, Start, Build and Strong, starting with gentle seated sessions: start the free videos.
• A free video meeting (in English) to talk through food, drinks and habits with someone who listens: plan a free video meeting.
• The free Obesity Foundation Club, a personal account to track your progress and ask questions along the way: open your Club account.

Cutting down on alcohol is one change among several. Combined with regular meals, a daily walk and enough sleep, it can make a real difference to how you feel within a few weeks.