Stop drinking beer and lose weight: real effects

How does beer affect your health?

The desire to quit drinking alcohol rarely arises on its own, without any significant preconditions. The first warning sign is health problems that make a person think about the need to give up a bad habit.

The fact that one of the family members daily drinks such a seemingly harmless drink as beer has its own danger. The importance of beer alcoholism is often downplayed not only by ordinary people, but also by medical practitioners, yet the intoxicating drink has a noticeable effect on health. Its daily use leads to the following consequences:

impotence develops in men, and libido decreases significantly in women;
brain cells die under the influence of ethanol;
ethanol passes into breast milk and poses a danger to babies if a woman is breastfeeding;
Over time, the liver and kidneys suffer, and failure of these organs develops.

If you do not drink beer for a long time, you can achieve not only weight loss, but also restore partially or completely lost health. Beer alcoholics often say that there are special diets based on the drink that help you lose weight, but not give up the habit. All such diets are just self-deception, aimed at maintaining one’s unhealthy addiction.

Remember! Beer alcoholism is not a myth, but a harsh reality that many people face. It is impossible to lose weight with the help of a drink, and all attempts to do this either bring a temporary effect or are completely useless!

Beer can be beneficial, but only if you don’t drink it every day and in small quantities. A small dose of hops can introduce B vitamins into the body, delay the development of sclerosis, and supply minerals necessary for the normal functioning of all organs and systems. But with systematic use, all positive effects are completely neutralized, since ethanol is a strong poison.

The mechanism of action of the beer diet

Life in the bosom of civilization dulls natural instincts. Scientists prove that feeling hungry does not mean that the body needs food, much less any food. Most often, we mistake thirst for hunger, and a glass of regular water in this case is preferable to a chocolate bar. But even with real hunger, the body does not require ballast like pasta or white bread, but vitamins and fiber.

From this point of view, beer is simply a storehouse of vitamins and microelements. The drink contains B vitamins (the so-called beauty vitamins), which are responsible for the condition of the walls of blood vessels and the elasticity of the skin. It is thanks to their presence that the skin does not sag during sudden weight loss, but is gently tightened. Beer also contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium and other useful minerals. Bittering hop additives prevent bile stagnation and even reduce blood cholesterol levels. The drink has a diuretic effect.

A liter of beer contains approximately 400 kcal, that is, 100–150 kcal less than the corresponding amount of milk. “Beer bellies” are explained not by the consumption of beer itself, but by immoderation in snacks: salted nuts, crackers, fish, of course, are tasty, but very high in calories, retain water in the body and negatively affect metabolism. In addition, alcohol itself stimulates the appetite.

Thus, the only problem with a beer diet is the ethanol contained in the drink (depending on the strength, a liter of beer contains 30–50 grams of alcohol). It all depends on the characteristics of the organism. For those who are too sensitive to alcohol, it is better to drink non-alcoholic beer during the diet.

You will have to give up high-calorie snacks

What causes weight gain

If you stop drinking beer, you can lose weight, contrary to the common and erroneous belief that hops do not affect weight gain. Regular consumption of a beer alcoholic’s favorite drink affects weight due to the following features:

Any alcohol is high in calories

Some people believe that strong alcohol can make you feel full, and this opinion is not unfounded. The calorie content of alcohol-containing products is 250-300 calories. Beer, for the most part, contains even more calories, since it contains not only ethanol, but also additional substances such as sugar, preservatives that help maintain the freshness of the drink, and coloring agents. Naturally, it is impossible to lose weight if you consume such a volume of calories every day.

If you start drinking, you won't stop eating

Alcohol can be called perhaps one of the most powerful appetite stimulants. If a person starts drinking regularly, he will inevitably gain weight. Scientists attribute this effect of ethanol to the fact that it not only promotes the production of gastric juice, but also stimulates the hunger center in the brain, which is why the beer alcoholic feels uncontrollable hunger.

where would we be without snacks?

If you drink and overcome hunger, then it seems that everything is not so scary. However, in most cases, a person who regularly drinks beer consumes a variety of high-calorie snacks in large quantities. This could be smoked fish, meat, various chips or nuts, which contain a large number of calories. Even a month of such a “diet”, if you do not control yourself, will have an adverse effect on your figure.

Beer alcoholism reduces willpower

It would seem that one can refuse the snacks that accompany beer libations. But it's not that simple. A person dependent on any alcohol loses his will, he is unable to stop if he has already started any action, and this also applies to uncontrolled consumption of food.

beer composition

It is not only the calorie content of the drink that contributes to weight gain during beer alcoholism, but also its composition. Hops contain a lot of natural estrogens, which quickly affect the male physique, contributing to the formation of the characteristic beer belly. Excess estrogen also harms the female body: the fairer sex is not protected from the formation of beer belly (increased fat deposition in the abdominal area), although her body contains much more estrogens than the male sex.

Quitting drinking and losing weight is not a myth or a beautiful fairy tale, but a fact based on the characteristics of behavior and physiology. The influence of ethanol contained in beer is such that losing weight on beer diets is not only difficult, but sometimes even impossible. In most cases, the beer diet is an attempt to talk yourself out of social pressure regarding the combination of a bad habit and extra pounds, or a search for an easy way to lose weight that does not exist.

Ways to quit drinking alcohol on your own

How to stop drinking beer without returning to this bad habit? After all, if an alcoholic starts drinking alcohol, it is very difficult for him to stop, and giving up his bad addiction may take not a week or a month, but a much longer period.

If you regularly drink 1.5-2 liters of beer a day, then you can try to fight the habit on your own, without the help of specialists. For this it is recommended:

learn to draw up a financial plan or keep a financial diary (a good incentive to give up beer is to see with your own eyes how much money is spent on this habit);
start setting goals for yourself that are incompatible with drinking alcohol (for example, a person can drive every day and drive a certain distance for their own pleasure or engage in some other activity that requires increased attention);
you will have to reconsider your diet, composing it in such a way that the body receives enough minerals, vitamins and nutrients (the body will no longer feel the need for any missing elements, and the desire to drink, which may manifest itself, for example, as a lack of iron, will disappear by itself , which means the extra temptation will disappear);
choose a set of physical exercises and repeat them daily (even the most basic physical exercise will help you distract yourself from addiction, restore lost health, and lose excess weight).

Important! Few people can stop drinking beer immediately, without any additional incentives or influences.

“I stop drinking beer every month, but it doesn’t work out at all,” any alcoholic addicted to an intoxicating drink can complain. In this case, it is recommended to come up with additional motivation for yourself that can help you quit your bad habit. The following options are suitable:

do not drink even on holidays, having come up with some other way of rewarding yourself instead of drinking alcohol;
every month without beer, celebrate with some special event, be it a trip to an amusement park, to the theater (any way to reward yourself for endurance will do, except for returning to alcohol);
it is necessary to carefully study the effect of alcohol on the body and constantly remember it so that there is no desire to turn to the “green serpent” again;
If you start to stop drinking beer regularly, you can’t do yourself any favors.

You can start fighting a bad habit and excess weight at the same time to monitor your progress in both directions and see the relationship between them. This approach will help ensure that getting rid of the habit of drinking beer has a beneficial effect not only on a person’s weight, but also on his health in general.

How can a woman fight her addiction?

Women, unlike men, are not only more susceptible to the influence of alcohol, but also care more about their appearance. This explains their frequent desire to quit drinking beer and lose weight. But how to do that?

The most important step is to admit that there is an addiction, to tell yourself: “Yes, I drank beer every day, but I will give up this habit and start fighting excess weight.” Without recognizing the existence of a problem, it is simply impossible to begin the fight against beer alcoholism, no matter how great the desire.

Then, when the stage of acceptance and awareness of the problem is left behind, the following methods are used to cope with beer alcoholism:

any alcohol, and not just beer, is completely excluded from life, replacing it with any other hobby (the effectiveness of replacing an addiction to beer with something more useful is true not only for males, a hobby is a way to get rid of addiction for women too);
a possible option for fighting is to fight with the help of others, who can be asked to monitor the behavior and correct them if the craving for regular drinking of beer appears again;
If you can’t cope with your addiction at home, you can seek help from specialists who can help you stop drinking and lose weight.

Important! You shouldn’t expect to break the habit in the first month of starting the fight. It is often more difficult for women to stop drinking beer because they quickly develop an addiction to ethanol.

Folk remedies to help

If you need to stop drinking beer or other alcohol, then folk remedies can help. Instead of an intoxicating drink, take the following decoctions and infusions of medicinal herbs:

tea with thyme;
oleander infusion;
lovage tincture;
lamb decoction, etc.

For a person losing weight, herbal decoctions will also be useful, as some of them have fat-burning properties. The most popular of all remedies is thyme tea. This is due to the availability of raw materials and the ease of their preparation. All you need is 2-3 teaspoons of the herb, brew 200 ml of water and drink a similar infusion throughout the day. Thyme can also be added to regular black tea. This plant is also useful for those losing weight, since the essential oils included in the composition have a diuretic effect, improve digestion and saturate the body with vitamins, micro- and macroelements.

Ram or, as it is also called, club moss in the form of a decoction is also useful in combating addiction to beer and is easily available. The decoction is prepared by pouring water over the plant branches and keeping them in boiling liquid for 10-15 minutes. If a person starts taking ram, he is strictly forbidden to drink. Moreover, you can take such a decoction for the first time only if the alcoholic has not drunk for 2-3 days.

Beer diet options

There are several options for beer diets. In each of them you need to drink a liter of live beer at room temperature per day. Sometimes on websites you come across advice to drink it cold: it is believed that the body spends more energy on heating. Of course, in the summer, chilled beer is a great pleasure, but the diet itself is a serious test for all organs, and you should not create additional stress for them.

During the diet, it is forbidden to eat sugar and salt. In addition to the products indicated in the diagram, you need to drink at least two liters of herbal infusions or still water during the day. During the course, you are allowed to drink a small cup of coffee once or twice, and also eat a piece of chocolate 2-3 times (no more than 30 g per day). If you are unbearably hungry, food portions can be increased by one and a half to two times. Be sure to do exercises daily and walk in the fresh air for at least two hours.

In order not to harm the body, you should strictly adhere to the chosen scheme. The results of the beer diet largely depend on the speed of metabolic processes, so men can lose 5 kg, women - about 3-4. But even with the best results, the diet should not last longer than 7 days. You can repeat the course no earlier than in a month.

Scheme 1. Course – 7 days:

Day 1 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of buckwheat for lunch and dinner;
Day 2 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled chicken fillet for lunch and dinner;
Day 3 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled or baked fish for lunch and dinner;
Day 4 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled beef for lunch and dinner;
Day 5 – 1 liter of beer and any fruits or vegetables;
Day 6 – liter of beer;
Day 7 – still water.

Scheme 2. Eat one hard-boiled chicken or two quail eggs for breakfast every day. Quail eggs can be drunk raw. About 2 hours after dinner, before going to bed, eat the white of one chicken egg.

Course – 7 days:

Day 1 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled chicken fillet for lunch and dinner;
Day 2 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled or baked fish for lunch and dinner;
3rd day - 1 liter of beer, for lunch and dinner - 50 g of salad of grated boiled beets, seasoned with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and crushed clove of garlic;
Day 4 - 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled seafood for lunch and dinner;
5th day - 1 liter of beer, for lunch and dinner - 50 g of cottage cheese salad with a lot of chopped herbs (parsley or basil);
Day 6 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled beef for lunch and dinner;
Day 7 – 1 liter of beer, 50 g of boiled chicken fillet for lunch and dinner.

Is it possible to lose weight by giving up beer?

People doubt that if they stop drinking, they will be able to get rid of extra pounds. These doubts are not unfounded, but they can be dispelled.

First, it is important to remember that if you stop drinking, you will lose weight simply because you stop uncontrollably eating unhealthy snacks. The calories you get from snacks will stop entering the body, which will help you lose excess weight.
Secondly, a hobby that will be chosen to replace drinking beer will also help you get rid of excess weight. A person, instead of getting new calories with another bottle and a pack of chips, will spend them, since he will have to do business.
Thirdly, the person will regain his willpower. He will again learn to tell himself “stop” when he is offered a drink, and also learn to refuse overeating, which often accompanies alcoholism. Willpower will help not only fight beer alcoholism, but also get rid of extra pounds, which makes it a doubly useful aid.

If a person decides to stop drinking beer, he will be able to get rid of an extra 2-3 kg without any problems, even in the first week. But it is important not only to stop drinking, but also to monitor your lifestyle. The effectiveness of losing weight will be many times higher if you don’t stop drinking beer and start actively playing sports, monitoring your own diet, trying to make it healthy and nutritious.

Getting rid of a bad habit will bring a person satisfaction with his appearance, allowing him to get rid of extra pounds and help restore health.

(Visited 23,004 times, 1 visits today)

The breakdown of beer and the effect of the process on body weight

Is it possible to drink beer after working out at the gym?

It is worth knowing that when beer enters the body, it requires immediate breakdown, like any other alcohol. That is, the body prioritizes in favor of the foamy drink. Thus, all the rest of the food received is broken down later, which means that all the calories from it are put aside for later, that is, they go into reserve for the stomach, sides and thighs.

To give an example of the processes occurring in the body during the breakdown of beer, let us give the following situation:

Let’s imagine that the human body needed 400 kcal to perform a certain action. He could draw them from the existing reserve (fat on the sides or thighs).
But, now a person drinks a treasured bottle or two of foam, and the body takes energy from the calories immediately received. And those reserve ones remain lying on their sides. At the same time, the next snack also went into fat reserves.

Therefore, if you don’t drink at all, it is possible to lose significant weight within the first month of giving up beer and other alcohol.