Healthy drinking - Weight for it
Eating is not cheating – never drink on an empty stomach.
Drinking too much alcohol isn’t good for lots of health reasons, one problem is that drinking too much can lead to weight gain.
Alcohol is high in calories.
Alcoholic drinks are full of ‘empty’ calories: they contain lots of calories but hardly any vitamins, minerals or other essential nutrients. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (almost twice as much as carbohydrates or protein) and so can lead to weight gain. The high sugar content found in many alcoholic drinks and mixers can add even more calories.
Alcohol makes you eat more!
Alcohol doesn’t make us feel full, so the calories we get from alcohol tend to be in addition to our daily intake. Alcohol stimulates our appetites, but reduces our self control, making it easy to make unhealthy food choices, often late at night and the next day!
Eating's not cheating!
Missing meals in order to drink more can be very dangerous as drinking on an empty stomach can increase the effect of alcohol and make alcohol related damage even worse.
You may become hungry later, when only high calorie food choices are available. By the end of the evening you may have consumed more calories than you would have if you hadn’t missed your meal!
In the long term, misuse of alcohol can damage your liver and make it harder for your body to get the nutrients it needs from your food.
Healthy eating advice.
Your body’s ideal number of calories a day depends on many factors: age, sex, size, activity, but as a guide:
Men need 2500 calories per day. Women need 2000 calories per day.
If you don’t burn off the calories you put in then you gain weight, simple! Calories should be from a healthy balanced diet. For healthy eating advice go to: www.takelifeon.co.uk
Sensible drinking advice
Alcohol is a powerful drug and regularly drinking too much can cause significant harmful effects on your physical and mental health. It is recommended that:
Men should drink no more than 3-4 units a day. Women should drink no more than 2-3 units a day.
...including at least 2 non-drinking days a week.
Binge drinking is drinking more than twice the recommended daily limit, and there are no safe drinking guidelines for young people. For more advice about alcohol go to:
- www.thegca.org.uk
- Alcohol Focus Scotland
- Drinkline Scotland: 0800 731 4314