Regardless of the time of the year, there can always be a good ground for some celebration or a night of good entertainment. Apart from food, alcohol consumption makes an important part of such an event.

However, in this fast-paced age where people tend to care more about the food they take and the drinks they choose, it’s very hard to choose a truly healthy food, and most of all – alcohol.

Alcohol has the characteristics of Jing and Jang: in a small amount – one to two drinks a day – it has health benefits; while in high doses can cause an amount of damage to the body – that simply can’t be fixed.

With a sense of hunger people successfully defeat unhealthy meals at the party. With alcohol – the situation is completely different.

Setting parties and other events aside, it happens that after a hard day at work – everyone the body simply needs one or two glasses of good wine, beer or a refreshing cocktail.  The question is: how bad are these drinks, after all? Can one visit the liquor store open near you and be worry free when while buying their favorite alcoholic bottles?

Is alcohol really that bad for the waistline?

One gram of alcohol contains seven calories and is digested significantly different from other macronutrients. The body registers it similarly to the poisonous substance, which means that it is completely directed towards degradation and excretion thereafter. As a result, the body ceases to consume the calories one took with breakfast, snack, lunch or other intercourse and focus solely on the exploitation or degradation of the alcohol.

Another very important piece of information that quite clarifies the situation is the fact that the body cannot preserve alcohol as a source of energy for later needs. Therefore, it can quickly be recognized that the body does not actually accumulate alcohol as excess fat, but stops its decomposition or slowing down the process. When somebody looks and weighs more after a day or night spent with few more glasses than usual, this means that the body does not use fat until it has finished alcohol degradation, or until energy from the macronutrients accumulates.
Therefore – as many scientists already agree – the full waistline is not a result of the alcohol-induced fat, but other calories that fail to be consumed due to the body focus on alcohol.

Therefore, the right question is: which alcohol is safer when health and body looks are being questioned? The right answer is: dry wines, spirits and the clear distilled beverages such as vodka and gin are usually the safest choices on the shelves of the liquor store.

Still, even with these safer choices, one must be pretty careful. What matters the most, is the amount. Sticking to two drinks a day at the most, or seven a week is considered moderately safe, so sticking up to these amounts is the safest way to maintain good health while enjoying some great events without fully excluding alcohol.

Cheers!