Healthy Dieting

All calories are not equal. Some foods, such as fats, contain calories that are eminently ’storable’ — that is, the body doesn’t think twice about storing them as fat. Other calories, such as those in carbohydrates, are not so readily stored. This is because they are burnt by the body as fast as they are eaten.

Carbohydrates, the concept of thermogenesis — that is, the process whereby the body converts the sugars it ingests to heat — and how a diet rich in carbohydrates prompts the body to speed up its metabolism. The most metabolic of all foodstuffs is, in fact, alcohol. Alcohol has an extremely potent thermogenic effect. Think of a St Bernard traipsing through the snow with a barrel of brandy slung around its neck. Alcohol warms you up, and it does so more quickly than any other substance! This warming effect is, in essence, a sign of just how quickly the body is burning up the alcohol. Alcohol cannot be included on the Glycaemic Index because it is not a carbohydrate, and it is not made of sugars. It streams into the body extremely quickly and burns itself up as heat immediately.

Alcohol is only a ‘toxin’ if it is consumed in quantities exceeding the liver’s capabilities. This amount is easily determined, because as soon as the liver’s capabilities are overwhelmed, we begin to feel `tipsy’ or drunk.

One of the most pervasive myths about alcohol is that it makes you fat. Beer, for example, is regarded by many as fattening because `it contains sugar’. It does not. Any sugars it once contained have already been converted into alcohol by the brewing process. Beer cannot be regarded as a ‘carbohydrate‘ as it is a very different substance.

If you drink moderately, and you stick to a fat-free diet, alcohol can indirectly help you lose fat. (By moderately, I mean one or two glasses of wine or beer at night — no more.) After all, have you ever seen a fat alcoholic? Certainly, alcoholics don’t usually eat a very good diet, but if alcohol were as fattening as it was reputed to be, all alcoholics would be the size of houses. Usually they are thin and emaciated, and this is partly because the alcohol has increased their metabolic rates so much. True alcoholics are described as having the `baggy pants syndrome’ — in other words, they are so thin and malnourished that their pants hang on them.

Please do not assume that I am advocating the idea that drinking makes you lose fat, or that you should use it as a slimming aid. All I am saying is that a glass of wine or beer every night will do no harm, and may in fact slightly speed up your metabolism and help you burn fat faster. That’s the good news. Now for the bad.

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