Your Fat-Loss Questions Answered

Everything you’re wondering lately about healthy weight loss.

- Jonny Bowden

Q: Does alcohol make you fat?

It definitely can, and here’s why. Number one, the body sees alcohol as a poison. Like a fire engine driving down the boulevard with sirens blaring, alcohol stops traffic into the liver and clears the way for the emergency. That means fat burning ceases.

Number two, alcohol inhibits a hormone called glucagon, which is kind of like insulin’s “good” sister. Insulin stores fat and glucagon releases it – and alcohol impairs glucagon.

Finally, alcohol is a disinhibitor, meaning it relaxes your guard – one of the reasons it’s such a good social lubricant. But the problem is it also relaxes your inhibitions around food, and you’ll eat stuff you normally wouldn’t. For all those reasons, alcohol can definitely contribute to weight gain.

Q: Is Paleo a low-carb diet?

Though people often think of Paleo as a low-carb diet, it’s actually not. The original research on Paleo diets, done in 1985 by a researcher named Stanley Boyd Eaton, and then followed up 12 years later and finally 25 years later, basically found that most Paleolithic diets were somewhere around 40/40/20, meaning 40% carbs, 40% fat and 20% protein.