Awake! 1992/10/22/pg-29/
Alcohol and Fat?
It is hardly news that people who drink too many alcoholic beverages tend to get fat. But why? A recent study at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, came up with an interesting possibility. Apparently it is not just the calories in alcohol that make it so fattening but also the way alcohol affects the body’s ability to burn fat. Nutritionists have long known that the body is a bit sluggish when it comes to burning fat, tending to store it while burning sugars and carbohydrates more readily. But alcohol makes the body burn fat even more slowly. In an experiment, men were placed on diets that included three ounces [90 ml] of pure alcohol per day—about the equivalent of six beers. On this diet, the men burned about one-third less fat than usual. Of course, the more fat in one’s diet, the more pronounced this effect tends to become.
Atlantis!
