By Betty Murray

You’ve made a resolution to lose weight in 2012. So far, this year, you’ve managed to stick to a healthy diet, get regular exercise and are even getting enough sleep. Still struggling to see the pounds fall off? Here’s one thing you may not have considered: your alcohol intake.

A 5-ounce glass of wine has about 150 calories. Calories that typically do nothing to satiate hunger. But there are more factors to consider than the calories alone. Drinking can slow the body’s ability to burn stored fat. When you drink, the alcohol is broken down to a vinegar-like substance called acetate. Your body will burn acetate before it burns calories from food and fat.

Research on how alcohol affects weight is broad, and somewhat confusing. Generally speaking, people who drink weigh more than those who don’t. But that’s not an all-inclusive fact.

The Nurses’ Health Study by Harvard researchers, which used data from 90,000 women, found that women who drank between two and four drinks a day had a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who didn’t drink. Why? Researchers suggest that perhaps alcohol actually suppresses a person’s carbohydrate and sugar cravings.

On the flip side — for an alcoholic, there are essentially no calories in alcohol. A damaged liver can’t process the calories in alcohol, so those calories are more likely to pass through the body as waste. Still, generally speaking, alcohol consumption typically leads to weight gain.

The broad research on the health effects of alcohol can be a bit confusing. It has long been known that moderate drinking is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and even diabetes, although it can increase your risk of cancer. Is drinking a detriment to your overall health and wellness? The answer to that question can depend on a number of things including your age, gender and genetics.

If you’re trying to lose weight, here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to your alcohol consumption:

  • When you drink, even just a glass of wine, you’ll have to cut those added calories out from another part of your diet.
  • Which is a greater priority to you: weight loss or reduced heart disease? Remember that exercise, for example, will help you lose weight, therefore reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes due to your weight.
  • If you do want to drink and still keep your waistline, exercise self-control and keep it to a drink or two a day at most.

Betty Murray, CN, HHC, RYT is a Certified Nutritionist & Holistic Health Counselor, founder of the Dallas-based integrative medical center, Wellness and founder of the Metabolic Blueprint wellness program. Betty’s nutrition counseling practice specializes in metabolic and digestive disorders and weight loss resistance. A master of the biochemistry of the body, Betty teaches her clients how to utilize nutritional interventions to improve their health. Betty is a member of the Institute of Functional Medicine and the National Association of Nutrition Professionals.