How Alcohol Affects Your Metabolism

About half of adults report drinking at least 1 alcoholic beverage per month. You may have heard a lot about the effects of alcohol on your overall health. But did you know that alcohol also affects your body’s metabolism? 

Alcohol’s interaction with your body’s metabolism can lead to weight gain. Here’s how alcohol affects your metabolism. 

Does alcohol slow down your metabolism? 

Yes, but it’s complicated. 

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First, let’s define metabolism. Metabolism is a term used to describe all chemical reactions that take place within the body each day to create energy. If your body creates more energy than average in a given day, then you have a higher metabolism. If your body creates less energy, then you have a lower metabolism.

Many things affect metabolism, such as your genetics, age, overall health, and muscle mass. What you eat or drink can also affect your metabolism — and that includes alcohol. 

When you drink alcohol, your body starts to break it down as soon as it enters your stomach. But after that, your liver does most of the work, breaking down alcohol into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a toxic substance, so the body has to break it down as soon as possible into acetate, which isn’t harmful. From there, the body breaks down acetate into water and carbon dioxide. Sound like a lot of work? It is. 

Alcohol distracts your metabolism and makes it less efficient. While your body is busy breaking down alcohol, other chemical reactions take a back seat and slow down. In fact, about half of your body's energy will go into eliminating the ethanol instead of doing other things. In particular, the body slows down the chemical reactions that break down (or “burn”) fat. 

So, even though your body uses some energy to break down alcohol, the overall effect is a slowdown of your metabolism. 

How long does alcohol inhibit fat burning?

It depends. 

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It can take your body up to 7 hours to finish processing alcohol after you finish drinking. But the amount of alcohol you drink will affect this timeline. In general, the more alcohol you drink, the longer it takes your body to break it down. And, in turn, it takes longer for your body to go back to burning fat and running other chemical reactions. 

Some people break down alcohol less efficiently. This is due to things outside their control like their age and genes. But the end result is that they take longer to break down alcohol, which means that it takes their bodies longer to go back to regular metabolism. 

Over time, this metabolism distraction can lead to weight gain and, in particular, increased total body fat. This increase in body fat tends to happen around the abdomen, causing what’s often called a “beer belly.”

It’s not exactly clear why this happens. But the type of weight gain that concentrates around the midsection is linked to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of developing health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. 

How else does alcohol contribute to weight gain? 

Alcohol can contribute to weight gain by slowing down metabolism. But this isn’t the only reason alcohol is linked to weight gain. Here are a few other reasons why alcohol can cause you to gain weight.

Alcohol is high in calories 

Alcohol is packed with calories. Manufacturers don’t have to list the total calories in a serving size on the label of an alcoholic beverage — unlike other packaged drinks. People end up taking in far more calories than they mean to because they don’t realize how many calories are in an alcoholic beverage. 

Here’s how many calories are in a standard-size drink: 

• 12 oz of beer: 150 calories 

• 5 oz of wine: 120 calories

• 1.5 oz of 80-proof distilled spirits: 100 calories 

Remember, these are just a starting point. Many cocktails have more than 1.5 oz of alcohol, plus other mixers that also add extra calories. Some beers come in larger containers. And a glass of wine at a local restaurant may be larger than 5 oz. 

Alcohol may increase your appetite

Researchers have found that alcohol may affect your appetite in several ways. For example: 

• Drinking alcohol can make you more likely to overeat.

• Alcohol can increase the hormones in your gut that raise your appetite.

• Alcohol interferes with the signals from your brain that tell you when you’re full.

But researchers need to do more work to fully understand how alcohol affects appetite and people’s eating behaviors. 

What can you do to repair your metabolism after you stop drinking?

There’s no quick way to get your metabolism back to normal after drinking alcohol. That’s because there’s no way to speed up how long it takes your body to break down alcohol. 

While you wait, there are things you can do to help support your body:

• Drink fluids. Drinking alcohol can lead to dehydration because alcohol makes you pee more. Make sure to replace those lost fluids with water or drinks that contain low-sugar electrolytes.

• Opt for whole foods. Greasy food is a “go-to” for many after a night of drinking. But contrary to popular belief, greasy foods won’t soak up alcohol from your system. They can actually make things worse by irritating your stomach and stressing your already slowed metabolism. Instead, opt for fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. 

• Rest. Since half of all your body’s energy is going toward breaking down alcohol, it really doesn’t have time for much else. Try to rest so your body has time to catch up.

• Cut back. The best thing you can do to help your metabolism recover is to cut back on how much alcohol you drink. The less alcohol you drink, the more time your metabolism has to focus on other functions. Cutting back will let your metabolism get back to normal.

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Written by:

Brian Clista, MD

Dr. Clista is a board-certified pediatrician who works in private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He previously served as a National Health Service Corporation Scholar in the inner city of Pittsburgh for 11 years.

Edited by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. An experienced and dedicated pulmonologist and hospitalist, she spent a decade practicing and teaching clinical medicine at academic hospitals throughout London before transitioning to a career in health education and health technology.

Reviewed by:

Sarah Gupta, MD

Sarah Gupta, MD, is a licensed physician with a special interest in mental health, sex and gender, eating disorders, and the human microbiome. She is currently board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

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