Booze ruins your hard work

NOT only is alcohol full of sugar and so-called empty calories, it also slows down how we process food – meaning we’re more likely to store it as fat.

Our experiments found that eating a high-fat meal such as a burger, and then consuming alcohol, caused the amount of fat in the bloodstream to increase by 45 per cent and blood sugar levels to rise by 50 per cent.

A similar effect was seen when a high-carb meal such as pizza was followed by booze – there was 50 per cent more fat and sugar in the blood than before the alcohol was consumed. This is highly likely to cause weight gain because the body uses the alcohol calories first, and the fat and sugar are stored rather than metabolised.

Your best option? A high-protein meal. To our astonishment, our test revealed no change in the level of fat in the blood after a chicken burger was consumed – and only an 18 per cent rise in blood sugar. So if you’re going to drink at dinner but want to reduce your risk of gaining weight, opt for a high-protein meal.