Why alcohol makes your body burn more calories but doesn't make you less hungry
Meals with similar energy densities but rich in protein, fat, carbohydrate, or alcohol have different effects on energy expenditure and substrate metabolism but not on appetite and energy intake
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When you eat a meal full of alcohol, your body works harder to process it and burns more energy, but it also stops burning fat and lowers a hormone that tells you you're full. Still, you don't feel hungrier or eat more later than after eating carbs, fat, or protein.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
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Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When you eat a meal full of alcohol, your body works harder to process it and burns more energy, but it also stops burning fat and lowers a hormone that tells you you're full. Still, you don't feel hungrier or eat more later than after eating carbs, fat, or protein.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 531 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Raben A, Agerholm-Larsen L, Flint A, Holst JJ, Astrup A
Related Content
Claims (6)
Diet-induced thermogenesis is significantly higher for dietary protein compared to carbohydrates and fats due to the energetic cost of protein absorption, metabolism, and amino acid synthesis.
Eating a meal high in alcohol makes your body burn more calories right after eating than eating the same number of calories from carbs or fat, and protein does it a little less.
Even though alcohol, protein, carbs, and fat affect your metabolism differently, eating any of them in similar amounts doesn’t make you feel hungrier or fuller, or change how much you eat next.
The idea that the order your body burns food (alcohol first, then protein, etc.) tells you which food makes you feel full first is not true — eating these foods in equal amounts doesn’t make you feel differently full.
When you eat a meal with a lot of alcohol, your body stops burning fat and makes less of the hormone that tells you you're full, more than when you eat the same calories from other foods.