Red wine: good for you?
Alcohol is a poison. It's a diuretic that will make you pee a lot, it is also hard for our body to digest. Alcohol is the definition of "empty calories". Because it's a poison, your body's primary objective is to digest alcohol as fast as possible once you drink it. That means that if you have any other calories while drinking they will take a back seat to the alcohol and most likely just get stored as fat. Your body simply can't process alcohol and food at the same time. That being said, there are still ways to have your cake and eat it too. First lets touch on what to avoid.
Do not, if you're trying to lose weight or get lean, drink sugary alcoholic drinks. I know this sounds a bit extreme, and maybe downright impossible for some people =) but the alcohol + sugar combination is game over for your metabolism and any gains you were trying to make. Its the perfect recipe to gain fat, lose muscle, get dehydrated, and feel hungover in the morning. This being said, taking shots is actually much better on your body because you're only digesting the liquor. Also shots tend to get you a buzz much quicker that *should* lead to less drinking overall. Beer has less alcohol, but the carbs from hops in beer add up. I would say having a couple of beers once a week won't kill you, but drinking them regularly and at will hinder gains. This leads us to the best option for alcohol, red wine.
Red wine has been proven to have a host of positive side effects from reducing stress levels to lowering the odds of getting deadly diseases. White wine is also good in many of the same ways, but red wine takes the cake. NOTE this is only 1-2 glasses of wine, more than that starts getting into less beneficial ranges. Try to avoid having alcohol on a daily basis, the only way around that would be having a glass of red wine before or after dinner. Ideally wine is only a once or twice a week event. Just remember everyone is different, and that includes how your body deals with alcohol. See how you feel days before and after you drink and gauge what you think is best for you. Remember: everything in moderation!
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