Fruit can help increase calories when topped with nut butter that has fats. There’s a lack of evidence linking reduced alcohol consumption to weight loss. A study published in 2016 found that decreasing light-to-moderate alcohol consumption did not significantly affect weight loss.
Green smoothie with pea protein
We used a prospective study design to analyze a direct path between soft drink intake and weight change. We also can drinks make you gain weight used an analytical approach that controls for time-invariant confounders, whether they were measured or not. Additionally, the statistical models were controlled by covariates of food groups linked with soft drink intake and weight change. Finally, these results can be generalized to other regions where the average soft drink intake is similar to the one of the HWCS population if the modifiers of the association are distributed equally.
Increases Abdominal Fat
The sole exception was the Wikipedia entry for “diet soda,” which also cited the weight gain concerns. Reducing your intake of processed foods could also improve your diet quality and make it much easier to maintain a moderate weight. French fries and potato chips are high in fat, refined carbs, and salt. Instead, opt for boiled or baked potatoes for a more nutritious alternative.
- In fact, several studies link eating french fries to weight gain (25, 26).
- The exceptions are athletes and people aged 50 and above with reduced appetites.
- This article examines how to use protein to lose or gain weight, including suggestions for incorporating protein into your diet and a word on using protein shakes.
- For example, alcohol may affect hormones that control appetite, hunger, and stress.
- But fruit can be a tasty, portable, and nutrient-dense source of carbohydrates that make a great addition to any eating plan for weight gain.
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- We calculated the predicted average weight change at different percentiles of physical activity and servings of soft drink, using physical activity as a continuous variable (minutes/day).
- Thus, it is implausible that increasing the sample size would lead to a clinically relevant effect modification of leisure-time physical activity in the association between soft drink and weight gain.
- This delicious bedtime smoothie uses a slower-digesting milk protein called casein to keep you fueled while you catch some Zzz’s.
- For children, it’s recommended to limit their intake to 4–6 ounces (100–130 mL) of fruit juice per day (44).
You can also make homemade “nice cream” by blending frozen fruit and Greek yogurt for a more nutritious alternative. Additionally, because ice cream is often eaten as a dessert, it can add many extra calories to your meal — even if you’re already feeling full after the main course. In other words, elevated cortisol could contribute to weight gain, especially around the belly. That means, even if you skip the sugary cocktail, there are still plenty of calories in your whiskey neat. While your decision making is impaired, you might be more prone to eat foods you’d normally avoid, or even to give up on your healthy diet entirely, Wyatt says.
Rice is a convenient, low cost carb source that can be part of a weight gain eating plan. Just 1 cup (158 g) of cooked white rice provides 204 calories, 44 g of carbs, and very little fat (5). The best foods for weight gain usually contain plant and animal protein, fats and oils, complex carbohydrates, and dairy products made with whole milk.
You can still enjoy drinking
- While recent research on humans is limited, past studies have suggested that different hunger-related hormones, like ghrelin and leptin, might be affected by alcohol consumption.
- Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) of the association of soft drink intake and weight change, with the effect modification by physical activity.
- Furthermore, beer and spirit drinkers appear to have poorer dietary habits in general than wine drinkers 3•.
- Consider incorporating these protein sources into smaller, frequent meals throughout the day vs. three large meals.
- And they also tracked how much participants ate at a buffet table that was open at the end of each study session.
- A low-calorie carbonated beverage may still be a reasonable choice, as long as you keep an eye on the rest of your diet and your weight.
They used functional MRI brain images of the 74 study participants to document the activation of parts of the brain linked to appetite and cravings. They used blood samples to measure blood sugar and metabolic hormones that can drive hunger. And they also tracked how much participants ate at a buffet table that was open at the end of each study session. While plain water might be best healthwise, for many it’s not the most appealing choice.
How Alcohol Can Affect Weight and Body Composition
You can enlist the help of friends, family, or even a health professional. We are extremely grateful to the Health Workers Cohort Study participants, as, without their participation, this study would not have been possible. We thank Rossana Álvarez-Torres for her valuable help with the graphics. The cohort data supporting the conclusions of this article are not publicly available.
Carbs
The next time you stop by Starbucks, you may want to order a relatively low-calorie beverage as opposed to ones that dietitians consider to be the worst drinks on the menu, which sometimes include sugary, flavored coffee. “Flavored coffee has the potential to cause rapid weight gain,” Chenard says. Although she also notes that “one ‘pump’ of flavor like vanilla, mocha, caramel, or peppermint usually contains about 20 calories (of added sugar),” some syrups have even more. Frankly, there are a few drinking habits that might be resulting in consuming more calories and sugar than you realized. That’s why we’ve talked to three dietitians who filled us in on what you need to know about drinking habits leading to weight gain. This may be a cause for concern for you or someone in your life due to the fact that the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey noted around 50% of American adults drink at least one sugary beverage each day.
Simply adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil (15 mL) of oil to sauces, salads, and during cooking can quickly add 120 calories (32). Greek yogurt made with whole milk is another portable and convenient snack. Cereal bars offer an affordable, tasty, and nutrient-dense source of calories for portable snacking. You can make some high calorie and well-balanced meals by combining bread with protein sources such as eggs, meat, and cheese. Whey protein, along with other plant-based protein isolates such as soy, contains all the essential amino acids required for muscle growth (17). They also provide other nutrients and food groups, such as potassium, fiber, vegetables, or whole grains.
Dark chocolate
- Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) intake is a major modifiable risk factor for overweight and obesity.
- Proteins are one of the three essential macronutrients—along with carbohydrates (carbs) and fats—crucial in daily body functions, such as tissue growth and repair.
- When students drank any carbonated beverage (regular soda, diet soda, or carbonated water), their ghrelin levels rose to higher levels than when they drank water or flat soda.
- The best foods for weight gain usually contain plant and animal protein, fats and oils, complex carbohydrates, and dairy products made with whole milk.
There’s a real possibility that carbonated beverages may have underappreciated negative effects on appetite and weight. Still, it would be premature to say that we should all give up carbonated beverages lest the obesity epidemic worsen. Why would drinking carbonated beverages encourage your body to release more ghrelin? The study authors speculate that cells in the stomach that are sensitive to pressure respond to the carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages by increasing ghrelin production. Diet drink consumption may lead to weight gain and other negative health outcomes.
