Alcohol Cravings and Weight Loss

For people who are addicted to alcohol and need more than the moderate one drink per day, this can certainly lead to weight gain and make it almost impossible to achieve dieting goals.

If the typical beer or glass of wine is about 150 calories and a person develops a habit of drinking three drinks per day this can theoretically result in gaining 47 pounds each year!

So if you suspect your reason for gaining excess weight is due to an alcohol dependence, what can you do?

Some interesting research findings have been released recently about the kinds of foods you should eat if you want to reduce cravings for alcohol. Nutrition can be a key for beating the bottle.

There is often a close link between depression and alcohol consumption. Many depressed people drink to self-medicate against their depression. And studies have found that omega 3 is helpful for beating depression. Foods high in omega 3 include oily fish (sardines, salmon), flaxseed and walnuts. Folate is also very helpful. Foods high in folate (such as legumes) are recommended for depressed people. Legumes have an incredibly high nutritional value. They also contain more fiber per cup than almost any other kind of food.

Regular exercise has proven to be effective in treating depression.

So if you are trying to lose weight in addition to cutting your alcohol dependency, a little reading on nutritional recommendations may be very helpful.