why do some alcoholics have a huge belly and some remain thin?

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I sort of understand visceral fat, but I know people who drink a bottle of hard liquor a day with no belly, yet some remain skinny with a similar amount.

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6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

One guy on my job was a serious alcoholic. His real name was Albertini-very Italian. People called him Al. Eventually, when we figured out he was hard drinking out of his car during breaks, people called him Al-coholic (ha ha). He was thinner than a rail. Got fired.

Another guy who was putting away hard liquor at home every night (he told us) seemed pretty normal weight. Out of shape middle aged guy-the usual. Eventually his belly just got HUGE–like he was nine months pregnant. Then he was out of work. His liver had conked out or something. He had to get constantly drained at the hospital. He died eventually.

Guy #2 was drinking lots of the hard stuff like guy #1. I don’t know why it can go one way or the other. I just know real hard drinking can destroy you.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Some alcoholics with bellies *aren’t* fat. They have cirrhosis of the liver, which can cause the liver to physically become enlarged. This pushes the other organs (like the stomach) further out. Additionally, cirrhosis slows the flow of blood through the livers. That backup of blood causes increased pressure in the vein that brings the blood to the liver (the portal vein), which results in the accumulation of fluids in the abdomen.

Aside from liver problems, alcohol contains many calories. Some alcoholics burn off fewer calories, thus leading to weight gain. Depending on genetics, this fat might be distributed evenly over the body, or may accumulate in certain areas (the abdomen being one of the most common).

Anonymous 0 Comments

The typical beer gut is present for hard beer drinkers (typically) – beer is super high in calories – average beer is about 100-150 calories. Drink a six pack and that’s the same as a Big Mac, and a six pack is pretty tame for heavy drinkers. Wine is also high in sugars, while liquor is usually around 80 calories per oz. So a whole bottle of juice and jive would be 2000 calories just about an average adult’s body weight maintenance intake, mebbe a bit more. A good night for a heavy beer drinker would be a whole case of 24, so 3600 calories easy.

The difference comes down to whether they’re ALSO eating. The beer gut alcoholic is probably also eating unhealthily. Your hardcore 26 oz bottle of whiskey/day alcoholic probably isn’t interested in eating too much (or doing some would cause them to vomit under most circumstances), the majority of their caloric intake is ONLY from the booze.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Alcohol will be metabolized and used as calories. This is in addition to the other calories you often find in alcoholic beverages such as beer, cider and wine. On the other hand spending all your money on alcohol and drink it instead of eating food when hungry, actually preferring to go hungry to get drunk faster, is a way to lose weight because you eat less. And there are lots of other factors which play a big role in weight management, both related to the alcoholism and unrelated things.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hope someone answers because I spent a decade drinking damn near every day and never broke 155 and I’m 5’10

Anonymous 0 Comments

Depends on how much you drink drink not too much and you’ll get fat from all the calories in alcoholic drinks and probably a lack of exercise if you are an alcoholic. Now drink a lot and you’ll throw up so much you dont have anything in your stomach to make you fat.