Is Alcohol Making You Fat?

Dr. Nick Galante, M.D. - Certified Medical Doctor (M.D.) Harvard Medical School

Alcohol is important to social and personal situations.
It does not need to be excluded, but just like everything else, knowing its place and moderating it intake is key to building a leaner and healthier you.

First and foremost, alcohol is Calorie dense. Each gram has 7 Calories, almost midway between carbs/protein and fat.

That's just pure ethyl alcohol. When you add the mixing substances, you have a very Calorie dense substance.

On top of that alcohol has general detrimental effects on fat loss by inhibiting fat burning metabolic pathways, creating a favorable environment for fat storage, and decreasing testosterone production.

But again going back to the fundamental principal of Calories in and Calories out, you can enjoy alcohol. Just like all other nutrients, it must be moderate. Without going into too much detail, the scientific way to handle alcohol and weight loss is as follows: generally limit carbs and Calories on days you will be drinking. Eat a smaller and generally low carb breakfast and lunch. Then have a moderate carb dinner.   

 The second aspect is deciding what to drink. Avoid sugar heavy mixed drinks and instead opt for drinks based on club soda / diet soda, light beer, wine, or drinks on the rocks like bourbon. Each drink can be thought of as the equivalent of as 1-2 slices of bread.

Lastly, moderation again. Most people are familiar with the negative effects of drinking in excess. Dehydration and hangovers that can derail a planned morning workout session. Alcohol also lower inhibitions and makes it easier to cheat and overeat.
To learn more about alcohol and modify intake to Burn More Fat and Lose Weight, Click Here.

Egg Whites: Your Body’s #1 Biggest Enemy?

Dr. Nick Galante, M.D. - Certified Medical Doctor (M.D.) Harvard Medical School

Back when the low fat craze was popular, eggs were in the crosshairs because of their fat and cholesterol content. This led many to avoid eggs all together or to just eat the whites, whether by separating them out themselves or opting for products like egg beaters.

The truth is that egg whites are an amazing source of protein. They are easily and nearly completely absorbed by your body. So much so that they are the gold standard by which other proteins are judged. But aside from the protein in egg whites, there is almost no other nutrient content.

The white is half the egg and much less than half the story. A lot of the protein in an egg is also in the yolk. Additionally, the yolk contains all the vitamins and minerals. These include numerous metabolism stimulating B vitamins, essential minerals like Zinc and Phosphorus which are essential to energy production, all of the fat soluble vitamins: Vitamin A, Vitmain D, Vitamin E and Vitmain K, antioxidants, and eye-health-supporting carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin).

But what about the fat and cholesterol? Remember that first and foremost, fat is not the enemy. Overeating is. Good Fats are necessary for a balanced diet. If you limit fat consumption, not only will your testosterone levels plummet, but so will your metabolism and fat loss. It may seem like a paradox, but it isn’t: Eating good fats will actually make you leaner.  


 What about the effect of cholesterol and fat on your cardiovascular health? To date there have been no convincing scientific studies liking egg consumption with high cholesterol or heart disease. But again, moderation is key. Try to limit egg yolk consumption especially if you have high cholesterol. You can always mix in a few whites with the whole eggs to add more protein to you meal.
Also, how you cook eggs is also important. Using too much butter is a great way to up the amount of unhealthy saturated fats. Instead use a little nonstick cooking spray, or boil or poach your eggs to get that helathy.
To learn more about Eggs and other healthy foods that can help you Burn More Fat, Click Here.

5 Biggest Nutritional Lies You’ve Been Told

Dr. Nick Galante, M.D. - Certified Medical Doctor (M.D.) Harvard Medical School

1. You Need To Starve To Lose Weight. This isn’t only false, but detrimental to loosing weight. It’s true that you need to take in less calories than you are expending in a given day to lose. But starvation is way too extreme. A 500 calories a day deficit is enough to lose a pound a week.
There are several problems with starvation mode. First your body will start looking to the protein in you muscles for fuel, so you will lose muscle mass and look less lean. The goal is to keep as much muscle as possible when trying to lose weight. Next is that starving yourself forces your body into a panic and causes release of massive doses of stress hormones like cortisol. The end results is that you actually will start storing more fat and holding onto the fat you have because your body thinks it needs to perverse fuel. Last is that your metabolism will come to a grinding halt. Where as your basal metabolic rate may have been 2000 calories per day prior to starving yourself, it may drop to 1000 calories per day, forcing you to starve yourself even more to see minimal results. This becomes a vicious cycle.


2. Too Much Protein is Bad For You. You hear this all the time. That eating too much protein is bad for your kidneys and your health. To date there has not been a single study to conclusively support this notion. Protein is the key building block to muscle. The more muscle you have, the better you will look and the higher your metabolism. More muscle equals less fat, plain and simple. What's more, is that protein requires the most energy for you body to process. In scientist speak, it’s the most thermogenic of the macronutrients. Lastly, protein tends to be more filling than fat or carbohydrate on a calorie for calorie basis. You should aim for 1 gram or protein per pound of body weight. Again studies have shown that even at 1.25g of protein per pound of body weight had no effect on one’s kidney function.

3. A Calorie Is A Calorie. While at its most basic level this is fundamentally true, it is so often misunderstood. Sure, if you need to eat 2000 calories a day to maintain your weight, regardless of if comes from chicken, brown rice, and broccoli or big macs, you will stay the same weight. But your body composition will change if you start eating dirty all the time. Your energy levels will decline due to huge swings in blood hormones. Your muscles will waste away because they are not getting enough of their building blocks (protein). And your metabolism will be slow because you’ll be missing vitamin, minerals, and cofactors which grease the wheels of your metabolism. Plain and simple: you are what you eat.

4. Red Meat s bad for you. Red meat gets a very bad wrap. It gets blamed for cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure. While most red meats are terrible for you, eating the right kind of red meat can help you can maximize muscle gain, fat loss, and your overall health. The problem is that people tend to not eat lean red meats. And they burn the hell out of the meats they are cooking. This is indeed horrible for your body for all the reasons mentioned. But lean red meat is high in iron, creatine, and packs more protein gram for gram than any other animal source. Make sure you trim the fat off your meat and if grilling, the burned or chard-to-a-crisp parts.

5. If I Eat Low Fat or Fat-Free Foods, I Won’t Get Fat. Although the low fat craze has come and gone its effects are still being felt and seen by the millions of overweight and obese Americans. The problem with low fat or fat free foods if that, almost without fail, “low fat” equals “high sugar”. And, “high sugar” equals, “gets stored as fat very quickly”. Good Fats are an essential part of a balanced diet and if chosen wisely will help you gain muscles and actually lose fat.
To learn more about Other Nutritional Tricks and how to Burn More Fat and Lose Weight, Click Here.

How to Eat More and Lose Weight

Dr. Nick Galante, M.D. - Certified Medical Doctor (M.D.) Harvard Medical School

When trying to lose fat, many people become scared of eating. Weight loss at its most simple is indeed a numbers game and consuming less calories than your body expends is a major way to lose weight. But being afraid of food is not the answer. Increasingly, evidence shows that eating three square meals a day may also be less than ideal. There are many benefits to eating smaller more frequent meals.

First, eating smaller meals helps ensure that you are watching your serving sizes. Further, you will be less likely to overeat because you should feel full most of the time. Your body will never feel “starving” and this will help to minimize cravings. I find eating smaller more frequent meals retrains your sense of food and nutrition. It will help you learn what various stages of hunger feel like. It will put you more in tune with your body, so you will start to learn what, how much, and when to eat certain types of foods.  


  Second, the steady stream of macronutrients to your bloodstream creates an optimal metabolic environment. By never letting your blood sugar spike and plummet, your insulin level will remain steady. This creates an ideal environed for fat burning rather than fat storage because it tells your body that food is abundant and that it doesn’t need to hold onto fat stores. Additionally, it will reduce large swings in energy levels. You’ll feel more vibrant throughout the day and will be less likely to skip a workout or cardio session.

Third, every time you eat it’s the equivalent of stepping on the gas for your metabolism. It actually takes energy for your body to process food. The key is eating the right foods and macronutrients at the right times. Click here to learn more.

Are Carbs Evil? The Shocking Truth!

Dr. Nick Galante, M.D. - Certified Medical Doctor (M.D.) Harvard Medical School

Carbohydrates get a bad rap these days. Just look at the popularity of low carb diets like the Ketogenic diets, Atkins diet, and Paleo diet. The truth is that carbs are not evil, they’re far from it.

Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred fuel source. The problem is that if you give your body more fuel than it needs, by overeating, that fuel will be quickly be stored in the form of fat. This is where choosing the right kinds of carbohydrates at the right times is key. By making the right choices, you can maximize both your performance in the gym and actually use carbs to help you burn fat!


There are two basic types of carbohydrates: sugars and starches. They are all made up of the same basic molecular compounds (glucose and other 5 and six carbon sugars). The difference is in how many of these simple sugars are strung together. Anything more than two single sugar molecules and the carbohydrate starts to taste less sweet and are classified as starches.

Examples of sugars are sucrose (white table sugar), fructose (the sugar found in fruits), and lactose (milk sugar). Examples of starches are anything made from flour or grain (oatmeal, breads, pasta) or starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes). After all is said and done, these will be digested down to their simple sugar components. So 40 grams of table sugar and 40 grams of carbohydrates from pasta each have the same amount of calories. The difference is in how fast they hit your blood stream once you’ve eaten them and what kind of blood hormonal (mainly insulin) response your body has to them.

The reason insulin is so important is because it is one of the major signals telling your body that you have enough fuel, are full, and that it should begin fat storage. So you can see the goal is to control insulin levels in your blood, and to carefully manipulate your carbs throughout the day to achieve a steady blood sugar and insulin level.

There is one time when you want insulin levels to be high to drive glucose into your cells. After a workout your muscles need to replenish their fuel stores (long chains of sugars called glycogen – your body’s temporary 24 hour fuel reserve). Basically, your body is in diesel engine mode after lifting weights. It will take what it can get and put it to use without much downside of storing fat. That’s again so long as you don’t completely gorge yourself.

This brings us to the topic of glycemic index and glycemic load. This is a direct measure of how quickly the carbohydrates you eat show up in your blood as sugar. This in turn relates to the degree of insulin spike you’ll have. The goal is to maintain a relatively steady blood sugar and insulin level. This will insure that you feel full and energized. And, it will help avoid the ups and downs that come along with a turbulent blood sugar level.

So the solution is to choose foods that have a low glycemic index.

It all sounds complex, but if you learn the basic it will become second nature. You’ll be able to enjoy carbs, even sweets on a daily basis, while seeing great energy levels, adding lean muscle mass, and most importantly torching fat. Click here to learn more.