Hi everyone, this is Monica Reinagle, the Nutrition Diva, here with your quick and dirty tips for

eating well and feeling fabulous. We'll be ringing in a new year in just a few days, and I dare say a few

glasses of champagne or other spirits will be enjoyed by many nutrition diva listeners. So, this seems like

the perfect time to address some of the lore about alcohol and nutrition. For example,

is it a good idea to eat a big meal if you're going to be drinking? If you've overindulged,

can certain foods ward off a hangover? Is it true that alcohol is metabolized into sugar,

or that it blocks your

body's ability to burn fat? Answers to these and other frequently asked questions about alcohol,

along with my tips on how to indulge safely, are coming up. So first, let's talk just a little

bit about how alcohol is metabolized. Some sources claim that

alcohol is converted into sugar by the liver, and this is not true. Alcohol is converted to a number

of intermediate substances, none of which is sugar, until it's eventually broken down into

carbon dioxide and water. Because too much alcohol is quite harmful to

yourselves, this detoxification process is a pretty high priority for your body. That means that if

your liver is busy dealing with alcohol, it will delay dealing with other nutrients,

which is why drinking alcohol causes your blood sugar to go down and your blood fats to go up temporarily.

It's also said that alcohol shuts down your body's fat-burning engine.

This is technically true, but it's a little misleading.

All it really means is that your body will use the byproducts of alcohol metabolism as fuel

preferentially.

Over the long haul, however, this doesn't have much impact on the

amount of fat you burn or store. As always, the amount of stored fat on your body is primarily

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