PERSPECTIVES - DO ALCOHOL CALORIES COUNT

Chronic consumption of substantial amounts of alcohol is not associated with the expected effect on body weight. Isocaloric substitution of carbohydrates by ethanol results in weight loss, and addition of ethanol to an otherwise normal diet does not produce the expected weight gain. This energy deficit cannot be explained by maldigestion or malabsorption but has been attributed to induction of the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (a metabolic pathway that oxidizes ethanol without associated chemical energy production), increased sympathetic tone and associated thermogenesis, and/or enhanced ATP breakdown (with increased purine catabolism) secondary to the acetate produced from ethanol. All these hypotheses do not fully explain the lack of weight deficit when alcohol is consumed with a very-low-fat diet, which suggests that an alteration in the energy utilization derived from fat plays a major role, possibly through uncoupling of oxidation with phosphorylation in mitochondria damaged by chronic ethanol consumption.