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Reason For Excessive Weight Loss While Abstaining From Alcohol?

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Posted on Mon, 17 Mar 2014
Question: I have abstained from alcohol for a month and lost 9 lbs.!! can this be because of water retention loss or my liver doesn't have to work as hard?..Thank You
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Answered by Dr. Vaishalee Punj (43 minutes later)
Brief Answer: You may have lost the retained water Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for posting your query on HealthcareMagic. From your query it was not clear whether you have water retention or dysfunction of liver. If you had retained water during alcohol intake, then most probably the weight lost is from loss of retained water. Yes the strain on the liver is definitely less now and it must be working better. Its function including protein production and bile production must be better. Since protein deficiency may also lead to edema, more proteins mean less of edema. Bile plays a major role in digestion of food. Better digestion means better nutrition and it will eventually result in gaining of healthy weight. After alcohol cessation you should not be losing a lot of weight. If you think there may be another factor playing a role or you are losing more weight then you will need to see a doctor. If You have any more queries, please feel free to ask. Take care Dr Vaishalee
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Vaishalee Punj

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2003

Answered : 3266 Questions

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Reason For Excessive Weight Loss While Abstaining From Alcohol?

Brief Answer: You may have lost the retained water Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for posting your query on HealthcareMagic. From your query it was not clear whether you have water retention or dysfunction of liver. If you had retained water during alcohol intake, then most probably the weight lost is from loss of retained water. Yes the strain on the liver is definitely less now and it must be working better. Its function including protein production and bile production must be better. Since protein deficiency may also lead to edema, more proteins mean less of edema. Bile plays a major role in digestion of food. Better digestion means better nutrition and it will eventually result in gaining of healthy weight. After alcohol cessation you should not be losing a lot of weight. If you think there may be another factor playing a role or you are losing more weight then you will need to see a doctor. If You have any more queries, please feel free to ask. Take care Dr Vaishalee