From the Drinkaware site comes this:
"Because alcohol is made from sugar or starch, it contains lots of calories â seven calories a gram in fact, almost as many as pure fat!(1) "
âDrinking alcohol also reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy(2). While we can store nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat in our bodies, we canât store alcohol. So our systems want to get rid of it, and doing so takes priority. All of the other processes that should be taking place (including absorbing nutrients and burning fat) are interrupted.â
The references 1 & 2 are noted here:
(1) NHS Choices website. Calories in alcohol. The Information Standard member organisation. Last reviewed: 16/12/2014. Available at:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/calories-in-alcohol.aspx
(2)Charles S. Lieber, 2000, âAlcohol: Its Metabolism and Interaction With Nutrientsâ, Annual Review of Nutrition, vol. 2, pp. 395-430. Available at:
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.nutr.20.1.395
So it may not be the Alcohol that is converted to Belly Fat (though if used in excess it may be) but it certainly affects the use of energy from other foods so that more body fat may be laid down rather than the energy source, food, being used.