The (Not So Common) Reasons Why To Reduce Your Alcohol Intake

My relationship with alcohol, which I'm sure comes as no surprise is that I barely drink it anymore. I will have the odd glass of white or rose wine with a meal, a gin and tonic with friends or tasting a local alcoholic beverage when travelling (as part of a more cultural experience). However these occasions are rare, and I generally opt for non-alcoholic beverages in my day to day life.

You may think that this is quite an obvious subject to discuss, and I'm not here to talk about alcohol dependency or how it damages your liver - although these reasons can be found here. However there was a time in my life where I exercised plenty but drank a fair bit more alcohol than I do now - but couldn't understand why I wasn't seeing any exercise results. When trying to adjust your lifestyle into a healthier one - its not just exercise and food, but alcohol can play a big part in this too (and even sometimes destroy your hard work with exercise and food!).

THE REASONS

1) Reduced Muscle Gain - Alcohol has a damaging effect on factors needed to gain muscle. Factors include hydration, recovery and can negatively effect our body's ability to absorb nutrients including protein. If we aren't absorbing protein then 'the building process' (anabolism) of our muscles is reduced. As a result, our muscle tissue cannot repair itself in an efficient manner. Louise Thompson summarises this process well in her book 'Live is well with Louise' - "Muscle Building takes place by breaking down muscle fibres and then subsequently rebuilding the damaged tissue, so it is essential to encourage anabolism as much as possible".

2) Poor Exercise Performance - The ability to exercise or play sports is negatively affected by alcohol as these activities require coordination and cognitive precision. Alcohol has been shown to impair reaction time, balance and hand-eye coordination, all of which are required for optimal exercise performance. Matt Lovall (Sports Nutritionist) comments that “exercising the day after drinking alcohol can mean you have an all-round lower quality training session or sporting activity". Therefore, one will lack strength and power and feel tired quicker because the body won’t be able to clear out the lactic acid is produced upon exercising -“This is because your liver will be working harder to get rid of the toxic by-products of alcohol in your system,”.

3) High Calorie Intake - According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, moderate drinking is defined as one drink or less per night for women or two drinks or less per night for men. So depending on what you drink, calories can amount to 1000 or more a week. Alcohol also contains twice as many calories than protein or carbohydrates and may derail your metabolism. Some calorie examples are: 1) 100-130 calories in wine 2) 60-200 calories in beer 3) 97 calories in unflavoured vodka.

4) Inability to Satisfy Food Cravings - Drinks don’t fill you up like food does. So when you drink your calories (in alcohol), you easily end up still hungry and craving food. Furthermore, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health, when our alcohol consumption increases, our quality of diet tends to decrease. It was found that when we increase our alcohol intake, we are likely to eat less fruit and consume more calories from alcoholic beverages and foods high in unhealthy fats and added sugars.

5) Decrease in Key Psychological Factors - If you skip your usual exercise routine to head to happy hour, then firstly, you're likely to burn fewer calories during the day. Secondly, the following day you are likely to experience the infamous hangover meaning you are likely to be less active on days following drinking. This can lead onto a decrease in motivation, drive and encouragement to achieve exercise and food goals. Alcohol is also a known depressant which can lead to longer term psychological health problems.

I hope these reasons, have made you think more about the effects of alcohol intake (other than dependency or liver damage) on a true healthy lifestyle, and have reminded you to consider alcohol as a key factor to achieving personalised food and fitness goals.

If you are struggling with addiction then please visit Rehab 4 Addiction - a free helpline and resource hub for people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. Website: www.rehab4addiction.co.uk

Lots of Love

Ruth xxx