Let's Talk About Alcohol

[the-short-one]

The last time I indulged was New Years - and I had 1 glass of champaign.

What are the exact effects of alcohol on the body? More specifically, a body that is trying to cut fat or grow muscle. My only knowledge (and I don't know if I'm right) is that when you consume an alcoholic beverage, your body will stop burning carbs or fat and burn up the alcohold first (?)

(Pauses to read was she has written, and decides that it makes her sound stupid, but she will click "submit" anyway.)

 

[The Shadow]

well....

1 - alcohol cals are a bit different....1 gram = 7 cals....

2 - alcohol will drop T levels and raise E

3- there is mixed info on what the body "prefers" to burn.....interestingly enough, on a low carb diet the body produces KETONES, which are fractured fats....they has an exchange of...you guessed it - 7 cals per gram...my guess is that the alcohol cals are burned pretty quickly after drinking them down

 

[the-short-one]

so it would inhibit fat burning on a keto diet. (which I'm not on)

I hardly drink, anyway. Once in a blue moon - but have always been confused about the effects it would have on a cutting diet. My belief is that there's really no place for alcohol in your diet if you're serious about your traning, but I also see people in really good shape who go out on the weekends and drink LOTS. It can't be good for the bod.

 

[The Shadow]

On a cutter - I really dont think the occasional drink will hurt from the "alcohol" standpoint...just plan for those carbs and cals in general

 

[jenscats5]

I've heard that the alcohol gets processed in the liver which cannot burn off the fat cuz of the alcohol, so the foods you eat can't be burned off cuz the body is too busy burning off the alcohol....

I think (and this is my opinion only) is that unless you are planning to compete or are on a strict cuttin diet, there is room in your eating plan for a drink here & there. Just remember that the calories in that drink do count and to factor that into your diet. Plus, take the time to savor it. Have a really good glass of wine, not Boone's Farm, and really take the time to enjoy it. I feel the same way about chocolate.

My goals are primarily for health & I want a good balance. To me, food is fun to make & eat. Life is too short to live in constant deprivation.

 

[The Shadow]

exactly

 

[*Bunny*]

My goals are primarily for health & I want a good balance. To me, food is fun to make & eat. Life is too short to live in constant deprivation.

Absofrigginlutely -

 

[the-short-one]

I love good wine and chocolate - and agree with you that it should be an indulgence rather than a staple.

I was more or less talking about guys who go out on the weekends and drink a load of beer. I know a couple of them that have great physiques - they work out all week.

Guess they just have great metabolisms. The bastards.

 

[jenscats5]

I love good wine and chocolate - and agree with you that it should be an indulgence rather than a staple.

I was more or less talking about guys who go out on the weekends and drink a load of beer. I know a couple of them that have great physiques - they work out all week.

Guess they just have great metabolisms. The bastards.

Don't you hate people like that??

As for indulgence...... that should be a weekly, rather than monthly thing as far as I'm concerned.....

 

[skittles]

Absofrigginlutely -

Everytime you say that I see Big fr sex in the city

Big............

 

[*Bunny*]

Everytime you say that I see Big fr sex in the city

Big............

lol...

 

[gingernuts]

If anyone knows about alcohol, I do! I have struggled with alcohol problems for several years now.It's minimal benefits are heavily outweighed by the problems it can cause both physically & mentally.

I have still managed to stay involved in sport/fitness but I am not sure quite how!

Alcohol dehydrates you, robs your body of nutrients, and contains a lot of 'empty' kcals. It also lowers your inhibitions which is great for relaxing but not so great when it leads you towards the pizza shop or even worse into dangerous situations.

I have lost 28lbs just by cutting down the drinking & am now aiming for a competition later this year and I know I will not be having a drink for sometime now.

THis time last year I thought I could never give up and was drinking 2 - 4 litres of strong cider almost everyday.

Somehow I managed to keep my fitness up cycling to work each day & lifting when I could.

I feel so much healthier now & am looking forward to my comp.

In my opinion alcohol has no place in an athletes life & certainly not in mine at the moment.I do accept that most people do not have any issues like I have with alcohol and kept in control it can be enjoyable but for serious athletes it is really not an option.

 

[MS]

Ummm, just to set the record straight, alcohol increases E and decreases T in MEN, but has the opposite effect in women. I think (in hindsight) that I have often used this to my advantage to boost my testosterone post-workout....it certainly never hurt my BB goals as far as I can tell, but all things in moderation, and I avoid alcohol when cutting mainly due to having better things to devote my limited calorie allotment towards.

 

[The Shadow]

Im pretty sure that alcohol increases Estrogen in women as well:


Does alcohol consumption affect the risk of breast cancer?


Yes.....alcohol may temporarily increase the concentration of estrogens that circulate in the blood. This is significant because estrogen increases the frequency with which cells in the milk glands of the breast divide and grow. The fact that the concentration of estrogen is higher in women who drink alcohol could mean that there are more cell divisions. The more times a cell divides-or copies itself-the greater the likelihood that a cancer-causing mutation will occur because of an error in copying.





http://www.factsontap.org/riskyrel/Factsmw.htm



^^^^^"Alcohol increases estrogen levels"






http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/fst/faculty/acree/fs430/notes_thk/thk12wine&women.html


ALCOHOL AND BREAST CANCER Alcohol may effect the way estrogen is secreted and broken down. As I mentioned earlier, estrogen in our bodies makes us absorb alcohol more readily and break it down less. At the same rate, alcohol affects how estrogen is secreted and broken down. Thus, by drinking alcohol your estrogen levels will increase significantly both pre-menopausally and post-menopausally. As a result, after you drink you get spurts of estrogen that can be as high as 300 percent within 30 minutes of consumption.

 

[*Bunny*]

The compounds found in red wine that are responsible for its healing powers are antioxidants. Red wines contain several antioxidants beneficial to good health. Different antioxidants have different functions, but the key feature of all these antioxidants appears to be one of protection and prevention of disease.

more for those who are interested...
http://www.red-wine-and-health.com/

 

[the-short-one]

It all comes down to moderation.

Some people have triggers that wreck their diet. Mine is chocolate or anything baked . I can't just have one. So - it's better not to have any. I kind of feel the same way about alcohol, although it's way easier for me to resist than chocolate. My boyfriend doesn't drink, so I don't have it around the house and we don't go out to bars.

Tomorrow I've been invited to a super bowl party. Alcohol will be present. My diet and training are so tight right now that I don't want to indulge. You know how it goes - you go to a party and everyone is having a beer. It's BYOB - so I think I'll bring my own bottle...of water. I'll have to deal with all the questions about why I'm not celebrating, blah, blah, blah. That's the part I hate.

 

[gingernuts]

I know what you mean - if you aren't drinking it's seen as 'wierd'. Training for a comp gives me an acceptable reason. Letting on it's because once I start I cannot stop & that I have had an alcohol problem generally doesn't impress anyone.

 

[MS]

Im pretty sure that alcohol increases Estrogen in women as well:




^^^^^"Alcohol increases estrogen levels"






http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/fst/faculty/acree/fs430/notes_thk/thk12wine&women.html


ALCOHOL AND BREAST CANCER Alcohol may effect the way estrogen is secreted and broken down. As I mentioned earlier, estrogen in our bodies makes us absorb alcohol more readily and break it down less. At the same rate, alcohol affects how estrogen is secreted and broken down. Thus, by drinking alcohol your estrogen levels will increase significantly both pre-menopausally and post-menopausally. As a result, after you drink you get spurts of estrogen that can be as high as 300 percent within 30 minutes of consumption.

I should have been a little clearer on this one. Alcohol has an effect in POSTmenopausal women more similar to men in that it raises estrogen levels, although doesn't seem to reduce T levels measurably. Also the association with breast cancer and alcohol consumption only appears in women who drink postmenopausally. Premenopausal consumption has little impact on breast cancer risk unless it is extreme consumption (greater than 27 drinks per week). It takes a lot less than this to raise T levels in premenopausal women.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15252295

The belief that alcohol increases estrogen in premenopausal women, or that phase of cycle has an effect on alcohol pharmacodynamics, had been well disproven, eg:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10069553

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15151354

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=3795962

The belief that estrogen increases intoxication is also somewhat misleading. High estrogen as found for instance in women taking oral contraceptives, increases a woman's ability to accurately gauge just how intoxicated she is. In other words estrogen/menstrual cycle phase affects tolerance without changinf blood alcohol levels.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6741669

So in summary, the current research supports the observations that, in premenopausal women, alcohol increases testosterone without a significant increase in estrogens or breast cancer risk (unless she drinks chronically very high amounts for a very long time), but estrogen is "protective" against excess consumption of alcohol due to sensitizing a woman to alcohol's effects. It seems low estrogen levels are more likely to drive a woman to drink The fact that women can't handle as much alcohol as men is somewhat irrelevant as it merely means women get more "bang for their buck" when the drink.

In any event I am certainly not promoting alcohol drinking or alcoholism as a means to body comp improvements, just pointing out that alcohol does not have the same hormonal impact in young healthy women as it does in men.

 

[gingernuts]

That's very interesting what you say about low estrogen driving women to drink. I believe I have low estrogen levels or at least high test/estrogen ratio. I have always been athletic with a tendency to put on mass/store fat around my middle. I don't get cellulite & have always suffered from acne even into my 30s. I have narrow hips & don't tend to lay down fat on my legs and gain muscle easily. I also have a tendency to be ammenhroic(sp?) and am currently taking BCP to boost my estrogen & encourage my body to menstruate.

Could this be why I have tendencies/cravings to drink? I know I have other personal issues in my life which have influenced my drinking but had never related it to low e.

 

[MS]

Your symptoms overall are more characteristic of a high T:E ratio rather than an absolute lack of estrogen. Oral contraceptives not only boost estrogen, but also reduce free testosterone.

As for estrogen and alcohol cravings, the work in rodents (which seems to be supported by some epidemiological evidence in humans) points to estrogen "priming" alcohol craving, but only after withdrawal of estrogen, In other words if your estrogen has always been low then no problem, and if your estrogen is currently high, then no problem, but if you go from high to low estrogen then you may get increased cravings for alcohol (and sweet/fatty foods). This may be related to estrogen's leptinergic action, and it's actions on cravings mimic those of leptin in many ways. In other words your body rememebers the "fattest" it's ever been and fights to return there via leptinergic mechanisms, and likewise your body seems to remember the highest estrogen it has ever seen and similarly increases many activities which seem geared toward increasing estrogen. I think it's no coincidence that leptin, estrogen and menstruation are all intimately tied up and bodyfat seems to be the key.

If all the above (theoretical) stuff is even partly true, then the contraceptives may help with your cravings, but you might have problems resurface if you ever come off of them. Pure speculation though...

 

[PaganPunkstress]

thats some good info.

 

[jenscats5]

thats some good info.

I agree......... MS thank you for taking the time to post the info.... very helpful.....