If you want to achieve maximum results, drinking will slow down your progress towards this goal. Scientific studies have shown that alcohol, a central nervous system depressant, reduces athletic performance, and not just for a few hours, but for several days after ingestion. Even a single drink is harmful to the body. In fact, there is not a single organ that does not suffer from the effects of alcohol.
Alcohol's toxic effect starts right when it enters the body. Alcohol is the most harmful substance for the brain. According to research conducted by Australian scientists, a glass of alcohol kills about two thousand brain cells!
Alcohol consumption leads to disorders of the digestive tract, liver, heart, blood vessels, nervous system and other organs. Alcoholism is associated with a number of mental disorders such as hallucinations, muscle cramps, body numbness, and sometimes severe limb weakness. There are also facts about the impact of alcohol on human behavior. Besides, it increases your appetite and makes you consume more calories, which definitely won't help you get rid of excess fat.
There is a common stereotype that a person's body does not recognize the calories contained in alcoholic beverages and, as a result, they do not make a difference. Actually, this is not true - they are fully involved in the metabolic process. As with proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, if intake exceeds consumption, these calories are stored as fat deposits. It is a proven fact that "alcohol" calories are added to all other calories consumed during the day, but they are empty, i.e., they do not carry any nutritional value. Drinking alcohol makes it difficult to control what you drink and eat, so all your best intentions are put to rest.
Drinking alcohol before or during meals makes you eat more than you need: first, it weakens control, and second, it increases short-term pleasure from food.
How does alcohol affect protein synthesis?
Both high and low doses of alcohol reduce the formation of protein structures in muscle cells - protein synthesis. An hour after drinking, protein synthesis decreases by 23%, and after 24 hours - by 63%. Alcohol inhibits this process even more strongly in type II muscle fibers, which rapidly increase in size. People who consume more than 100 g of ethanol (1 liter of beer, 100-150 g of vodka) per day often suffer from myopathy, which is the destruction of muscle tissue.
Effects on testosterone
Testosterone is one of the most important hormones for keeping fit, building muscle and reducing body fat, especially in men. Alcohol reduces testosterone levels. If you drink one bottle of beer every day for three weeks, testosterone in men will decrease by 6-10%. Large-scale alcohol consumption affects hormone levels much faster: within 16 hours of drinking 100 g of ethanol, testosterone in men decreases by 23%. Besides, 150-300 g of a strong drink after hard strength or endurance training will significantly reduce testosterone levels, slow recovery, and weaken muscles.
Alcohol is very harmful for women and affects the body even more aggressively. In addition, excessive "love" for alcohol can lead to infertility. Doctors say that those who drink are 15 times less likely to give birth to a healthy child than those who do not consume alcohol. Studies show that the negative effects of alcohol increase the risk of developing mammary tumors and other types of cancer.
It takes 12 to 20 days to completely eliminate alcohol and its decomposition products from the body. Only 5-10% of the total amount of alcohol is excreted from the body unchanged. The rest is included in metabolic processes, producing its harmful effects on the whole organism. Constant alcohol consumption leads to premature aging and disability. The life expectancy of people addicted to alcohol is 15-20 years shorter than the average.
Written by Petro Poliak, coach at Online Fitness Club.