How Does Alcohol Affect Your Body Composition?
Here lies a conundrum that many of us face. You want to improve your health and fitness, but you also want to have a few drinks every now and then. You know that alcohol isn’t ideal for fitness, but just how bad is it?
This is actually a topic that I was able to focus on a lot when I was in college. I spent a year working in a laboratory that studied how alcohol affects the process of muscle building. I was also exposed to a lot of the research looking at how alcohol impacts other aspects of fitness.
So, in this article we’ll look at a few things. We’ll look at how alcohol impacts muscle growth, fat loss, and how alcohol impacts your performance.
How alcohol affects muscle growth
To understand how alcohol affects the process of building muscle, you must first understand another concept. Your muscles are in a constant state of being built (muscle protein synthesis) and being broken down (muscle protein degradation). Both of these processes happen at the same time, and whichever one is occurring at a greater rate will dictate whether you gain or lose muscle.
When you consume alcohol, the process of muscle protein degradation doesn’t seem to be affected. However, the process of muscle protein synthesis is greatly inhibited [1]. This results in a greater net loss of muscle with alcohol consumption.
The previous mechanism has been seen in rodent studies, but appears to have a similar or same effect in humans. Large population studies of both men and women show that those who consume more alcohol experience less strength or greater losses of strength [2].
How alcohol affects fat loss
As you may know, you must consume less calories than you burn in a day in order to lose weight [3]. When we consume large amounts of alcohol, this equation becomes much harder to tip in our favor. Let’s talk about why that is.
First off, alcohol has 7 calories per gram. This is more than protein and carbohydrates (4 cals/g) but a little less than fats (9cals/g). Because of this, a single shot of vodka has more than 115 calories. Further, a mixed drink with only one shot can have between 300-400 calories per drink. If you have 1 shot and 2 mixed drinks on a night out, you could easily add 700-1000 calories to your daily calorie intake.
Wine isn’t much better either, 1 glass (5 fl oz) has between 120-130 calories. Most times, we add more than 5 fl oz to our glasses or we have more than one glass. Beer can vary between 90-130 calories per serving.
A further problem is that you likely don’t make the best food choices while intoxicated. When I was in college, I could easily crush 3-5 tacos from taco bell after a night out. I’m sure we all have similar stories, and that illustrates the point I want to make here. Not only is the alcohol calorie dense, but we also tend to eat calorie dense foods when we are drunk. Our judgement is low and our pursuit of pleasure is higher.
With all this put together, you can see how alcohol consumption can prove to be a large obstacle when left unmonitored.
Some tips to find balance
Now, clearly, I’ve just made alcohol look pretty bad. The hard truth of it is: you will probably be your healthiest and fittest self without any consumption of it.
Although, my goal with this article was not to try to convince you to never drink again. I’ve had clients see plenty of success while still having alcohol in their routine.
It’s absolutely possible to consume alcohol AND lose fat or build muscle. However, it’s going to take practicing moderation. If you are trying to lose fat but are drinking 3 shots and 3 mixed drinks every Saturday, then you are going to have a pretty tough time (with your goals and the day after).
So, what is moderation? For most people, 1-2 drinks on 1-2 nights of the week (with one night of the week being much better than two). Whatever it is you’re drinking, this shouldn’t completely shut off the process of muscle building or add a boat load more calories to your day.
On the days that you do have a drink or two, I would also be mindful of how many calories you are consuming from the drinks and how many you are eating throughout the day (especially if your goal is fat loss). For example, if you plan on having a few drinks later in the day, then perhaps eat a few less calories earlier in the day to make room.
Think of it like a budget. You only have a certain number of dollars you can spend in a day. You know you’re going to have to spend more money later that night. So, what can you do? Spend less money during the day. That way, you have the room to spend more that night.
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