Hitch Fit Living Magazine Volume 4 - January/February 2016 | Page 18

Many people struggle with cutting out alcohol when undergoing their transformation, I wanted to explain the
effects of alcohol consumption on muscle building, burning fat and working out. Alcohol is bad for your body!
There are really no “pr os” to alcohol consumption in terms of health and fitness. All the “pros” of alcohol are in
the feelings of relaxation, celebration, and social enjoyment. Is it really worth it?
Alcohol itself is a nutrient, it is not considered a macro nutrient because by definition macro nutrients
(carbohydrates, fats and proteins) are the nutrients your body requires to function properly. Carbohydrates and
proteins have 4 calories per gram (g). Fats have 9 calories per g. In a typical drink (beer, wine, cocktail) you
generally have more than just alcohol in the glass but for the sake of this article we are just talking about the
alcohol content. In a typical standard drink there is 10g-20g of alcohol. Out of all the calories coming from just
alcohol, only about 5% of them are processed into fat storage. So how will you ever get fat from drinking
alcohol?
You will not get fat directly from the calories that are in the alcohol product you're consuming. The
reason you get fat from drinking alcohol is because it changes the way your body naturally works. One or two
standard drinks of alcohol decreases your lipid oxidation process by as much as 73%. The lipid oxidation process
is the process of burning fat for energy. You will get fat because it almost completely stops your body from
burning fat for energy. Your lipid oxidation rate decreases by so much because when your liver breaks down
alcohol it produces a byproduct called acetate. Instead of burning body fat the body burns the acetate. Another
thing alcohol does is it effects the judgment center of the brain, more than likely if you’re drinking you’re also
eating bad fatty junk foods right along with it. While you aren’t directly producing and storing fat from drinking
alcohol you significantly decrees the lipid oxidation process therefore you are not allowing your body to even
burn fat for up to 24 hours after taking that drink. Imagine how slow your lipid oxidation rate is for those who
have a few drinks every day!
Alcohol also negatively impacts your natural production of hormones. It decreases testosterone
production and it increases cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone your body releases to relieve stress, it also
promotes fat storage and severely limits your body’s natural growth hormone and testosterone production. When
you enter rem-sleep your body normally releases its own natural human growth hormone, testosterone and other
vital hormones for recovery, fat burning, muscle building, increasing energy levels, basically everything you’re
trying to accomplish happens through rest and recovery after you cause a demand for it in the gym. However,
when you drink alcohol, the depressant nature or the substance alters your sleeping cycle making you miss out on
crucial hormone production and recovery.
intensity.