Think Before You Drink

​I love a nice glass of wine. Or a good pint of beer.  Or one of those fruity drinks while lying on the beach under a palm tree.  I always have, and I expect I always will.  However, there are times when that glass of wine, pint, or fruity drink just doesn’t fit in with my nutrition goals.  Here’s why.
 
First, alcohol is pretty calorie dense.  At seven calories per gram, it’s right on the heels of fats as a source of calories. However, those calories are largely empty by comparison.  While your body can use alcohol as fuel, you get no macro or micro nutrients with alcohol, meaning you still need to eat to get what your body needs to keep it healthy and make it stronger.  Therefore, people who drink either regularly tend to take in more calories than their body needs or fail to maintain adequate levels of protein, leading to muscle loss.
 
Second, your body prioritizes metabolizing alcohol over anything else you ingest.  However, your liver can only process a certain amount at a time.  On average, that’s about one drink (twelve ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or a little over an ounce of hard liquor) per hour for most people.  This means that your body does not use other sources of fuel while your body is processing the alcohol.
 
Third, alcohol makes us more likely to make poor food decisions.  Pizza and ice cream while on a diet usually sounds like a much better idea after a drink or two!  As a result, even if you have taken into account the caloric cost of alcohol, you may not have taken into account the caloric cost of the additional decisions you might make after having it.
 
Fourth, regular excess alcohol use can create problems with your body’s ability to use and absorb the nutrients found in your food.  In particular, regular excess alcohol use can slow or prevent your body’s appropriate use of protein, fat, and many vitamins.  
 
Finally, even in small quantities, alcohol affects your sleep.  Since adequate sleep is essential for weight loss, muscle gain, and sports recovery, regular use of alcohol can affect just about any nutrition or performance goal.
 
Do you have to give up alcohol entirely to make gains?  No.  Like everything else, moderation and understanding how alcohol affects your goals are the keys.  Just make sure you think before you drink!