Alcohol and Fitness - For People in a Hurry

Let’s talk about our favorite social lubricant alcohol.

Effects of Alcohol

Your body treats alcohol as a toxin. The toxicity of alcohol is further enhanced due to its byproduct of acetaldehyde, an even more toxic substance (carcinogen…cancer causing agent what sound effect.).

Let’s talk weight gain for a sec

Your Liver is the all-star player that turns your food into energy.

When you consume an alcoholic drink, your liver burns the alcohol off first. If it is “busy” getting rid of alcohol(toxin) those fats, sugars, and carbs that you are definitely eating while you socialize are simply stored as fat

So let’s face it we all are not going to quit so what can we do?

Moderate alcohol use for healthy adults means up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men.

Examples of one drink include:

• Beer: 12 ounces or

• Wine: 5 ounces or

• Distilled spirits (80 proof): 1.5 ounces

Moderate alcohol consumption may provide some health benefits, such as:

...

They do exist but the cons overwhelm the mild benefits that are derived from additives to the alcoholic beverages.

The idea that drinking small amounts of alcohol will do you no harm is a myth, claims Professor David Nutt (Neuropsychopharmacologist is a science that examines the effects of drugs on the mind).

Binge drinking:

Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks within two hours for men.

Excessive drinking can increase your risk of serious health problems, including:

Increase Abdominal Fat
Certain cancers, including breast cancer and cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver
Pancreatitis
Sudden death if you already have cardiovascular disease
Heart muscle damage leading to heart failure
Stroke
High blood pressure
Liver disease
Suicide
Accidental serious injury or death
Brain damage and other problems in an unborn child
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome

So drink less or not at all if you want to like to live a healthy life

Sources:

How much is too much? Rethinking drinking. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/. Accessed July 5, 2016.
Mukamal KJ. Overview of the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Oct. 9, 2018.
Tangney CC, et al. Cardiovascular benefits and risks of moderate alcohol consumption. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed July 5, 2016.
Alcohol use in older adults. National Institute on Aging. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/alcohol-use-older-people. Accessed July 14, 2016.
Older adults. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders/older-adults. Accessed July 14, 2016.
Alcohol's effects on the body. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/alcohols-effects-body. Accessed July 14, 2016.
Klatsky AL. Alcohol and cardiovascular diseases: Where do we stand today? Journal of Internal Medicine. 2015;278:238.
2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines. Accessed July 5, 2016.
Drinking and driving: A threat to everyone. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/DrinkingAndDriving/index.html. Accessed July 5, 2016.
Hoffman HS, et al. Management of moderate and severe alcohol withdrawal syndromes. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed July 5, 2016.
Chang G. Alcohol use and pregnancy. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed July 14, 2016.
Kunzmann AT, et al. The association of lifetime alcohol use with mortality and cancer risk in older adults: A cohort study. PLoS Medicine. 2018;15:e1002585.
Vos T, et al. Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet. 2018;392:1015.
Alcohol and cancer risk. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/alcohol/alcohol-fact-sheet. Accessed Oct. 9, 2018.