Brooke’s answer…
A little bit about me. I am an integrative and functional medicine dietitian nutritionist and whole health coach. I believe that all areas of mental, emotional, and physical being affect our health. During the day catch me at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System working to help Veterans improve their quality of life by spearheading a national pilot program utilizing functional nutrition. My specialties include functional nutrition, pain management, and sports nutrition. My approach to nutrition is easy. Food is information. Give your body good information and it will respond well.. feed it crap and you will feel like crap.
Question of the week:
“I use alcohol as a stress management tool. 6 to 9 ounces daily. How detrimental is this to a strength training agenda?”
So not all alcohol is created equal. Wine, beer and distilled liquor all have some differing effects on the body, e.g. increasing cortisol and/or appetite. But in the realm of pure health.. Everclear is the best alcohol to drink due to its heavy distillation. Yes, Everclear. Hello, 10th grade.
Dietitians are notorious for saying “anything in moderation”, but I don’t agree with that shit. If you have a goal set and are busting your ass to get it then drinking should not be included in your strength training. If you are ok with your training and how things are going then, eh have a drink. It comes down to what is important to you.
The more alcohol you consume the more enzymes your body produces to break it down. Therefore you become more efficient at drinking alcohol. But that doesn’t mean you should go push the envelope. If you are going to drink, drinking no more than a few drinks a day is best. Avoid getting drunk and avoid binge drinking. Typically effects on strength are minimal when following this method. Going into a meet keep it minimal. No binge drinking. The best time to drink is after training if you are going to. Now if you are setting goals and have your shit on point you really should avoid any variable that may effect your performance. Which means if you want to be at your best and get the most from your training, no drinking.
Some of the varied effects alcohol has varied effects on the body.
It reduces post exercise inflammation (this inflammatory process is where the magic happens, so consider this bad)
Raises myostatin which inhibits muscle cell growth and differentiation.
Dips testosterone a small amount with minimal/moderate drinking; moderate drinking frequently a higher percentage; and binge drinking we are talking an even higher percentage (man boobs?)
Suppresses MTOR- which is a protein that stimulates muscle protein synthesis
May impair insulin and IGF-1 signaling, which effects growth hormone production
Drains b-vitamins, zinc, magnesium and some other important vitamins.
Increases dopamine and adrenaline, decreases serotonin and melatonin (think increase in appetite and worsened sleep)
Dehydrates
Decreases fat burning, so body comp goals may suffer
Stress is a detriment to training, too. Figuring out ways to manage stress that do not have negative physical effects is important. I am a huge fan of practicing daily meditation. The positive benefits are countless. But sometimes there’s nothing like a whiskey neat to take the edge off of the day. I get it. Keep it after training and to a minimum to keep the gains coming. --BG
