Alcohol and Women
With all the parties, travel, and family gatherings, there might be an uptick in your drinking during the holidays.
If you’re looking to strike a balance between maintaining your gym progress and indulging with your favorite people, this post is for you!
Earlier this year, I dug into the science behind alcohol's impact on muscle growth and recovery for women.
And I uncovered some really surprising things.
In moderate to high amounts, alcohol decreases testosterone production in men. It can be up to a 45% reduction after a binge.
This reduction has a significant negative impact on a man's ability to build muscle and recover from training.
Lowered testosterone levels can lead to:
decreased anabolic signaling (the method in which testosterone “tells” muscle to grow) (source)
impaired production of growth hormones (source)
decreased muscle protein synthesis (when protein is produced to repair muscle damage) (source)
How About for Women?
But what does it do to women's muscle growth and recovery? Turns out, not much.
I was surprised to hear this, but having up to 6 post-workout drinks does not affect muscle growth and recovery in women as it does in men.
It does not decrease testosterone or estrogen levels (they actually rise) and it does not decrease anabolic signaling.
Alcohol may impact muscle protein synthesis, but only acutely.
In a study with female rats, alcohol showed a negative impact on muscle protein synthesis when injected, but no impact when it was ingested chronically over a 26-week period.
So, Is Alcohol Beneficial for women?
This information sounds great. But ladies, don't celebrate just yet.
This post is not to say that alcohol is beneficial in any way. It is still a poison and there are a host of issues with drinking regularly.
Here are some of the big ones:
metabolism disruption - your body will prioritize eliminating the alcohol before processing the food you eat
ATP (energy) disruption
poor sleep
increased cancer risk, especially breast cancer
ingestion of excess calories
negative mental health impacts
As with most things in life, it's best enjoyed in moderation.
minimizing the short-term impact for women
Alcohol and the holidays go hand in hand, and drinking is a personal choice.
After researching this subject, it appears the biggest short-term fitness impact for women is the excess calories.
If you're going to drink at a holiday party, be sure to set limits and try to choose lower calorie options such as vodka soda, white wine, light beer, gin and tonic, or a hard seltzer.
To minimize the impact to your fitness goals, I'd recommend drinking in moderation and keeping your drinks low in calories. You can also decrease your overall calories during the day (especially fats, since they contain 9 calories per gram) while keeping your protein intake high.
