Good news! There is a lot of research that says if you have no health problems, one or two drinks a day is good for you. Especially red wine. It’s true. The stumbling block for most is the “no health problems” part. This means you do not have diabetes, your cholesterol is normal, your waistline is less than 100 cm, you are free of colds, infection and so forth. However, if you’re riding the bench on your varsity team, or having trouble bouncing back to your optimal physique, do yourself a huge favor and nix the drinks.
It’s problematic that alcohol is so socially prevalent. Please know this: consuming alcohol is probably the worst thing we can do during training. Here’s why: Alcohol has calories. Plenty. One bottle of beer has about 150. One shot of vodka, run, rye, gin or scotch has about 100. That’s like a slice of bread per shot. Only without vitamins, minerals or fibre. Drinks that contain alcohol typically are made with Calorie-rich mixes: one beer = 150 Calories one shot of 40% liquor = 100 Calories 4 oz of juice or pop = 60 Calories one Cooler i.e. Smirnoff Ice = 170 to 215 Calories 4 oz Glass of wine = 80 to 110 Calories three glasses of wine a day 2100 Calories a week. That’s ½ a pound of fat per week!
Normally, we burn fat constantly. However, with alcohol in our system, we burn little or no fat. Instead, we burn the alcohol. Our fuel mixture changes with even one drink. So not only are we adding calories with the drink, our system is letting fat accumulate. Our liver is in charge of how much fat we make. With alcohol in our system, our liver produces more fat than usual. Yes, we burn less fat and make more fat. Depressing but true.
Kyle Byron
