It’s December and that means one thing; endless socializing.
You’ve got your company Christmas party, your team Christmas meal, festive cocktails with the uni girls, Christmas drinks with the housemates. You’ve got mulled wine running through your veins at this point.
That’s a lot of booze. And a lot of hangovers.
It’s common to consume more alcohol than normal at this time of year, but if you have a fitness regime that you’re trying to stick to, being perpetually pissed for an entire month can really scupper your gains. So, just how much of an impact does alcohol have on your workouts?
We asked nutritionist Caroline Wilson from Kitchenistic to give us the scientific low-down on exactly how all these Christmas parties may be affecting your fitness performance, and crucially, how to limit the damage:
Dehydration and overheating
Essentially, alcohol is a diuretic and drains moisture from the body. I would say that 90% of hangover symptoms are a direct result of dehydration.
When alcohol is processed by the enzymes located in the liver, it is converted to acetaldehyde. As the body works to break the acetaldehyde down, the liver transforms the substance into acetate.
Alcohol also suppresses the body’s level of vasopressin, a hormone that acts as an antidiuretic. As alcohol has such a sudden diuretic impact to the body, it is inevitable that the rapid loss in moisture will affect the body’s fitness performance.
It is no secret that water fuels the body, however, what many people don’t know is that hydration is key to regulating body’s temperature.
If alcohol is in your system, your heart rate will increase faster than usual and your body’s temperature significantly rise.
This can make working out very uncomfortable and lead you to sweat more than you are typically used to. This will of course dehydrate the body further.
I always recommend having a bottle of water on the table as you enjoy drinks with friends. This encourages you to drink water alongside your alcohol.
This will not stop dehydration altogether however; it will limit it and work to protect your workout.
Slowing your metabolism
Alcohol has a negative impact on your digestive system.
It causes stress to the stomach and intestines and causes the movement of food and nutrients through the body to become sluggish. As digestive secretions slack, the rate at which the body absorbs essential nutrients also decreases. This cause the metabolism to slow.
In the run up to drinking, I recommend opting for nutritious food to ensure that the digestive system is functioning to its optimum performance.
This will limit impact to the body’s metabolism and prevent also weight gain.
Poor muscle recovery
Drinking alcohol often leads to a build up of lactic acid. This can make exercise very uncomfortable as cramping is likely to occur.
Muscle fatigue is also inevitable post alcohol intake. Excessive alcohol consumption also suppresses growth hormones which are vital for both building muscle and repairing it.
If you consistently drink, your recovery time post-workout will be a long one and it will be very difficult to build muscle in general.
The Perils of Sugar
Alcohol is often laden with sugar. Sugar is regarded as ‘high’ on the glycaemic index, which means it rapidly turns into glucose once it is fully digested.
The sudden spike in sugar intake inflames the body and can lead to the body retaining water. This can cause bloating and fatigue as the sudden spike in sugar drops.
If you are planning to exercise in the days after drinking, avoid wines, cocktails or drinks with syrups, as they are full of sugar and will impact the effectiveness of your workout.
Cravings
Almost everyone has their own hangover cure however, perhaps the most popular is a fried breakfast.
Alcohol leads us to gravitate towards fatty foods and spark cravings. This is because alcohol encourages a chemical in the brain called galanin to surge, which causes us to crave foods that are rich in fats.
Even after sleep post-alcohol intake, the levels of galanin in the brain are higher than usual and we will continue to crave fatty foods. This can really impact our workouts as, not only do we feel incredibly sluggish, we have not fuelled our bodies with the correct nutrients for it to sustain an exercise regime.
A healthy balance of the fats Omega 3 and Omega 6 are essential in keeping a healthy lifestyle. However, Omega 6 is often found in vegetable and corn oils that are used to fry food and can cause high blood pressure and heart attacked if eaten to excess.
Weightlifting tends to cause a spike in blood pressure.
If you have been drinking alcohol, I suggest that you stay away from weights for the day as your blood pressure is likely to already be higher than usual.
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