3513: Alcohol & Athletes: Good? Bad? Ugly? by Nancy Clark on Alcohol Reduction

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. Alcohol and Athletes. Good, Bad, or Ugly? By Nancy Clark of NancyClarkRD.com. And I'm Dr. Neal Malik. This is the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online. Alright, and with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:26] Alcohol and Athletes. Good, Bad, or Ugly? By Nancy Clark of NancyClarkRD.com. When asked, is beer good for runners? Running legend Jim Fix's answer was, sure, if the other guy's drinking it. By abstaining from alcohol, you can indeed gain an advantage over your competitor. Just how bad is alcohol for athletes? Does it have any health benefits?

[00:01:52] Let's look at some of the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding alcohol and athletes. The Good. Socializing with a glass of wine, a beer, or a cocktail can add a nice touch to the end of the day for those who like to relax with an alcoholic beverage. Raising a glass to celebrate a victory is a fond tradition.

[00:02:12] But we know surprisingly little about the possible health benefits of drinking in moderation because almost all studies are based on self-reported information that gets tangled up with lifestyle. Do adults who drink in moderation socially enjoy a healthier lifestyle than non or heavy drinkers? Does alcohol then make them healthier, or do social connections make the difference?

[00:02:34] While moderate alcohol intake has been linked to reduced risk of heart disease, so is eating a healthy diet and being physically active. The Bad. Alcohol has a negative reputation regarding athletics, be it heavy beer consumption after a hard workout, or teams enmeshed in a culture of binge drinking. Student athletes binge drink more than non-athletes. Male athletes binge drink more than female athletes. And all athletes drink more than non-athletes.

[00:03:03] The higher alcohol intake of athletes can be attributed to stress and anxiety associated with being a competitive athlete. Plus, increased muscle pain and soreness, socializing or bonding with teammates, and the belief the athlete earned the drink, a reward for having completed the hard effort. Then, the ugly. Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. Tobacco is number one. A poor diet with an inactive lifestyle is number two.

[00:03:33] Any level of alcohol intake can contribute to several types of cancer. Now, how do you know if you have a drinking problem? Moderate drinkers typically sip, not gulp, their drinks. They stop drinking before they get drunk and do not drive after drinking. Problem drinkers commonly drink to get drunk and to solve their problems. They drink at inappropriate times, such as before going to work, and may become loud or angry or silent and reclusive.

[00:04:01] Those addicted to alcohol start drinking with no plan, deny drinking, hide bottles, and miss work or school because of hangovers. Alcohol management. Despite the bad and the ugly, alcohol is an undeniable part of our sports culture. The following tips offer suggestions for helping athletes manage alcohol. 1. Don't drink excessive alcohol before an event, especially in the summer heat.

[00:04:27] Drinking too much the night before an event will hurt your performance the next day. You'll notice a slower reaction time and reduced eye-hand coordination and balance. Research with Australian rugby players who consumed, on average, 9 beers post-game, with a range of less than 1 up to 22 beers, indicates, no surprise, their high alcohol intake impaired their performance.

[00:04:52] Other studies report athletes are less able to do repeated sprints, think sports like soccer and hockey, and jumps, think volleyball and basketball. Among heat-stricken summer runners, a common denominator was booze the night before the race. 2. If you're going to drink the night before or after an event, plan to also consume a proper sports meal with extra water. While excessive drinking is obviously problematic,

[00:05:20] a modest amount of alcohol consumed along with a balanced meal will unlikely have as much of a negative impact. Yes, alcohol impairs glycogen resynthesis just a bit. But in the real world of sports drinking, athletes who are heavy drinkers tend to make high-fat food choices, think nachos, burgers, and so on. The lack of healthful grains, fruits, and veggies more significantly hinders glycogen replacement.

[00:05:46] 3. First quench your post-exercise thirst with water. Then enjoy alcohol if desired. Alcohol can be a diuretic. It stimulates the formation of excess urine. Whiskey and other spirits with a high alcohol content will dehydrate, not rehydrate you. If you must drink spirits, ask for extra ice with the cocktail. Beer would be the better choice given the alcohol content of beer is lower and the water content is higher.

[00:06:15] Yes, dehydrated adult athletes can rehydrate with a beer or two. Low alcohol beer is the wiser choice, and no alcohol beer is the wisest beer choice. 4. Heavy alcohol intake is not on the list of best recovery practices for athletes to follow. Remember, bad things happen during exercise, and good things happen during recovery. Wisely chosen recovery fluids and foods help you rehydrate, refuel, and repair your muscles.

[00:06:43] Adding alcohol to the mix slows down muscle repair, protein synthesis, and the adaptation process. Yet a glass or two of wine or beer, along with plenty of water and food, is permissible. 5. Alcohol is a source of calories that can quickly add up. Add in the calories from the pizza, nachos, or munchies that you can easily overeat when alcohol lowers your inhibitions, and you can easily succeed in gaining body fat.

[00:07:10] Just five Heineken light beers add 500 calories. A goblet of wine can easily add 200 calories. Be wary of drinks that come with umbrellas. 400 to 800 calories per 10 ounces is pretty normal. 6. Beware of drinks in a can, such as White Claw Surge with 8% alcohol by volume. You could end up drinking more alcohol than you intended. You might want to stick with the original White Claw hard seltzer with 5% alcohol by volume,

[00:07:40] which is similar to most canned beers. Although, some craft beers do have a higher alcohol content. 7. Don't drink alcohol if you want a good night's sleep. Alcohol might help you fall asleep faster, but it disrupts your sleep cycle. You'll get less restorative sleep. Alcohol alters body temperature, which can affect how well you sleep. It also aggravates snoring due to relaxed muscles and a lower breathing rate, so your partner in bed becomes sleep-deprived and grumpy.

[00:08:10] Plus, you'll need to go to the bathroom more often in the middle of the night. None of this enhances athletic performance. And 8. If you don't want to drink, be prepared to quickly say, no thanks, in a polite but convincing voice. If the person keeps insisting, respond again, I don't want to drink today. I'd appreciate it if you helped me out. Instead, be pleased that you'll enjoy the natural high of exercise.

[00:08:40] You just listened to the post titled, Alcohol and Athletes. Good, Bad, or Ugly? By Nancy Clark of nancyclarkrd.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. Evening. Buyers remorse. Buy a new car? I'll be moving in. Let's get started. Uh, sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana. You what? Yeah, great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no... No, no buyer's remorse.

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[00:09:39] So every step is strong, balanced, and comfortable. Whatever you're lacing up for, stay out there. With Ultra. Shop now at ultrarunning.com. That's A-L-T-R-A running dot com. Dr. Neil here with my commentary. I want to go back to Nancy's first suggestion. Don't drink excessive alcohol before an event. How is excessive alcohol defined? Well, for women, drinking in moderation is one drink per day.

[00:10:08] So an example of this would be one 12-ounce beer. Or one drink could be defined as five to six ounces of wine. If we're talking about hard liquor, like whiskey or gin, one and a half ounces, or about a shot, would be considered one drink. Now for men, the recommendation's a bit different. Drinking in moderation means two drinks per day. So men can have two 12-ounce beers in one day.

[00:10:34] Or five to six ounces of wine and one 12-ounce beer. Or one shot of hard liquor and one 12-ounce beer. You get the idea. So why is drinking in moderation different for men and women? It's because men have higher levels of a very specific compound in our body. This compound is called alcohol dehydrogenase. Now to get really specific, alcohol dehydrogenase is an enzyme. The function of enzymes is to speed up reactions

[00:11:03] and help transform one substance into another. In this case, alcohol dehydrogenase transforms alcohol into smaller parts. This then allows the body to remove alcohol more quickly. And it turns out that men have higher levels of this enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase. That means men break down alcohol and are able to remove alcohol from their bodies more quickly than women.

[00:11:31] What this means for women is that by having lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase, alcohol and its byproducts sit around in their bodies for a longer period of time. This is not a good thing. And what we find is when these alcohol byproducts sit in the body, they start to interact with the DNA in certain cells, which can then damage those cells. In fact, when women consume more than one drink each day on average,

[00:11:59] their risk for breast cancer increases significantly. So even beyond just athletes, we do want to be careful with regards to our alcohol consumption. And swapping just one alcoholic beverage for a mocktail or sparkling water could make a big difference. All right, that'll do it for today. I hope you have a great rest of your day. Thank you so much for listening. And of course, I'll be back here tomorrow as usual. So I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.