Alcohol - Overview

Do these phrases or statements sound familiar?

“Just one glass to help me unwind” OR “Oh I’m dying for a beer” OR “A few at the weekend won’t hurt” OR “I don’t drink that much”

As humans we are fantastic at justifying our own behaviour to ourselves and others, I mean who’d openly admit they might be wrong (not me, 95% of the time anyway).

I mean “Alcohol is actually good for you, I read this in the newspaper”.

At ATD Coaching we like to provide the information and keep it simple, so here are some facts:

7 Calories - the amount of energy 1 gram of alcohol is worth to your body. More Importantly, that value is nearly double that of carbohydrates which sits at 4 calories per gram.

Alcohol is calorie dense - meaning small amounts of volume equate to large amounts of calories.

Now remember to lose weight and achieve fat loss we need to be in a calorie deficit, so extra calories via alcohol is often ignored and forgotten.

It’s not necessarily about “I drink” or “I don’t drink” it’s understanding the TRADE OFFS and being accountable for your actions.

Only you can be honest and say what you are and aren’t willing to trade off...

YES I’d like a to prioritise my sleep, so NO I won’t have my evening drink

YES I’d like to train in the morning, so NO I won’t come out for beers after work•

These are just some of our examples, maybe take time to think about what trade-offs are currently associated with your drinking habits?

It’s Impact on your body

As promised here are some of the impacts of alcohol on the human body:

Increases inflammation - this places a greater burden on the body leading to greater physiological stress, increasing oxidative stress, speeding up the raging process and breakdown of tissue.

Down regulates gut health - increased permeability of the gut wall leads to poor nutrient digestion and assimilation, as this process occurs it will impact your energy production.

Aromatisation - Aromatase is an enzyme found within fat cells. This converts testosterone to oestrogen in males, vice versa in females. The expression of this enzyme is directly increased through the consumption of alcohol. When there is a prolonged high level of activity from this enzyme, it promotes fat build up around the chest leading to health concerns such as gynecomastia.

Increased Histamine response - Histamine is a pro-flammatory molecule, with red wine containing 20-200% more than white wine.

Impacted Liver function - Alcohol burdens the efficiency of the liver, impairing detoxification and leading to the functions ran by the liver to become hindered (hormonal regulation, usage of macronutrients etc).

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Managing a hangover

Now you understand just some of the issues caused by alcohol, let’s talk about the one you really care about…the hangover.

Here are some tips on how to prevent, manage and help rid your hangover:

Glutamine - Loading up on glutamine before and after will help lower your risk of an upset stomach due to development and repair of the intestinal lining.

Bioactive B vitamins - these can help metabolise the alcohol out of the body by supporting methylation.

Organic White Tea - Drinking organic white tea the day before and the morning after to assist with balance and efficiency of the detoxification phases to assist with the elimination of the alcohol out of the body.

Coconut Water - Drinking coconut water before and after will help the body load up on potassium to help offset dehydration.

Water - Drink 3-4 litres of water the day before and the day after to support hydration levels.

Sleep - Ensure you have had 7-9 hours sleep, if not take power naps to catch up. The body would not have been able to enter REM due to the alcohol levels, this decreases the restorative effects of sleep.

Movement - Stimulate the lymphatic system through exercise, stretching and movement. This is the system used to eliminate toxic waste from body, unfortunately it has no valves and requires movements to stimulate the flow required for elimination.

If you are going to drink, please use the above a way to help your body deal with the stress it’s under. No more hangover’s is pretty good bit of content hey!