Does Alcohol Impact Muscle Growth?

Recently, I became curious about how alcohol affects muscle growth. I was already aware of how alcohol consumption can slow down weight loss, primarily because of the extra calories involved. I am not a big drinker, but I do consider myself a social drinker. When I am "leaning out" for a show I try to eliminate all alcohol. Typically in 12 weeks, I might have 3 drinks. But what about the off season? How is this affecting my progress? So my search for the truth began.

Alcohol Facts

Alcoholic beverages usually contain ethanol, a type of alcohol that packs seven calories per gram. Unlike protein, carbs or fats, it's not considered a nutrient nor does it provide any function in the body.

Inhibit Muscle Protein Synthesis

In research reported in the August 1999 issue of the "American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism," researchers discovered that drinking alcohol can inhibit muscle protein synthesis, the muscle growth process within muscle cells. During a 14-week study, subjects on an alcohol containing diet had greater levels of myopathy, or muscle loss, than those taking a placebo. Scientists suggest that alcohol blocks the process of protein synthesis, which leads to a reduction in muscle mass.

Testosterone Impact

Research shows that alcohol can negative affect the muscle building hormone testosterone, according to research published in the May 2004 issue of the journal of "Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental." Participants consumed beer or non-alcoholic beer for three weeks while following the same diet composition. Scientists found that the beer group had significantly lower testosterone levels compared to the no-alcohol beer. Low testosterone levels can compromise muscle building, since the hormone plays a vital role in initiating protein synthesis.

Growth Hormone Impact

Like testosterone, growth hormone facilitates the protein synthesis process. Therefore, maximizing growth hormone output can increase the muscle growth process. In research reported in the 1980 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism," researchers found that alcohol consumption significantly suppressed growth hormone release during sleep.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/215221-does-drinking-alcohol-affect-muscle-building/#ixzz1UFe03hB5

Drink too much and you end up storing too many calories as fat.
Many people will choose low calorie alcohol drinks or low carb alcoholic beverages in an attempt to avoid the fat storage issue. They feel that by making this choice the only bad effects of alcohol – increased fat storage – will be minimized.
But what you didn’t know is that only about 5% of the calories from alcohol are stored as fat!

1- Alcohol really affects the amount of fat your body can and will burn for energy!
In a study done by the American Journal of Clinical Research [4] they concluded that just a mere 24g of alcohol consumption showed whole-body lipid oxidation ( the rate at which your body burns fat) decreased by a whopping 73%!
When alcohol goes thru the liver, the by-product is called Acetate. It would appear that acetate puts the proverbial brakes on fat burning.
Your body can use many types of fuel. Protein, carbohydrates and fat. In many cases, the fuel used is dictated by it’s availability.
Trouble is…
Your body tends to use whatever you feed it for fuel right? As your acetate levels increase, your body burns more acetate as fuel.
What this means is…
Fat burning takes a back seat!
What it all boils down to is this…
a) You consume a couple of alcoholic drinks or more. b) Your liver metabolizes that into acetate. c) Your body uses the acetate for fat as fuel.
http://www.bodybuildingsecretslive.com/effects-of-alcohol-on-muscle/

In addition to this, research has also shown that consuming alcohol will increase your appetite, thus increasing your caloric intake through food. You will also get less REM sleep after drinking a few drinks. This will inevitably affect the quality of your workout the next day(s).

This was just 2 sites of the many I found regarding this issue. They all pretty much agreed that alcohol consumption can have a significant negative impact on muscle growth. This has definitely made me rethink this topic. Reality is, when you step on that stage, what you see is a direct result of what you did in the off season. Why would I want to take something in that would hinder me from reaching my goal?
Note: I wrote this draft about a month ago and wanted to see if it actually changed the way I looked at drinking. I believe it has. I now feel a bit guilty for putting something in my body that won't benefit me tomorrow. Will I quit drinking? Probably not. But I will save it for more social times instead of when I am watching The Housewives of Beverly Hills.