Those of us old enough to enjoy the mystical drink are usually confused when someone tells you its not good for you. I’m here to clarify a bit of the confusing info out there.
First of all, alcohol is not good for you, Ever. There is one situation where it could possibly offer a health benefit but i am not going to tell you about it since none of you are having this issue.
The “experts” in main stream media tell us its good for the heart but that is untrue. Alcohol is a blood thinner and is the reason you are not supposed to get a tatoo when you have been drinking. It prevents you from clotting and allows your blood to flow more freely. In theory, this is good for the heart and puts less strain on it. In fact Alcohol is a sugar and is broken down in the liver into a sugar which we all know Makes Us Fatter. Sugar causes all kinds of issues in the body not to mention its effects on the vascular system and its ability to cause inflammation. Inflammation is no bueno and something we will talk about later. Basically the short term benefits of alcohol thinning the blood is reversed by the sugar prematurely aging your blood vessels and harming your heart.
While alcohol is in the body, it prevents the liver from releasing its stores of sugar for the body to use as energy and may be why you get hungry when you drink. This is also why you may wake up early in the morning after drinking a little too much and not be able to sleep due to a racing heart or a feeling of restlessness. Your body just metabolized the last of the alcohol in your system and your liver just released its stores of sugar to the body for energy and surprise, you are awake!
Alcohol also disrupts your brains ability to get into deep restful sleep therefore robbing you of time the brain needs to regenerate and refresh.
So, on top of the alcohol making us fatter due to the sugar digestion and keeping us from sleeping, it is a toxic substance. I am a big fan of trusting the body and if you can think back to the first time you tried alcohol, lets look at hard liquor since it less likely people to enjoy the taste, was there a true enjoyment of the taste? The feeling of it burning all the way down the throat and into the belly and the after taste that makes you want to vomit? All of these feelings are your body telling you to abort! Your body knows that this is not good and as a result tries to tell you. As most of you have done, your brain takes over and beats the body into submission and more frequently than we would like to admit, our brain wins and we drink more than the body can handle. This usually results in the body revolting and vomitting. Never fun. Why do you think sugar is added to most alcohol drinks?
If its unavoidable you need to first look at your goals. If we are trying to lose weight, we want to stay away from excess sugar. The lower the alcohol % the drink the higher the sugar content. Something has to take up all the extra space in your glass if its not straight alcohol right? In wine and beer its the hops and grapes that supply the sugar. In tequila, its agave, in some vodkas its potatoes, others its wheat, in Rum its… well sugar cane. So the fact that you are focused on losing weight but still consuming beverages dominated by carbohydrates is a little silly don’t you think?
Once we have analyzed our goals and still decided that this toxic substance is going in our precious body then you want to choose something that will not further inflame your body, meaning something that does not contain gluten. That includes: Wine, tequila, Potato Vodka, Rum, and any other fru fru drink you may find with a base of these alcohols. I’m not saying these are good, i’m just saying they are less bad than say beer and whiskey.
So, while alcohol is fun in special occasions, it SHOULD NOT be used on a regular or daily basis. Things like Heart disease, fatty liver disease and obesity are sure to follow. Enjoy that last drink!!
Workout:
Clean Pull Under x3
Barbell Row x5
Followed by:
3 rounds
15 burpees
15 swings
Boo!!
The truth hurts boy…
Thank you for that depressing post Dutch!
Fantasy football draft is tonight. Mamas Pizza and Cold Beer!
my classmates don’t understand why i don’t drink. i get tired of explaining myself and then they still don’t get it. this sums it all up nicely and makes me feel like less of a freak show:)
Wish I had even a quarter of your will power. Very eye opening, but please, don’t tell Shae… There are days I NEED my vino!!!
If a burning sensation in the body followed by the desire to vomit are indicators of a toxic substance, then Crossfit must be toxic. It all finally makes sense. Well, I’ll drink to that.
Aaron,
You said it… I’m just agreeing with you.