It’s something I know many of us guys think about, especially if we’re in a college setting, have friends who regularly go out and we choose to tag along, or throw down a couple drinks later on to relax. Sure, it’s fun, but little by little all that drinking can catch up with you, from the inside out. Here are some quick facts about what alcohol does to us chemically, emotionally, and why it may be a better idea to be the DD on all those crazy ass nights out.
Alcohol makes most of us hungry -The very nature of why many people drink is to loosen up and to have a good time. With a good time and a liquid ‘high’, most people lose inhibition. That loss of inhibition can bring you into many situations, but with alcohol comes inhibition loss with food and appetite. All of a sudden you’re hungry as fuck, and that pizza you wouldn’t normally eat because of how strict and solid you’ve been with your diet becomes all the more appealing. Trust me, if you knew how many calories you threw back on those drinks you would think twice if you were completely sober.
Alcohol severely dehydrates -It’s one of the main factors for having the splitting headache the morning after a night of heavy drinking, along with a dry mouth and horrible breath. Staying hydrated at all waking hours in order to build muscle and remain healthy is crucial. Like stated in one of my other posts, we are over 70% water, and all that water moves nutrients through our blood and our bodies. Cut that water flow slow and your repairing muscle tissue doesn’t get what it really needs, pure and simple. Of course you can curb the sever dehydration from drinking by having a glass of water between alcoholic beverages, but rarely does anyone do that.
Alcohol affects your hormones-I will speak of the most important hormone for men in muscle building. Testosterone. Testosterone production has been found to be significantly decreased in men who have alcohol in their system, and especially those who consistently have it in their system. A weekend of drinking could affect your testosterone levels for the entire week following! In fact, alcohol actually promotes estrogen production. Estrogen gives women their womanly properties–titties, crazy attitudes (jk if certain people are reading). Men have estrogen in their bodies naturally, but in small insignificant levels, as women have small amount of testosterone. Once you drink it goes out of balance, and the pendulum of testosterone swings the other way, then very slooooowly returns to normal.
Alcohol Myopathy?-Studies have been conducted that shows a 33% loss in muscle due to drinking! That’s a scary statistic. Protein synthesis is the process that allows us to beat our asses up at the gym, then recover. So in lei mans terms, alcohol has potential to throw protein synthesis completely off kilter, eat up existing muscle, and prevent new muscle from being produced.
So sound like a few good enough reasons to make you think twice before running out to the club and dry humping the crap out of someone while pounding 5 dollar beers?
