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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : January 11, 2015 8:28 PM IST
Alcohol is also classified as a class 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Cancer Research (ICAR) and is responsible for breast, colorectum, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity, and pharynx cancers.
I am not a regular party-goer but I do like to enjoy from time to time. I have noticed that whenever I have gone to parties after gymming, my confidence levels have been really high and I have enjoyed my drinks a lot. However, I don't know if I am doing more harm than good to my body by this and if I'll be able to reach my fitness goals?
Exercise does give you an endorphin rush which is what is making you feel confident. From a health perspective though, this may not be a wise thing to do. However, a lot depends on how much you drink.
According to strength coach and fitness trainer Arnav Sarkar, 'A drink or two consumed occasionally is not going to be much of a concern in terms of general health and well being. On the other hand if you are working on a specific goal like fat loss, etc then you might want to be even stricter.'
Several studies have shown how alcohol can negatively impact your weight training progress. In a study led by Patricia N. Prinz and published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, alcohol inhibits growth hormone thus making muscle building after exercise difficult.
Alcohol is also high in calories, and it'll be useful for you to know the calorie counts of your drinks if you are looking to lose weight. A 60 ml whiskey peg contains 130.3 calories, which is roughly equal to 2 small chapatis. For losing weight, you'll either need to burn this off by running a lot more than usual, or by cutting off things from your usual diet. That said, alcohol's effect on your weight loss regime isn't just restricted to it's high calorie content.
In this video, fitness trainer Scott Hermann says, 'Your body burns fat in two places - your liver and muscle tissue. Basically, what happens is that alcohol stops the function of your liver from metabolising the fat.'
Hermann also says that you should not eat a lot of food before drinking, as that food tends to get stored as fat.
Coming back to your question, as long as your drinking frequency is very low, it shouldn't have a massive impact on your regime.
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