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Summary
On episode 19 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan looks at the science behind one of the most common questions his clients ask: can alcohol fit into a health and fitness journey.
He walks through several studies on alcohol’s effect on muscle growth and on weight loss, and lands on a middle position: moderate drinking is not automatically disqualifying, but it does make continual weight loss harder and has to be managed deliberately.
His core argument is that health changes have to be sustainable, so instead of an all-or-nothing approach, he has clients treat alcohol calories the same way he has them treat sugar: track it, budget it, and average it across the week rather than banning it outright.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Chronic alcohol use lowers testosterone and raises cortisol, both bad for muscle. Two reviewed studies found regular, heavy drinking reduces testosterone and increases cortisol, which works against building or even maintaining muscle mass, a problem that gets harder with age.
- Moderate drinking does not appear to impair muscle growth. Studies on overload-induced hypertrophy found roughly one to two drinks a night, up to about seven a week, did not block the protein synthesis response to resistance training.
- Alcohol reduces restraint, which can trigger binge eating or drinking. Research on appetite and loss of restraint found that drastic, simultaneous changes, like heavy calorie restriction plus abstaining from alcohol, can push people into a binge cycle with either food or alcohol.
- Losing weight is correlated with a healthier lifestyle that includes drinking less. A study on lifestyle factors and successful weight loss found reduced alcohol intake tracked with better outcomes overall, but that does not mean zero alcohol is required for everyone.
- All-or-nothing resolutions fail because they are not sustainable. Allan argues that trying to quit everything at once (alcohol, sugar, adding daily exercise) sets people up to fail, and one slip becomes an excuse to abandon the whole plan.
- Treat alcohol calories exactly like sugar calories, and budget them. Allan caps sugar around 50 grams a day for most clients; a 160-calorie glass of wine converts to about 40 grams of sugar equivalent, so it can be planned into that same daily allowance.
- Average your intake across the week instead of judging day by day. If you are well under your sugar and alcohol budget most days, a heavier Friday night can still average out fine across seven days.
- Know yourself before choosing a strategy. If one drink reliably turns into six, cutting alcohol out entirely is the right call for that person, and pretending otherwise will sabotage results.
- This has to be a permanent lifestyle change, not a 10-week project. Allan warns that people who abstain temporarily and then revert afterward just end up back where they started, regaining the weight they lost.
“You can’t be an all or none type of health and fitness person.”
Coach Allan