Dive into the effects of consuming alcohol. How does it play a role in your fat loss, muscle gain, & growth development during your fitness journey. 

Drinking alcohol while trying to lose fat or gain lean mass can be a disruptive process. Let’s take a dive into why things like muscle gain, fat loss, weight loss, hydration levels, & sleep cycle can all begin to decline:

Ethanol in alcohol is technically a poison. It is a toxin. Even though your body can metabolize small amounts of ethanol, excessive consumption of alcohol will cause harmful effects. You simply overwhelm your liver. So why can ethanol consumption be so disruptive during our fitness & health journey? Ethanol is processed into acetaldehyde after consumption, which is a toxic compound. Acetaldehyde leads to cell damage & inflammation. Recently, our surgeon general talked about the direct links of alcohol consumption & the development of cancers. Other harmful effects include liver & brain disease, impairment, & a long list of other health risks. 

Though moderate consumption can be tolerated by most people, it’s important to recognize that ethanol is not inherently beneficial to the body.

Why might losing fat become more difficult when consuming alcohol? 

• Your metabolism will shift: Since alcohol is treated as a toxin within the body, which causes your liver to work on breaking it down as energy. This puts the process of fat oxidation to a halt. To put this in simple terms, the calories you consume from alcohol are burned, which leaves fat & carbohydrates to be stored. 

Research published in Current Obesity Reports (2015) shows that alcohol inhibits fat oxidation, which can contribute to increased fat storage over time.

• Impact on hormones: Cortisol levels (stress hormone) begin to rise. Cortisol stores fat & reduces testosterone, which essentially leads to a decline in muscle growth & fat metabolism. 
• Alcohol consumption reduces testosterone levels, a hormone critical for muscle maintenance and fat burning. It also increases cortisol, a stress hormone that promotes fat storage, particularly in the abdominal area.

A Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study found that alcohol suppresses testosterone production and increases cortisol levels, impairing metabolism and muscle preservation.

• Inherently in a surplus: Alcohol is empty calories. You are not consuming anything nutrient-dense, but you are consuming something that is calorie-dense. You are usually consuming alcohol with high calorie foods & sugary mixer combos. Simply put, you are most likely putting yourself in a surplus. You know how it goes when you drink. You are not going to have several drinks & go home to cook something super healthy. You usually settle for a meal of low nutrient value & high calories (or multiple meals).
• Impairing your judgment: This ties into what I was just talking about. With inhibition lowered, you are likely to make poor decisions in correlation to dietary choices. This will impede your fat loss journey. 

Gaining muscle can also be extremely challenging when consuming ethanol. Alcohol affects multiple key processes that are required for us to grow!

• Reduction in muscle protein synthesis: Your body needs protein synthesis in order to repair & build muscle tissue. Alcohol will slow the process of protein synthesis, & inhibit growth. 
• Hormone levels crash: Ethanol simply reduces testosterone levels. The increase in cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone, cause the breakdown of muscle. 
• Caloric displacement: Like I said above, alcohol provides empty calories. Nutrient dense foods are required for muscle growth. Excessive amounts of alcohol intake can lead to a replacement in nutrients in your diet, like protein which is clearly essential. 
• Dehydration: Workout performance will crash due to the dehydration impacting the body. Nutrient transport & energy levels become heavily impacted. 
• Sleep cycle crashes: Alcohol disrupts sleep quality, reducing the release of growth hormone, which is crucial for recovery and muscle development.

Research in Sleep Medicine Reviews suggests that alcohol significantly reduces sleep quality, increasing hunger and fat retention.

To put this into better perspective, obviously we could all benefit from completely eliminating alcohol consumption from our diet. But, consuming it in moderation or very limited amounts can help you stay on track with muscle-building goals, as well as fat loss goals. Stay on track with your fitness journey, do not let bad habits dictate your results. Moderate & watch yourself grow & develop!

Alcohol consumption can deter fat loss and muscle growth by disrupting key processes in the body. It halts fat burning as the liver prioritizes metabolizing alcohol over stored fat. Alcohol reduces protein synthesis, slowing muscle repair and growth. It lowers testosterone, increases cortisol, and dehydrates the body, impairing performance and recovery. Poor sleep from alcohol further hinders muscle development and fat loss.

Peer reviewed articles: 

Alcohol Consumption and Obesity: An Update

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4338356/?utm_

The association between alcohol intake and obesity in a sample of the Irish adult population, a cross-sectional study

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-16946-4?utm_

Effect of alcohol consumption on food energy intake: a systematic review and meta-analysis

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/effect-of-alcohol-consumption-on-food-energy-intake-a-systematic-review-and-metaanalysis/2F9AB5C64A86329EB9E817ADAEC3D88C?utm_

Association Between Alcohol Consumption and Ectopic Fat in the Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.030470?utm_

Abdominal obesity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominal_obesity?utm_

I do understand that this source is from Wikipedia, so take it as you please. There is some good information about alcohol consumption & it’s correlation to obesity.

Overweight or obesity worsens liver-damaging effects of alcohol

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/06/01/overweight-or-obesity-worsens-liver-damaging-effects-of-alcohol-.html

Alcohol and weight loss: What to know

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/alcohol-and-weight-loss

Exploring the links between unhealthy eating behaviour and heavy alcohol use in the social, emotional and cultural lives of young adults (aged 18–25): A qualitative research study

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666318313904

The relationship of alcohol use to weight loss in the context of behavioral weight loss treatment

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4768732/

Alcohol-related consequences among women who want to lose weight

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1471015305000577

Alcohol Ingestion Impairs Maximal Post-Exercise Rates of Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following a Single Bout of Concurrent Training

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0088384&utm_

Dysregulation of skeletal muscle protein metabolism by alcohol

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00006.2015?utm_

Alcohol consumption and hormonal alterations related to muscle hypertrophy: a review

https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-11-26?utm_

The Dark Side of Alcohol: Implications for Muscle Growth, mTOR Pathway, and Athletic Recovery

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384248136_The_Dark_Side_of_Alcohol_Implications_for_Muscle_Growth_mTOR_Pathway_and_Athletic_Recovery

Alcohol Consumption and Measures of Sarcopenic Muscle Risk: Cross-Sectional and Prospective Associations Within the UK Biobank Study

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00223-023-01081-4?utm_

The relationship between physical performance and alcohol consumption levels in Russian adults

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-51962-3?utm_

Moderate alcohol consumption does not impair overload-induced muscle hypertrophy and protein synthesis

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4393167/

The Effects of Alcohol Consumption on Recovery Following Resistance Exercise: A Systematic Review

https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5142/4/3/41

ALCOHOL AND MUSCLE GROWTH: HOW IT AFFECTS MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT

https://blog.nasm.org/does-alcohol-affect-muscle-growth

Association of the amount of alcohol consumption with change in skeletal muscle and fat mass among Korean adults

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0741832923002021

Alcohol Ingestion Impairs Maximal Post-Exercise Rates of Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following a Single Bout of Concurrent Training

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0088384