Hi all! Let's talk about alcohol today. Many people already understand that alcohol has a bad effect on our muscles. What is there to say. After studying this issue, I did not change anything in my attitude to alcohol. I rarely use it anyway.

Well, I can drink 0.5 liters of beer every 3 weeks or even once a month. And despite the fact that it is now a hot summer, I didn’t drink beer more often. I didn’t drink wine for a very long time, about 3 months ago, I don’t drink vodka at all. In general, I am not profitable for the alcohol business.

And how are things going with you? How often do you drink alcohol and do you know if not everything, but at least the basic facts of how alcohol affects your muscles? I am sure that this article will help you to be aware of this issue, especially if you are concerned about progress in bodybuilding. Let's consider the main facts.

We will consider the main 2 types of alcohol harm to our muscles. This is harm to muscle relief and harm to mass.

Fat loss. One of the problems associated with alcohol consumption is obesity. How more people drinks, the more actively it is postponed excess fat in his body. This is due to the complex chemical reactions that occur in the body during the processing of alcohol. Especially if a person consumes vodka, then after a couple of glasses, the process of burning fat in the body decreases by more than 70% within about 9 hours. And for this, only 24 grams of alcohol is enough.

Once in the intestines, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, then enters the liver and that's where its primary processing begins. There is an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase. It is this enzyme that is responsible for the absorption and processing of alcohol in our liver. Alcohol turns into acetaldehyde and this substance is very toxic. There are also other enzymes that convert alcohol into water, energy and gas.

But all this is so hard on our body that the body forgets about burning fat for a while. It's like that very urgent and urgent matters have fallen on your head, which simply cannot be done, otherwise it will be worse later. And now you are forced to leave other important things for the sake of force majeure. The body cannot postpone the breakdown of alcohol until later, because it is a poison that needs to be neutralized urgently. Therefore, its processing becomes the goal number 1.

Meanwhile, excess fat accumulates in the body, because the process of burning it is temporarily inhibited. Do you need it? Especially if you are in this moment Strive for a relief and clearly defined forms of your muscles? But this is only one negative factor in the effect of alcohol on muscles. There are others.

Extra calories. Alcohol itself can be very high in calories. One gram of pure alcohol contains as many as 7 calories. And it's almost like fat. But carbohydrate, protein, and fat calories differ from alcohol calories in terms of digestibility. Alcohol calories immediately turn into fat. Add to this the sugar that is found in various sweet alcoholic beverages and you can generally go crazy about how high-calorie it all is.

I am already silent about the fact that alcohol increases appetite and you can simply “overeat”. And again the problem of extra calories.

Obesity in women. Beer and many other alcoholic beverages contain substances of plant origin, which are akin to phytoestrogens, female sex hormones. Therefore, those who love beer have a big belly. Fat is deposited according to the female type, primarily on the abdomen and hips.

Alcohol is the enemy of muscle mass

Now consider the effect of alcohol on muscles in terms of weight loss.

Fat loss. Yes, the masses also suffer from alcohol. And the same disturbed fat burning process is partly to blame for this. Since the body temporarily stops burning fat and taking energy from there, protein in our muscles serves as fuel. As a result, the muscle becomes poor in protein, weakens and loses its density. Over time, with the systematic intake of alcohol, the muscle loses in volume, so it becomes noticeable visually.

Deficiency of growth hormone, IGF-1 and testosterone. Yes, alcohol can create this deficit. When this poison enters the body, the production of these important hormones instantly slows down. Testosterone production drops by 25%.

And with growth hormone it's generally sad. Since this hormone is produced during sleep, and alcohol disrupts sleep rhythms, the production of somatotropin (growth hormone) can decrease by 70%. IGF-1 is an insulin-like growth factor that decreases by 40% within 2 days after drinking alcohol. Needless to say, the entire muscle mass of your body will suffer as a result.

Slowdown of protein synthesis and destruction of the existing one. Alcohol disrupts the formation of new protein structures by 20%. This happens under the influence of cortisol - the stress hormone, which is released in large quantities in the body when alcohol enters it.

In addition, alcohol destroys the pre-existing protein structures of your muscles that you worked so hard to build in the gym. In the video below, you can see how protein is broken down by pure alcohol:

Deficiency of vitamins and minerals. In particular, alcohol leads to a deficiency of calcium, zinc, iron, as well as vitamins A, C, B. And these vitamins play a key role in the process of muscle contraction and relaxation, as well as their recovery. All this negatively affects muscle mass.

Dehydration of body tissues. Alcohol dehydrates the body. The lack of water in the body slows down all metabolic processes, leads to an increased feeling of hunger, weakness is felt. Should I say more?

Decreased energy and stamina. This effect of drinking alcohol is due to the fact that alcohol depletes the glycogen stores in our liver, and glycogen is one of the main energy reserves for our workouts. Drank - tired. Tired - the training went off somehow, there is no result, there is no mass.

Other facts about alcohol

I think you will be interested to know something else about alcohol:

• If you drank a small amount of alcohol once, so that you felt slightly intoxicated, then this can be compared to missing one workout.
• If you drank so much that you became very drunk, then you will need at least 2 weeks to fully restore your muscles. At the same time, the indicators of power results will be noticeably lower.
• If you often drink alcohol, even beer and even in small quantities, then this will result in a stagnation of performance in 80% of bodybuilders and 100% of them will experience a decline in muscle volume.

Vodka in our body is processed at a rate of 10 grams. in hour. You can calculate for yourself how many hours your body needs to process the vodka you drink (unless, of course, you drink it)

As I said at the beginning of the article, the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme is responsible for the processing of alcohol in our liver. And it is noteworthy that scientists have noticed a different amount of this enzyme in the organisms of different nationalities. The southern peoples have more of this enzyme than the northern ones. Thus the Spaniards, Italians, French, Georgians, etc. much more protected from the harm of alcohol than Russians, Estonians, Norwegians, etc.

In short, the more south a person is, the more protective enzyme “alcohol dehydrogenase” is in his body, and therefore alcohol is broken down and absorbed faster, and the less harm to the body. And it is generally harmful for northern people to drink, because their level of protective enzyme is almost at zero. That's why the Russians get drunk faster than the French or Italians, although those guys whip as much as ours.

We have already talked enough about the effect of alcohol on muscles. If you are interested, you can learn more about alcohol. You can read articles or watch videos about how alcohol affects all body systems. You can learn more about this in the video below. I strongly recommend watching from beginning to end if you have not listened to this professor and the facts that he gives regarding alcohol:

How to reduce the harm from alcohol?

If you are not a professional bodybuilder who competes, then you are unlikely to adhere to a strict alcohol diet and 100% abstain from alcohol. Sometimes you can afford a small amount of quality alcohol. Best of all - a glass of good, natural wine. 1-2 times a month is possible, but not much and not more often.

You can also follow the following alcohol harm reduction tips if you plan to drink alcohol:

• after a dose of alcohol - have a good snack. Better let it be poultry, cheese, meat. Something protein;
• at night also eat something protein;
• for breakfast, too, something protein, rich in calcium, iron and phosphorus;
• drink plenty of water before and after drinking alcohol to avoid dehydration;
• drink mineral water or orange juice in the morning;
• do not train for the next 2-3 days;
• you can “refuel” with vitamin C. About 500 mg. at once.

And it's better not to drink at all, colleagues. I think you appreciated all the harm that alcohol has on muscles even just by reading this article. I do not advise you to experience all these harmful consequences for yourself. What for? I advise you to also read the article about. You will also learn a lot of unexpected and informative.

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Hi guys! Vadim is with you with a very interesting article, which will be devoted to the effect of alcohol on human growth. Sure, 9 wanting to grow from 10 to New Year face a difficult choice: drink alcohol and give up on all sorts of methods to increase growth for a couple of weeks or not drink. In general, now I’ll tell you why I don’t drink myself and what effects alcohol has on us.

Here I will tell all sorts of things that may not be clear to you, but still I will try to make you understand me. Those who are in the subject are interested in increasing growth and the factors that slow down this process, I think they will figure it out, but beginners will need to strain their brains. Get down to business!

Topics for today's article:

In a child, the growth and physical parameters of the body are to a greater extent laid down by men in the male line in the family and to a lesser extent by men in the female line. This is as far as I can understand from reading various sources. This concept is confirmed by practice. Here is some information that I managed to find out about my family.

In my father's line, all great-great-grandfathers were quite tall - over 180 cm. They even say that there was one great-great-grandfather, whose height reached 190 cm. My grandfather was the shortest man I knew along this line. About 165 cm. Without going into details, the following scheme is obtained: 180 (great-great-grandfathers) - 170 - 165 - 170 - 174 (my height). With men on the maternal side, a similar picture is observed, only there growth starts from 175 and now 160.

Naturally, the figures are approximate and adjusted for a decrease in growth with age. What do these 2 schemes have in common? Starting with my great-grandfathers, all relatives on both lines drank alcohol all their lives. Moreover, many lived in villages, and there is still a problem with drunkenness. Someone drank heavily, someone “culturally”, but there were no sober ones. Even now, not a single big holiday is complete without the "cultural" destruction of a box of vodka to the song "about me and my horse."

Unfortunately, no one knows what happened a long time ago, but my grandmother told me that her grandfather definitely didn’t drink anything stronger than berry kvass. By strength, this drink is 1-2%. In those days, the peasants considered it a sin to drink just like that, so they did it mainly on some holidays and very little. So my great-great-grandfathers were the most sober in the family and the tallest.

My father also did not follow the path of drunkenness. Only in his youth he sometimes drank weak alcohol, but quickly quit because he had health problems, and when he recovered, he no longer used it. He stopped drinking about 10 years before I was born. It seems that dad suspected that his own health was not badly undermined from his parents' drunkenness, but he did not want to talk about it directly. Only occasionally hinted that alcohol and health are incompatible things. He was the only person who stood up for me as a child at feasts like New Year's, when all the relatives strove to pour champagne into my mouth. As if this is some kind of water and nothing will come of it for a 10-year-old child. By the way, my father outgrew his father by about 5 cm.

Concluding this story about my family, I will tell about myself. I have drunk alcohol 3 times in my life. The first time was at the age of 14 at my friend's birthday, after which I was terribly ill for several days. When I recovered, the desire to drink disappeared for a long time. The second and third time I drank alcohol at the age of 19, when I graduated from the Lyceum (I wrote a story about one case). Each time he departed for a long time and hard, so I decided in the end that what for such happiness. And since then I have not drunk anything stronger than tea. Coincidence or not, at the moment I also outgrew my father by about 5 cm.

This was a short introduction, with which I just wanted to show the history of alcohol in my family, its possible impact on the growth of my relatives and on my height. Of course, there were plenty of factors for the deterioration of health and growth during this time, in addition to alcohol - the same wars and other problems. Now we will look at how alcohol affects human development. Perhaps you, like me, will understand that he was one of the key factors.

The benefits of alcohol

There are so many different points of view on the Internet proving the benefits of alcohol that it is impossible to count. About "cultural drinking" even more. I always try to listen to the opinions of various specialists, to different points of view, but rely on the natural laws of nature. If any theory goes against the laws of nature, then it would be foolish to refute the laws of nature because of this.

In my opinion, the theory of the benefits of alcohol runs counter to common sense unambiguously. With nature in general, too, because from the point of view of nature, ethyl alcohol (we will not consider other alcohols here, since there is definitely no benefit from their ingestion) is a substance that leads to poisoning of a healthy organism of any mammal if it is ingested. Weak or strong - depends on the amount and degree of alcohol consumed. Poisoning leads to waste of vitality, disease and premature death. I doubt that nature wants us to drink and poison all our lives. It would be strange. Okay, let's start in order and consider what types of alcohol are.

Types of alcohol

When I said that I only drank alcohol 3 times, I exaggerated. Because ethyl alcohol is found in many overripe and also very sweet fruits that I have accidentally or deliberately tasted. For example, a slightly overripe mango or durian (here even the name speaks for itself) is intoxicating in the literal sense. These products also contain alcohol. But an important clarification needs to be made.

Here you can draw an analogy by comparing the natural sugar in fruits and concentrated refined sugar (ordinary granulated sugar, artificially created by man). I have already partially compared these products in the article, but I will repeat. Fruits do contain a lot of sugar, but they also contain substances that help absorb this sugar, such as vitamin B1, fiber, and so on. Thus, although the glycemic index of sweet fruits may be high, the glycemic load from them is small, so insulin is not released suddenly and in excessive amounts. The chance of getting a disease like diabetes by eating even exceptionally sweet whole fruits is really very small. What can not be said when it comes to refined sugar. Products with it will 100% lead to a jump in insulin, since this sugar does not contain any auxiliary substances for absorption. If you eat concentrated sugar (and even absorb fats mercilessly), then problems will appear very quickly. A similar result will be if you squeeze the juice from a whole sweet fruit.

Different sugar triggers different processes. Have we learned to deceive nature by isolating sugar and eating it? Hardly, given how many diseases modern people get only thanks to him. It's just a good preservative. Now back to alcohol. He, too, is different. It can be conditionally divided into natural ethyl alcohol, which occurs in nature in its entirety - up to 15 degrees - and concentrated, invented by man - up to 96 degrees. Let's start with natural.

natural alcohol

In big Medical Encyclopedia It is written that alcohol is rarely found in free form in nature. I repeat, in some vegetable fruits, especially overripe ones, there are alkaloids. Mostly due to fermentation. Also in the bodies of animals, in some plants, and so on. But the strength of such alcohol and its amount there are ten times less than what people are used to drinking. However, for example, for animals that eat fruits with alcohol, this is quite enough to get drunk. Watch a video about it below.

Predators in those parts, probably, do not know the problems of hunger =).

Why do they do it? To have some fun? Somewhat differently. In fact, it is very difficult to find a wild animal that does anything for fun. They have powerful instincts and senses. In overripe, organic fruits, under certain conditions, self-digestion is triggered. They are full of enzymes. Animals subconsciously understand this. Eating such fruits, they do not spend energy on their digestion and at the same time receive a lot of strength. Also, if you read the composition of the marupa fruits discussed in the video, you will understand that they are very useful and have a lot of medicinal properties.

Nature is an amazing thing and takes care of each of its creations. For each creature, she creates her own ideal product, and to the one for whom it is intended, she gives receptors to recognize this product among others. The alcohol in the fermented fruit attracts the animal's receptors and acts like a drug so that the animal always eats the food that suits it best. But not for the sake of alcohol or fun, they eat them, as many people think. It's a matter of survival.

Does this alcohol harm animals? Basically not, because due to other substances in the whole product, it is absorbed by the body and participates in metabolism. Plus, sugar in fruits slows down the absorption of alcohol from the stomach into the blood. Another thing is that in this state it is unlikely to be able to escape from a predator, but that's another story. As I said, nature takes care of everyone and predators too.

True, I highly doubt that every animal that ate the fruit got as drunk as it was shown in the video. Most likely, there were also other factors, and if you study the state of the organisms of those animals and their life before that, then there will be a reasonable explanation for everything. Perhaps they just didn’t eat for a long time (and hunger, you know, enhances the effect of alcohol) or something else, but in any case, from alcohol in this form more benefit than harm.

concentrated alcohol

The man went further and decided to make alcohol himself. So it turned out alcohol in a concentrated form, on which our ancestors assigned great expectations, including in medicine. But “it turned out as always” and people quickly got hooked on it, starting to drink with or without reason, like a drink.

Most likely, a wild animal will not voluntarily drink concentrated alcohol (and a person too). But domesticated animals, whose owners managed to once pour vodka into their pets' mouths, can easily drink it from a bowl and demand more. By the way, it is interesting that both animals and even plants quickly get addicted to concentrated alcohol. Literally from the first time, they have no concept of measure at all. They drink to the last, until they die. Just like that mouse that was given the "pleasure" button.

The person is more fortunate. First, his body can process more alcohol. Secondly, at some point he can understand with his mind that if he does not stop, then everything will end badly. And stop. But no matter what they say about the high development of man in comparison with animals, at the level of the physical body he almost does not differ from animals, and at the molecular level he is similar to many animals and even plants. And alcohol exerts its main influence precisely at the molecular level. Therefore, there is a rather high probability that when the neurons of a drinking person are completely destroyed by alcohol, the concept of the norm will also disappear, and the person will drink until he dies. I think you yourself know alcoholics or smokers who cannot live without their habit for a day, no matter how they are convinced, although they are already one foot in the grave.

So, we decided that there is natural alcohol and concentrated. Concentrated alcohol is much more difficult to digest, and poisons the body more, as it has a high degree and does not contain any additional enzymes. In nature, alcohol has a specific function and is rarely used just for fun. It's time to move on to concrete influences on a person. Naturally, it will not be possible to cover all the points within the framework of this article, so I will give the Top 3, which I consider the most significant - the effect on calcium, the death of nerve cells, dopamine addiction. First in line is calcium. Further, we will talk about concentrated alcohol, which includes alcohol-containing products created by man, since they are usually consumed.

Does alcohol leach out calcium?

Calcium is the main material that forms bones. It acts like a glue (calcium is translated from Latin as "lime", and lime, as we know, is used as the main binder of cement). Once in the body, it attracts a lot of things. And in general, this is the main mineral, no matter how you look. Not only because it is the most in the body, but also because it ensures that the pH of the body (acid-base balance) is always normal. It did not shift towards acidification or re-alkalinization. If a pH shift occurs, the person is in trouble. Let's dwell on this in more detail.

Our body mostly consists of alkaline environments, and only in the stomach is the environment weakly acidic. Calcium is the main mineral that is able to alkalize the environment inside the body. When there is a threat of acidity, the body takes calcium and sends it to the area of ​​the body where acidity begins to rise.

Alcohol is a powerful acidifier. because of small size of its molecules, it quickly enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body, creating an acidic environment everywhere. At the same time, the calcium content in it is exactly 0%, so where will the body take calcium to neutralize acidity? From bones. Other minerals follow calcium from the bones into the blood. Cramps and weakness in the next few days or weeks after drinking alcohol is an indicator that the body has lost a lot of nutrients.

So the first thing to keep in mind is alcohol flushes calcium out of the body(like other minerals, vitamins) to neutralize its own strong acidifying effect. Reduces bone mass. In childhood and adolescence, this is a kapets how it can go sideways. But the main thing is not even that bone mass will become smaller, and that it is extremely difficult to restore it. Calcium is absorbed from the outside very difficult, and consumed very easily.

By consuming such powerful acidifiers as alcohol, a growing organism is highly likely to have an acute calcium deficiency, which will cause developmental delays on all fronts, from hormones to bones.

Death of nerve cells

When alcohol enters the human body, it leads to poisoning, dehydration and starvation of nerve cells (neurons). Let's consider these points separately.

It is not alcohol itself that leads to poisoning, but decay products - let's call them toxins, which, during the neutralization of alcohol, are formed in the liver and carried through the blood. Naturally, they have nothing to do in the blood, so the defense system then catches them, destroys them and removes them through the excretory systems. Until this happens, toxins disrupt the nutrition of neurons, killing them. Now a few words about dehydration, and then we will return to the starvation of neurons, because this deserves special attention.

Dehydration occurs because most of the resulting toxins can only be broken down by water molecules. Since water, like almost our entire body, has a negative charge, and toxins are positive, they are perfectly attracted. Slowly but surely, toxins dissolve and are removed, and a person at the same time wants water all the time.

Now neurons. Alcohol is a powerful fat dissolver. It destroys the fatty membranes of erythrocytes - cells responsible for providing neurons with oxygen, nutrients and utilizing their waste products. When red blood cells stick together, they cannot perform their functions. If a neuron does not receive oxygen for more than 20 minutes, it dies.

There is information on the net that 7-8 thousand neurons die only in the brain from 100 grams of vodka. This figure is called by V.G. Zhdanov in his lectures, referring to American scientists, in particular Dr. Melvin H. Nicely, and it was smashed all over the Internet. Everything would be fine, but no one gives a link to the research. I searched a little on the net for the work of Dr. Nicely and his colleagues, I found some studies regarding the killing of a large number of brain neurons from alcohol, but there is no specific number indicated there either. Howbeit, neurons from alcohol die in large numbers. How much specifically? While the question is open (if someone knows the links to studies, please send them in the comments below), but, most likely, no stress kills as much as alcohol does.

What causes the death of nerve cells in a growing organism? The electrical activity of the brain changes, the transmission of nerve impulses between cells worsens, the recovery time after physical activity lengthens, and so on. As a result, the results from training in growth techniques for the next few days, weeks or months after drinking alcohol will be weak. Concentration on goals and work with self-hypnosis also worsens.

Worse, human neurons are rarely created and updated. They may not be updated at all during their lifetime. That is, their production in large quantities after each "cultural-alcoholic" feast is not provided. This means that with each new drop of neurons drunk, it only gets smaller, and the ability of the brain to control the body only gets worse. Add here oxygen-depleted air, stress, malnutrition, unwillingness to move your brain and other factors that destroy neurons, and you get a crippled nervous system that interferes with any development.

dopamine addiction

Wikipedia writes that in 1975 the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized alcohol as a drug. Later, WHO published a list of the most dangerous drugs in the world, in which alcohol took 5th place. In their report, they explained it as dangerous the influence of alcohol on the genome man and his offspring. About the man himself, it seems to be clear, but as for his offspring, then there is such a topic.

Alcohol toxins can penetrate the female egg and disrupt its structure. The cell in this case either dies or remains damaged. In the second case, active biochemical processes are disturbed inside it, which should take place there until fertilization. In fact, the damaged cell lives, but degrades. Eggs, let me remind you, women have a limited supply. The more alcohol, the more damaged eggs and the greater the chance that one of them will be fertilized, causing diseased offspring.

For men, the situation is no better. Despite the fact that many people think that spermatozoa can be renewed and there will be no problems, in reality it is necessary to keep in mind the cells from which spermatozoa are formed. For example, Sertoli and Leydig cells are involved in spermatogenesis. They are also damaged by alcohol and are found in a man's body in limited quantities. Like eggs, if these cells are updated, then either extremely rarely or never. And their damage leads to weak testosterone production, sick offspring and, as an option, to infertility.

This is the reason why I believe that my great-grandfather, grandfather, father and I ended up being lower than our older relatives. Considering how my relatives drink alcohol from generation to generation, I see nothing surprising.

On the mother's side of relatives who live in Belarus, men's growth has decreased from 175 to 160. Meanwhile, Belarus is currently the most drinking country in the world. The situation had not been much better for the previous 100 years. Recently I saw a report in some of their local newspapers, which said that the average height for men over the past 10 years has increased by 4 cm - from 170 to 174, for women by 2 cm - from 163 to 165. Who measured it , I still don’t understand, but I admit that this is how it is in cities, given that there are also a lot of visitors there. And in the end, not everyone drinks there and not everything depends on alcohol. But if you drive through the countryside, where the indigenous population lives, which for the most part has been drinking for more than the first generation, then I assure you, a height of 170 is real high growth for them. I go there several times a year and see mostly growth in men 160-165, in women 150-155. I'm not stating anything, I'm just stating fact. You can see for yourself if you go there.

Let's get back to the topic. The narcotic effect of alcohol is explained by the same dopamine - the pleasure hormone that I mentioned (I recommend reading it to understand what it is about).

The journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research published a study that shows that when it enters the bloodstream, alcohol stimulates the production of huge doses of dopamine. For the first time, this happens because the body is under severe stress (when the nervous system is destroyed by the decay products of alcohol, in order to calm it down, “pleasure hormones” are released in large quantities). Plus, if a person experiences a pleasant anticipation or a strong desire to try alcohol for the first time, then even more dopamine is released. In subsequent times, they get addicted to receiving large doses of dopamine and, accordingly, to the source of these doses - alcohol.

It's exactly the way it is with sex, food, and other legal drugs. But if eating or having sex has a positive rebound effect, then drinking alcohol, which provides neither calories nor satisfaction, does not. He just spends vitality person without giving anything in return. Therefore, for the next few days, weeks, months, a person has depression and a bad mood.

Dopamine addiction is a dangerous thing. I have already spoken about this more than once. It is much easier to avoid habits that burn out dopamine receptors than to try to get rid of them later. In the case of alcohol, the danger is even greater, because alcohol destroys those areas in the brain that are responsible for the assimilation of new information. In advanced cases, it is almost impossible to overcome addiction alone. This is the perfect drug that has secured itself from all sides.

Unfortunately, many people drink, they know that it is harmful, but they cannot physically quit. These are ordinary people who drink on holidays, and not those who lie under fences. But even they are physically broken without alcohol. My uncle, for example, after all the operations and lectures with the doctors who operated on him, who said that the cause of his illness was alcohol, could not get off this needle. The same thing happened with my grandfather, who, by the way, ran 10 km in his 70s almost every day. What I mean is that his willpower was extraordinary, but it means nothing when it comes to dopamine. Yes, in the same Russia, if you look, the willpower of people is huge (it’s not just that they survived so many wars), but they drink mercilessly.

How to opt out

What should a person who wants to remove alcohol from his life do?

1. Understand the principle of the hormonal mechanism and try to manage it, gradually replacing bad habits with good ones that would stimulate the release of “pleasure hormones” no less than alcohol. It can be sports, work, loved one, family and so on.

2. Engage in self-education. Firstly, find lectures by V. A. Fakhreev on YouTube, which are called “Lessons of sobriety”. There are 5 parts in total, about an hour each. Second, read Allen Carr's book " easy way quit drinking." Sober quickly and 100%. The main thing is to take a notebook and write down all the facts there, then the effect of these materials will be many times stronger. The facts about alcohol should be fixed in the head and be a support. When a person understands the perniciousness of an activity, then his brain is less likely to react to this activity by releasing “pleasure hormones” and waiting with pleasant anticipation.

3. Be prepared for resistance from the environment. Most people don't like change. Neither their own, nor others. Therefore, many friends who were in fact only drinking buddies may turn away.

4. Understand why it is necessary. If a person's values ​​lie in a horizontal plane - booze, sex, food - then it will be difficult to give up alcohol. If the values ​​that develop the personality prevail, do not allow to degrade, then everything is ok.

5. Just do it.

Outcome

This concludes today's article, what is the result? Have we learned to deceive nature by isolating alcohol from fruits or by creating it ourselves? Alcohol is attractive, because in nature, a person would receive useful substances along with it. As in the case of sugar, when we began to consume it separately from the source, this brought another problem, from which 3 million people die every year in the world, of which half a million are in Russia. In addition, it is not the first generation with undermined genetics and health. Alcohol was very useful for medicine, but hardly in the life of a healthy person.

Undesirable effects on growth and development are especially noticeable if alcohol is consumed from early adolescence, when there is an active growth of the body. There are studies showing that children who drink alcohol from the age of 12-14 and earlier grow worse. I didn’t write about it today, but if you are interested, search the Internet for information about the effects of alcohol on children and adolescents. This influence is many times greater than for adults.

The period of active growth is the only time when natural hormones are released in large quantities and all mechanisms are aimed at growth. Growth processes can be disrupted very quickly. It is better to engage in growth techniques, think about goals and not interfere with your body to develop. It is clear that alcohol is just one of the inhibitory factors, but practice shows that it is often decisive. As usual, I warn you, the choice is yours!

In conclusion, watch a cool video, which, in my opinion, very well reflects the position regarding alcohol, which I also adhere to. A video from one of my YouTube channels where I try to remember my English and translate the video. Since the topic with the article, I decided to add.

That's all! See you in the last article of this year, in which I will summarize (subscribe so as not to miss). Bye everyone!!

p.s. Check out the updated Yarastu Support ru - link . In the Knowledge Base section there are many of the frequently asked questions on the topic of increasing height and the answers to them. In the same place, specific analyzes of height increase programs from the guys who turn to us for advice will soon be added. You'll like it!

Sincerely, Vadim Dmitriev

The systematic intake of alcoholic beverages reduces the volume muscle mass, increases the amount of fat in muscle tissues, thins muscle fibers. Alcohol is a strong toxin, the processing of which the body spends a lot of time and effort, which it draws from the energy accumulated in the muscles. Alcoholic drinks have a destructive and weakening effect on muscle tone.

Loss of muscle mass from alcohol

When answering the question of how alcohol affects muscles, it is important to understand that ethanol, entering the bloodstream, creates emergency conditions for the body. A sharply acidic environment is created in the stomach, which destroys the mucous membranes and subsequently muscle tissue.

After the liver is included in the processing of elements containing ethanol, dehydrogenase is produced - an enzyme that breaks down ethanol. All vital processes in the body are suspended due to a more serious danger. The level of hemoglobin in the blood decreases, which negatively affects the stable increase muscle tone.

With regular use of alcohol, the volume of adipose tissue increases, and the amount of protein in the muscles decreases sharply. The volume of muscle mass falls, while the total body weight increases.

Distortion of muscle relief

To remove alcohol from the body, a large amount of water is needed. If it is not enough, then the body draws it as much as possible from its reserves - primarily from muscle tissue. There is a drying process. So alcohol affects the growth of muscles and their relief. It is visually seen that the biceps seem to be dried.

Muscle wasting affects appearance

Beer contains hops and malt, which stimulate the production of estrogens and progesterone - female sex hormones. With its excessive use, over time, the relief of the muscles and the figure becomes similar to a woman's: the hips blur, the stomach grows, the muscles become loose. The line of the press swims, the triceps flabby and sags. Muscles lose strength and endurance.

Alcohol has a dehydrating effect on all systems and organs. Protein structures become fragile, which is fraught with sprains, torn ligaments, metabolic disorders in muscles.

Facts about alcohol and muscles

There are medical statistics that clearly demonstrate the interaction between alcohol and muscles:

• One gram of alcohol contains up to 10 calories.
• With regular use of alcoholic beverages (at the rate of 50 grams of pure alcohol per day), testosterone production drops by 30%.
• The production of growth hormone is reduced by 60%.
• Protein degradation in muscle is increased by 25%.
• There is a deficiency of most vitamins, amino acids, minerals and trace elements.
• After drinking 50 grams of alcohol, the body needs up to three weeks to completely eliminate the consequences.

From these data it is clear that alcohol adversely affects the entire body. Muscle tissue is the most valuable resource from which it is easiest to draw energy. Alcohol adversely affects muscle growth. It destroys the liver, undermines the work of the kidneys, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and adversely affects the digestive system.

During the deep sleep phase, the body cannot fully relax after drinking alcohol. This leads to a delay in energy exchange between cells, especially in the muscular apparatus. A person is unable to qualitatively rest and recuperate. Uncontrolled intake of alcoholic beverages has an extremely negative effect on the whole body, including the growth of muscle tissue.

Article by MrTitov

http://img..jpg booze in any quantity and in any form has a negative effect on muscle growth and strength indicators. The kid should always remember this!

Drank 50 grams of forty degrees or a bottle of beer? Light drunkenness is tantamount to skipping one workout.

Drunk in saliva? Consider missing a week of training! Wow, huh!?

Filling yourself with a bottle of beer at least once every two days, you expose yourself to a decrease in muscle growth.

Beer is rubbish.
Drink ryag!

1. Alcohol inhibits muscle protein synthesis

Protein synthesis is the process of recombining amino acids in a specific sequence. Alcohol consumption in moderation slows down this process by about 20%, due to the release of the catabolic hormone cortisol.

A study was conducted in which 8 healthy men were tested after moderate drinking. Scientists have found a significant decrease in testosterone levels and an increase in cortisol levels during the day after drinking alcohol.

2. Alcohol lowers growth hormone levels

In another study, alcohol was shown to inhibit muscle growth by suppressing the secretion of insulin-like growth factor GF-I and growth hormone. Their level decreases over the next 2 days by an average of 70%

3. Alcohol lowers testosterone and raises estrogen

This process occurs for several reasons. First, the amount of proteins that bind testosterone increases. Secondly, the conversion of testosterone to estrogen is accelerated. Thirdly, some alcoholic beverages (mainly beer) contain estrogen-like substances. Fourth, alcohol and its metabolites are capable of stimulating estrogen receptors themselves. It is for this reason that many alcoholics can notice signs of gynecomastia.

4. Alcohol causes dehydration

The metabolism of alcohol is accompanied by an intense secretion of fluid by the kidneys, which leads to dehydration. At the same time, it is known that water plays an important role in building muscles, and with its lack, muscle growth stops, and in severe cases muscle breakdown begins. Even drinks with a low alcohol content (4%) can damage muscles and slow down recovery due to dehydration.

5. Alcohol Consumption Depletes Vitamins and Minerals

When drinking alcohol, there is a deficiency of vitamin A, C, almost all B vitamins, calcium, zinc and phosphates. These vitamins and minerals play an important role in bodybuilding as they are all required for muscle building and endogenous anabolic hormone synthesis.
6. Fat formation

Alcohol is a high-calorie compound, 1 g contains 7 calories, which is more than protein and carbohydrates. In addition, alcohol disrupts the function of the Krebs cycle, which plays an important role in the breakdown of fats. An American Journal of Clinical Research study found that 24 grams of alcohol can reduce fat oxidation by 73%. Thus, most of the energy of alcohol will be transferred to fats. Another reason for increased fat formation is increased appetite under the influence of alcohol.

7. Sleep disturbance

Alcohol consumption causes sleep disturbance, disrupting the sequence of fast and slow sleep phases, as a result of which the restorative effect of sleep on muscles is reduced.

Reducing the harmful effects of alcohol on muscles

1. Do not exercise for 2 days after drinking alcohol. If you train the day after drinking alcohol, your muscles will be damaged much more, while at the same time you will not get the growth-stimulating effect of training.

2. Do not consume alcohol for 1-2 days after training, otherwise the training can be considered in vain.

3. Always use a snack. Give preference to protein foods (meat, fish, cheese, etc.). This reduces the catabolic effect of alcohol.

4. Drink more liquid mineral water) the next day for rehydration purposes.

5. Take the next day, in the morning, 500 mg of ascorbic acid, and 3 tablets of succinic acid, to suppress oxidative processes.

6. Cysteine ​​has been shown to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol on muscles.
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Rhetorical question. Why the hell to thump at all?

The use of strong drinks, unfortunately, is considered the norm in modern society. Talk about the prerequisites for this phenomenon, its social significance and the impact of alcohol on the moral character of the individual and society, we will not be in this article. But let's try to consider a number of other issues that are important for those who lead healthy lifestyle lives, plays sports at an amateur or professional level. We will talk about how alcohol affects muscles and sports, is it possible to drink alcohol after a workout and how long after a workout can you drink alcohol?


What you need to know about the effect of alcohol?

The active ingredient in any alcoholic drink is ethanol - ethyl alcohol. The intoxicating effects of various alcoholic beverages are associated with its ingestion into the human body. Stronger drinks contain high concentrations of ethanol (40-70%), less strong drinks, such as wine and beer, contain smaller doses (4.5-12%).

Emotional coloring of the state of intoxication

Probably, every adult who has ever taken a sip of alcohol knows that the more “concentrated” the drink is, the faster the effect of intoxication sets in. By the way, about the effects. A person uses alcohol in completely different life situations and it affects everyone in his own way. Someone’s mood immediately improves and he has fun, while someone is overcome by inexplicable sadness. There are also those who become overly aggressive, exhibit antisocial behavior. Obviously, the emotional coloring of human behavior does not depend on the intake of alcohol. After all, it is completely different. Alcohol only frees consciousness from the framework and often the true "I" comes out.




Feeling worse

But, in addition to not always acceptable emotional coloring, the state of alcoholic intoxication has many physiological moments that do not have the best effect on the general condition of the body. This is a deterioration in coordination of movements, weakness, lethargy, loss of control over speech and one's own actions. The effects listed above are not accidental, because ethanol is a poison with a cellular mechanism of action. It is most toxic to the liver - it is this organ that is responsible for the metabolism of ethanol, that is, for its "processing" into products that can be excreted from the body.

Influence on the work of internal organs

What are the risks of drinking alcohol for athletes? Everything is quite logical and simple - alcohol significantly affects the liver, which in athletes is already overloaded with work due to constant physical activity and specific nutrition. Let's take a closer look at this point:

• The liver of a person who regularly performs certain loads and consumes slightly higher dosages of protein compared to a simple layman, and so works "by the sweat of his brow." The fact is that during the breakdown of proteins, the amount of nitrogenous products in the body increases and the liver must “send” the right amount of them to the synthesis of amino acids, and process everything superfluous and make it available for excretion.
• The same vital internal organ is involved in the metabolism of fatty acids - it is fats that make up the cell membranes of the body, the human nervous system and steroid hormones, which include sex hormones.
• Let's not forget about the metabolism of glucose - the main source of energy for the brain and muscle contractions. It also flows in the liver. As you can see, she has a lot of tasks. And the liver of an athlete (no matter what direction) has twice as many of these tasks - after all, any practitioner sets himself, first of all, the task of synthesizing new body tissues.

Now imagine that instead of performing the above functions, your liver must urgently detoxify alcohol. She will do this according to the principle of priority: when a poison enters the body, the task of the liver is to “neutralize” it as soon as possible. And for this, again, energy and nutrients are needed, in general, everything that could be used for the notorious synthesis. In a word, one conclusion suggests itself: alcohol and training are extremely incompatible things.




At the beginning of the article, we looked at the general outline of how alcohol affects training and why it reduces athletic performance. Now let's talk in more detail about how alcohol affects muscles.

We have already mentioned the energy required to render alcohol harmless to the liver. This energy in the human body is represented by molecules of ATP-adenosine triphosphate - a universal compound, during the breakdown of which this same energy is released. So, in order for your muscles to contract, you need the same ATP. Accordingly, the functional characteristics of the muscles when drinking alcohol are reduced simply because there is not enough “fuel”. Muscle growth also suffers with ethanol consumption - protein synthesis is a very energy-intensive process that requires a lot of energy. But not only that! We list the four main conditions for muscle growth (according to Professor V.N. Seluyanov):

• pool of free amino acids in the cell;
• the presence of hydrogen ions in muscle fiber;
• the presence of anabolic hormones in the blood;
• the presence of free creatine in the muscle fiber.

The presence of free creatine

Let's start with the last item on our list - free creatine. Creatine is a high-energy compound synthesized in the liver from 3 amino acids: arginine, glycine and. The result is a funny paradox: when drinking alcohol, the body does not have enough energy to synthesize the energy-intensive substance necessary for building muscles. Moreover, the listed amino acids are non-essential, which means they can be synthesized on their own. But the problem is that they are all synthesized in the same liver, and it, again, is busy neutralizing ethanol, and all its resources are spent on this.

Anabolic hormones

As for the presence of hormones in the blood, in order to begin to act, they must enter the cell. And here, as an obstacle for them, the product of alcohol metabolism appears - acetaldehyde (how exactly it is obtained will be discussed below). This compound can freely pass into the cells of the body, disrupting the throughput of cell membranes. In other words, if acetaldehyde enters the cell, it will be difficult for anything else to get there, including anabolic hormones. This means that even if you introduce anabolic agents from the outside, you will not get a 100% positive result from them. That is, in the case of the simultaneous use of anabolic hormones and alcohol, most of the hormones will leave your body unchanged. In a word, both money and efforts will be thrown to the wind.

Hydrogen ions in muscle fiber

There should be a lot of hydrogen ions in the muscle fiber, but at the same time, they should be present there for a very limited time. Why, now we will explain.

Hydrogen ions improve the permeability of the cell membrane, that is, they contribute to a better entry of anabolic agents (amino acids and hormones) into the cell. They also facilitate the access of hormones to the hereditary information of the cell, thereby triggering protein synthesis in the muscles. Moreover, this happens due to the so-called "limited destruction" of the cell. And here we can see the negative side of a strong acidification of the cell (that is, the accumulation of a large number of hydrogen ions) - these very destructions may turn out to be excessive. For this reason, hydrogen ions must be removed from the cell as soon as possible.

For this purpose, there is a lactate ion - when combined with hydrogen, it turns into lactic acid, since the cell membrane is permeable for this compound. In a word, hydrogen ions can leave the muscle cell in the form of lactic acid. But what happens if you took alcohol before your workout? The answer to this question is simple. It becomes more difficult to remove hydrogen ions, which is why they stay in the muscle fiber longer, causing much more “destruction” than expected. That is, your training causes a negative effect, in its course you damage the structures of your body, preventing them from recovering. Accordingly, you work "in the minus".

Pool of free amino acids

Regarding the pool of free amino acids, you need to consider the following. After drinking alcohol, due to the reasons listed above, there will not be very many amino acids in your cell. One part of them will be deaminated, that is, converted into sources of energy and NH2 groups in order to neutralize alcohol. And the second part simply will not get to the cell due to its poor permeability.

So, let's summarize how alcohol affects muscles after a workout. Since the energy supply processes of the cell suffer, and the utilization of acidic products muscle contraction disrupted, the synthesis of anabolic hormones, as well as their entry into the cell, is hindered, your training performance will suffer, to put it mildly.

The effect of alcohol on excess weight

Under the concept excess weight, as a rule, means an excess amount of subcutaneous fat, in other words - fat. Moreover, excessive accumulation of fat occurs not only under the skin, but also in the body cavities, thereby squeezing the internal organs and reducing the flow of blood to them. Alcohol contributes to weight gain by increasing the fat component. How exactly this happens - read on.

Appetite increase

Once in the stomach, alcohol irritates its walls. At the same time, the taste of ethanol-containing drinks is bitter (any other can be mixed with it, but bitterness is present in any case). Both of the above circumstances stimulate appetite by acting on two independent mechanisms for stimulating eating behavior. The result is you want to eat. And now let's remember what was said at the very beginning of the article - you lose self-control, due to the fact that the cerebral cortex that forms your personality turns off (to one degree or another, depending on the dose), your subcortex takes over , sort of an inner animal. It is made up of simple basic instincts, and worst of all, the less control the cortex has, the more likely it is that the subcortex will satisfy its needs at any cost. Accordingly, you will eat much more than you need, because each new portion of alcohol stimulates the appetite again. And self-control, respectively, is reduced.

Fluid retention in the body

Another factor contributing to weight gain is fluid retention with the systematic use of alcohol. This is due to the fact that ethanol contributes to tissue dehydration - in other words, increased water consumption. The sensation of dryness in the mouth does not appear with a simple. And since our body adapts to what we do with it, with the systematic use of ethanol, the production of antidiuretic hormone, which is responsible for the maximum preservation of water within the bloodstream, increases. Because of this, in turn, grows arterial pressure, the load on the heart increases, even against the background of ordinary household stress. What to say about sports training!




Is it possible to drink alcohol after a workout - a question, rather, a rhetorical one. After all, any sane person who has carefully read all the previous sections of the article will understand why you can’t drink alcohol after a workout, and even more so before it.

Even one beer drunk in the evening can lead to the fact that the next day's post-alcohol workout will have reduced strength performance. Sport exercises by themselves give a significant load not only on the muscles, but also on most of the internal organs. The heart, lungs, other organs, they all begin to work in an almost limiting mode and they need time to recover. If at this time the body has to give a fair amount of energy to get rid of alcohol and its decay products, it is easy to guess the possible negative consequences.

A real athlete who trains regularly, and not occasionally, should not even wonder how long after a workout you can drink alcohol. After all, even if you don’t drink alcohol immediately after a workout in the gym, but, for example, after a couple of hours or the next day, then it may not affect the last workout, but the next one, as we already wrote, will have to be canceled.




alcohol metabolism

Ethanol, having entered the stomach, is absorbed into the blood, with which it enters the liver through the portal vein. Here, a series of chemical reactions take place, designed to help ensure that the poison (which is ethanol) is rendered harmless. There are three pathways for the metabolism of alcohol:

• the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase;
• through the cytochrome P 450 system;
• liver catalase.

Accumulation of harmful elements

The largest amount of ethanol is metabolized by the first pathway. There is a splitting of the ethanol molecule into an acetaldehyde molecule and into reduced NADH. Acetaldehyde is further converted to acetic acid. During this transformation, hydrogen peroxide is formed, which is a free radical and, accordingly, the culprit of direct cellular damage.

The acetic acid itself is converted into acetyl coenzyme A, a universal substrate for your body that can then be used to synthesize fatty acids. Or it can be used to produce one molecule of ATP. It would seem that here it is, the benefit! It turns out a whole molecule of ATP! Do not rush to rejoice - for its production, at least 3 ATP molecules must be spent. Total - minus 2 ATP molecules. Despite the fact that alcohol does not metabolize all at the same time, but as it is absorbed into the bloodstream and enters the liver. And the amount of energy and substrates needed for the metabolism of alcohol is limited.

Acidosis

Thus, a large amount of acidic products of incomplete alcohol metabolism accumulate in the blood of an ethanol consumer: acetic acid, acetaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide. All this shifts the pH of the body to the acidic side, and for our body this state is an “emergency”. It is called acidosis. In this state, all metabolic processes in your body are much less efficient, including your brain - that's where the feeling of euphoria comes from, impaired speech, gait, mental activity. When acidosis becomes critical, the metabolic processes in your brain stop and you simply lose consciousness. At the same time, brain cells partially die, because due to strong acidification, the process of cellular respiration in them becomes impossible. In addition, a certain amount of water must be present in each nerve cell. And what happens to the liquid while drinking alcohol, we remember from the previous sections.

Deterioration of nerve impulses

By the way, not only the brain itself consists of nerve cells, but also the pathways from it - the peripheral nerves. They, strictly speaking, are processes of the bodies of nerve cells, and intertwined with each other, these processes form peripheral nerves. These are kind of "wires" that connect the brain with all organs of the body. Including the muscles. The deterioration of the quality of the "signal" leads to a deterioration in the quality of movement, you cannot transmit a high-quality impulse along the nerve fiber due to the fact that the cell that needs this impulse does not work correctly. Or it doesn't work at all.

Interesting fact! Scientists have noticed that in people with a large body weight, alcohol is excreted from the body at a more vigorous pace than their thinner counterparts.

Does alcohol affect testosterone?

As briefly mentioned above, alcohol affects testosterone levels, lowering them for a number of reasons. However, I would like to focus on the drink, which, for some reason, is not classified as "serious" alcohol. I'm talking, of course, about beer.

This drink is brewed from malt and hops. Hops are an excellent source of phytoestrogens - substances of plant origin, the structure is very reminiscent of female sex hormones. With a systematic increase in the concentration of such sex hormones in a man's body, his hormonal profile changes not for the better for him. Fat deposits appear according to the female type, are actively deposited visceral fat(around the internal organs). At the same time, behavior becomes lethargic, aggression and the desire to be the first give way to laziness and complacency. Remember the medieval monks - classic beer drinkers with rounded tummies. What swings them, then there is another one important point- for the monks, the issue of reducing libido was very relevant. Beer successfully solved this issue, because beer was brewed, first of all, in monasteries.




I drank before training: what to do?

Considering all of the above, if an athlete drank the day before, and he has a training session ahead of him, then the most optimal and reasonable course of action is to skip the session, since alcohol before training is simply unacceptable. Instead, it is better to take a shower at a comfortable temperature, stock up on a 1.5-liter bottle of mineral water and the same bottle of yogurt. Drinks should be drunk in small portions, alternating water with kefir. In parallel, it is necessary to take a double dose of a vitamin complex containing vitamin B 12. This must be done for the following reasons:

• Mineral water will fill the deficit of fluid and ions.
• Kefir will replenish lactate reserves, as one of the most actively consumed substrates when consuming ethanol.
• Vitamin B12 will help you recover nervous system and restore the speed of transmission of nerve impulses.

During the rest of the day, it is preferable to consume lean meat and cottage cheese in sufficient quantities, eating vegetables or drinking vegetable juice.

The training process can only be resumed the next day. At the same time, training should be easy. It is advisable to use narrow-local exercises for small muscle groups. Perfect option- these are the muscles of the hands, since their activation improves cerebral circulation, and the abdominal muscles - the liver will also require an increased concentration of oxygen.

Remember, no matter what kind of load you plan to take yourself. After drinking alcohol, especially in large quantities, it is better to refrain from them.