Our Personal Trainer Dimitrios Deliopoulos talks about the effects of alcohol and how to limit its effects on your workouts.
“We usually go out and have a drink or a meal with a glass of wine. But how exactly does our body respond to this weekly alcohol consumption?
First of all, our body reacts to the alcohol the same way it reacts to poison. I am not trying to demonise alcohol. I am simply describing the procedure that our body follows in order to metabolise alcohol.
Our body doesn’t know how to break down and store alcohol. It stores carbohydrates in the form of glucose, protein in the form of amino acids and fat as fatty acids. As soon as alcohol gets into the system, our body stops all the other procedures of metabolism, like fat burning, in order to “deal” with this unknown factor.
But what does this mean exactly? Should we stop drinking? The rule of moderation applies to everything and alcohol is not an exception. We can drink, even if we are trying to lose weight. As our body stops burning fat as soon as alcohol is in the system, the best way to have a drink is with a meal high in protein and low in fat. As the fat burning stops when we drink, it is more likely that the fat content of the meal we consume along with the drink will be stored as fat in our body. You can have your drink with a chicken salad, high in protein and vegetables and low in fat. This is a nice way to have your drink and stay on top of your goals. You can also eat less carbohydrates and fat sources that day, in order to make up for your drinks’ calories.
As long as you keep everything in check and in moderation, you can have the things you enjoy in life and still work towards your goals!”
Dimitrios is available for nutrition advice (nutrition package on sale now) and personal training. Contact him at more-energy@brunel.ac.uk or call 01895 265 307.