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Copyright November, 2002:  Nancy Clark, MS, RD

Alcohol & Athletes: A User's Guide

Alcohol and athletics seems to go hand-in-hand: tail-gating before football games, quenching thirst at the pub after a team workout, celebrating victories with Champaign. Athletes are supposed to be role models for health and fitness, but sometimes too much alcohol in their sports diet taints that image. 

Yes, athletes shoulder high expectations and great importance is placed on sports. But does this stress justify the higher alcohol intake in athletes compared to their non-athletic peers? One might think the detrimental effects of alcohol on performance would make these folks less likely to drink alcohol. Not the case. Even serious recreational runners drink more than their sedentary counterparts. 

The Bad News - Alcohol is a highly addictive substance and is the most abused drug in the United States. Prolonged consumption can lead to cellular changes in the liver, heart, brain, and muscles and result in cirrhosis, pancreatitis, irregular heart beats, stroke, and malnutrition. Even moderate drinkers have a higher risk of oral cancer, and women who drink may have a higher risk of breast cancer. Alcohol is associated with adverse effects on safety and performance. For example, in a survey of 400 ski injury victims, 20% of the skiers tested positive for alcohol.

The Good News Alcohol in moderation has health benefits. Red wine, for example, contains health-protective phytochemicals that may reduce the risk of heart disease. Wine may explain why the people in France, who have been eating a high fat diet for years, enjoy better heart-health than might be expected. Red wine is also a good source of dietary iron, a mineral that helps prevent anemia. Beer has a few nutritional merits, such as a significant amount of B-12, a vitamin important for vegetarians. 

Alcohol for Athletes 
• Alcohol is a depressant and--apart from killing pain?? offers no edge for athletes. You can't be sharp, quick, and drunk. Late night partying that contributes to getting too little sleep before the next morning's event creates another problem. Pre-competition, you may hanker for some alcohol to calm anxiety, but alcohol has a deleterious effect on reaction time, accuracy, balance, eye-hand coordination and endurance. It will not help you exercise faster, stronger, or longer. 

• Alcohol is a poor source of carbohydrates. A 12-ounce can of beer has only 14 grams of carbs, as compared to 40 grams in a can of soft drink. You can get loaded with beer, but your muscles will not get carbo-loaded??unless you consume pretzels, thick-crust pizza or other carbo-rich foods along with the beer.

 • Alcohol is absorbed directly from the stomach into the bloodstream, appearing within 5 minutes after you drink it. After a hard workout, alcohol on an empty stomach can quickly contribute to a drunken stupor. One wise runner came to realize he'd rather enjoy the natural high from exercise than get brought down by a few post-exercise beers. 

• Drinks that contain congeners--red wine, cognac, whiskey--are more likely to cause hangovers than other alcoholic beverages. The best hangover remedy is to not drink excessively in the first place. But if you have a hangover, drink fruit juice or broth. 

• Beer is often a significant source of post-exercise fluids; athletes commonly consume larger volumes of beer than they might of water or soft drinks. Yet, the alcohol in beer has a diuretic effect--the more you drink, the more fluids you lose. This is bad for recovery and often bad for the next exercise bout. While low-alcohol beer allows for proper rehydration, regular beer sends athletes running to the bathroom. One study showed that athletes who drank beer eliminated about 16 ounces more urine (over the course of 4 hours) than those who drink low-alcohol (2%) beer or alcohol-free beer. (Sherreffs. J Appl Physiol 83(40:1152, 1997) For optimal rehydration, minimize alcohol intake.
 
• Your liver breaks down alcohol at a fixed rate--about 4 oz. wine or 1 can of beer per hour. Exercise does not hasten that process, nor does coffee. Caffeine just makes you a wide-awake drink. 

• Hot tubs, alcohol and athletes are a bad combination. The hotter your body, the drunker it may get. Alcohol impairs your ability to control your body temperature, plus the high temperature of the hot tub heightens the body's response to alcohol.

• Winter sports and alcohol are also a dangerous combination. Don't drink while skiing. Apres-ski, if you choose to drink alcohol, alternate with soft drinks or juices for carbs and fluids. 

• The calories in alcohol are easily fattening. People who drink moderately tend to consume alcohol calories on top of their regular caloric intake. These excess calories promote body fat accumulation, particularly in the trunk area--the well-known "spare tire." A study with subjects who ate a standard breakfast and then an appetizer before lunch--about 350 calories of either white wine and high-fat foods, or vegetable juice and low-fat foods--showed they ate about 200 more calories at lunch following the alcohol appetizer, and did not compensate for this overfeeding at dinnertime. (Tremblay, AJCN 1996; 63:479-82) The bottom line for dieters: it's harder to feel full when alcohol becomes a part of your diet because alcohol stimulates the appetite. If you are trying to maintain a lean machine, abstaining is preferable to imbibing. 

• If you are destined to drink, drink moderately. The definition of moderate drinking is two drinks per day for men, and one for women. And have at least have a glass of water for every drink. 

Alcohol Abuse Caution: Alcoholism tends to run in families. In the general population, drinking problems occur in about 16- 24% of men and 5% of women. People under 45 years have higher rates of alcohol problems than do older folks. Be conscious of your ability to keep alcohol consumption within socially and medically acceptable bounds. Don't start drinking if you can't easily stop. 

Better than Beer Many problem drinkers choose to trade their addiction to alcohol for a healthier addiction--exercise. They've come to appreciate this " natural high" as being better than that from beer. Let’s drink to that .... Drink water, that is!

Nancy Clark, MS, RD, nutrition counselor at Sports Medicine Associates, one of the largest athletic injury clinics in the Boston area, is author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook and her Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions 

Director of Nutrition Services, SportsMedicine Associates
830 Boylston St. #205, Brookline MA 02467
Phone:  (617) 795-1875  Fax: (617) 795-1876

"Helping active people win with good nutrition."