Between weekly happy hour, Saturday nights with the squad, a nightly beer, or an evening sip (or three) to wind down at the end of the day (or should we say “wine” down?), it’s easy to drink a little too much a little too often. The National Institutes of Health define moderate drinking as no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 for women - yet many Americans exceed that amount, many accidentally. Often, this is thanks to portion distortion, with heavy-handed pours and oversized glasses causing you to serve more than a standard drink, which - for the record, is 1.5 oz hard alcohol (3 tbsp), 5 oz wine (⅓ cup), and 12 oz beer (1.5 c). SEE ALSO > FROM SHOTS TO SQUATS: ALCOHOL & PROTEIN SYNTHESIS Often, women tend to commit sins of accidental overconsumption more than men, both due to their lower alcohol tolerance/drink limit and due to alcohol choice. More women tend to drink wine than men (who tend to prefer beer, according to a Gallup poll). While beer tends to come in single-serving cans and bottles, wine is served in a multi-serving unit, with discretion to pour however much you want at any one time. Even careful pourers tend to underestimate the amount in a single pour, thanks to curved glasses, which skew the perception of serving size. WEIGHT LOSS Alcohol is Calorically dense. Per gram, it contains 7 calories, more than both carbohydrate and protein (which contain 4 Calories per gram), but not as many as fat, which contains 9 Calories per gram. A standard drink contains between 100-150 Calories. And remember, most drinks (especially hand-poured) tend to contain more thanks to overpouring. If you were to cut out a single drink each day (and not replace those Calories with other food or beverage), you could lose upwards of 10 lbs (9.6, to be exact) in a single year! MUSCLE GROWTH Studies have shown that consuming alcohol in the hours after exercise inhibits muscle growth and repair. And let’s face it, how many of us have hit up happy hour after lifting or gone home for a glass of wine after spin class? While abstinence isn’t most people’s first pick, no one wants to waste the time they’ve invested in the gym. Sure, it’s not always possible to avoid alcohol on the days that you work out- but the more you do, the more you set yourself up for results in fitness and muscle growth. FEELING UNDER THE WEATHER AFTER A BIG NIGHT OUT? BEYOND BCAA WILL HELP REPLENISH YOUR DEHYDRATED BODY SO YOU CAN DITCH THAT HANGOVER FASTER!
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