The sad truth is that as much as you love a drink, alcohol can be your worst enemy for a number of different reasons.

That refreshing mojito or sensual glass of red wine may wind you down a bit at the end of a long, hard, stressful day but how is it affecting other areas of your life?

Unfortunately for you, alcohol can have a negative effect on a number of different areas in your life – from affecting your gym progress and weight loss to your private sex life.

Want to know more? Lets find out what’s really going on with each sip of that dangerous liquid that is known to suppress inhibitions…

Alcohol is TERRIBLE for weight loss

Alcohol isn’t just terrible for weight loss because some of it can be highly calorific, it’s because of the way your body handles it.

After you have had a night out or a night in drinking all your trusty favourites, your body will have no choice but to burn the alcohol as fuel first – sucks right!

So all that effort doing cardio will be wasted until your body has used all of the calories from the alcohol.

Unfortunately, while all of this is happening, your body simply wont tap into and burn any of its fat stores.

Of course, this doesn’t permanently stop weight loss it just postpones it significantly.

Your body cant store alcohol as glycogen to be used up later, so it virtually hangs around in your body until it’s burned – after it’s burned your body will then get back into ketosis/lipolysis.

It can STUNT your muscle gain & strength

Alcohol can be very damaging for bodybuilders, athletes and gym lovers alike. It can interfere with a number of different processes in your body.

It is metabolized very slowly so you can still suffer from its effects 48 hours after consumption. Alcohol affects muscle recovery because it interferes with the processes of protein synthesis.

Alcohol can disrupt your sleeping patterns and growth hormones, imperative for muscle growth. Alcohol can also cause vitamin and mineral depletion in your body as it makes it tougher for these to be absorbed. It just doesn’t seem worth it does it?

Alcohol also impairs your balance and coordination as well as gross motor coordination. Moreover alcohol increases fatigue because your liver function is significantly impacted following its ingestion.

It negatively affects your sporting performance

Alcohol acts as a diuretic, and putting away too much of it can lead to you becoming dehydrated because as a result of drinking it, your kidneys work harder which will make them produce more urine.

If you then choose to exercise soon after drinking alcohol, this can make the dehydration more severe because you will also be sweating as your body temperature rises.

As a result of dehydration, alcohol also negatively impacts your aerobic capacity significantly reducing it.

 

Bonus:

Alcohol, sex & masturbation

 

Alcohol can also wreak havoc with your sex life! Quite frankly, sex and alcohol are just not a great mixture.

Alcohol can be a big contributory factor of erectile dysfunction in men. A lot of younger men out there don’t realize this because they actually think that alcohol increases their libido and arousal making them hornier!

It may well increase the desire, but it takes away from the performance unfortunately! Don’t forget alcohol slows down reactions in the body and mind too which will make masturbation a tad more difficult.

It may be a nice social activity to enjoy, having a few beers or cocktails but your body will be the one that has to pay for it eventually.

Alcohol can have a seriously damaging effect on the processes in your body, especially when it comes to muscle repair, gain and even weight loss.

When alcohol is in your body it’s removal comes before anything else, which puts you into ‘negative’ time in regards to fat burning. Do you really need it? Can you manage without it until you have reached your goals?