Lets have a look at this in a little more detail:
Protein has 4 calories per gram as does carbohydrate.
Fat has 9 calories per gram.
Alcohol has 7 calories per gram.
All of the above have some sort of nutritional benefit apart from alcohol, which has none whatsoever other than providing energy – empty calories if you like!
It’s not looking good is it – Read on, it gets better.
In consuming protein, carbs and fat we also generally eat them and as such at some stage we get full and our body gives us the signal to stop – That is unless you’ve just come back from a six hour bike ride, when eating everything in sight is completely normal!!
Alcohol is liquid form, which means you can get through an awful lot without getting full.
Consuming 1000 calories would be roughly 5 pints of beer and if you had 5 pints of beer you would likely want to eat some crap as well, so double it at least.
So is it all bad news?
No, I don’t think so.
Forgetting the above, what are the benefits of drinking?
I will just say that these benefits are drinking NOT to excess – There is NO benefit to that ever.
Usually alcohol is consumed socially and people who mix with others face to face are generally happier.
We are social animals and time spent with others is good for us. It allows us to unwind, have fun and forget our worries.
Often those worries are about things that will never happen.
The alcohol also improves our mood, it makes us feel better.
Is that bad?
I don’t think so.
It is bad if you are reliant on it for happiness but if a little drink in the sun makes us feel good, I see no reason why that is a bad thing.
My opinion then is that if you chose to drink, go easy and ideally don’t do it on a day/night before any hard training.
We all know it dehydrates us and dehydration impairs performance.
However at the end of a long hard week a couple of glasses of wine or couple of beers will do no harm and only good.
That may seem odd coming from a guy who promotes a healthy lifestyle but healthy in my eyes means having at least some balance.
Triathletes can easily lose track of this as they strive for excellence or that six pack.
Yes being your best is all well and good but so is having fun, I think it’s easy for us all to forget that from time to time.
Oh I nearly forgot:
My private coaching group – The Total Triathlete has been flying this last few weeks.
Were on 37 members.
It’s a supportive group of like minded triathletes all improving their nutrition together.
I’ll even review your days diet as often as you post it which is worth its weight in gold.
That’s £10 btw not FREE for those people who keep requesting to join without paying – Argh!
Have a look now: