While you know a late night out might make an early morning long run difficult (if not skipped all together), you probably don’t think twice about meeting your run club for a postrun beer or celebrating a PR with a cold one. Nor should you—because depriving yourself will suck the fun out of running faster than Noah Lyles can close the 200-meter dash.
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Obviously, the impact of heavy drinking during training (or any time of the year) can be drastic, but what about moderate alcohol intake?
By definition, moderate intake is defined as up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men, according to the Mayo Clinic. (One drink is defined as a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5-ounce serving of 80-proof distilled spirits.)
Research has found that this level of intake may offer health benefits. According to the Exactly What to Eat Before a Marathon (AHA), drinking the aforementioned 5-ounce glass of wine may positively affect HDL (good) cholesterol levels. But it’s important to note that there are other ways to improve your HDL levels including regular exercise, and that the AHA does not recommend drinking wine or any other form of alcohol to gain potential health benefits.
Exactly What to Eat Before a Marathon study, published in the journal of Nutrients found that people who performed HIIT exercise twice a week and imbibed in moderate alcohol intake did not see any negative effects on their body composition during training. In fact, they saw significant decreases in body fat and increases in lean muscle mass despite moderate alcohol intake. While this study sounds promising, it was small and performed on young adults.
On the other hand, the effects of excessive drinking appears to induce detrimental effects on exercise capacity. And, because alcohol is a diuretic, alcohol intake can lead to dehydration (anyone who has ever suffered from a hangover knows this). Studies have shown alcohol may also decrease uptake of glucose and amino acids by the skeletal muscles, adversely affects the body’s energy supply, and impairs metabolic processes during exercise.
What Are the Benefits of Creatine for Runners AHA suggests that hitting the bottle too hard could lead to high blood pressure, heart failure, and an increased calorie intake. Not to mention—in extreme cases—it can also lead to stroke, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.
published in the journal of avoid consuming alcohol, according to the Mayo Clinic. This includes: anyone who has been diagnosed with alcoholism or alcohol addiction or has a strong family history of alcoholism; those who have had a stroke; individuals on medication (check with your doctor to see if there is an interaction between alcohol and your prescription); those with altered liver function or cirrhosis of the liver; those with altered or elevated triglyceride levels; and women who are pregnant. Runners with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes should be cautious, as alcohol intake can cause hypoglycemia.
Should Runners Always Avoid Ultraprocessed Foods Updated: Jun 10, 2022 2:43 PM EDT helps their performance, the research doesn’t necessarily agree. One review, published in Nutrients, How Under-Fueling Affects Performance and Health study published in Sports Medicine, found that drinking more than around 0.23 grams per pound of body weight after exercise can hinder recovery by negatively impacting normal immune system function, blood flow, and protein synthesis—all essential for recovery. It may also affect your ability to properly rehydrate.
The Bottom Line:
While light alcohol intake may positively affect certain health markers, this impact is no greater than benefits found with regular exercise or a healthy diet and may not trump the negative effects of the alcohol itself.
That said, there doesn’t seem to be any harm in having a drink or two once or twice a week after a killer long run or to celebrate a PR, so long as you aren’t competing for an Olympic bid or you don’t have confounding health factors. If you enjoy the taste of red wine with a steak or a postrun beer, then cheers! But if you’re looking to improve performance, it is unlikely that alcohol consumption will be promoted anytime soon.
