Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 62, September 2014 | Seite 36

Ma nutrition

Cheers
to the
Finish!

•

CHRISTINE PETERS, REGISTERED DIETICIAN

I

nstead of completely ruling beer out as
detrimental to our performance, let’s see how we
can make it part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle,
and let’s start by learning more about beer:
•
One small (330ml) bottle of beer containing
5% alcohol is equivalent to 1.6 units of
alcohol, and contains 142 calories, which is
equivalent to two slices of bread or half a
burger. It would take the average 68kg man
around 14 minutes of fast running to burn
this off.
•
With seven calories per gram, alcohol has
almost the same calorie content as fat.
•
Alcohol has no nutritional value, and despite
the calorie content, may make you feel
hungry, as it lowers your blood sugar.
•
Some people think beer is a good source of
nutrients for post-exercise recovery, but if
you compare it to a glass of orange juice,
beer unfortunately does not even come
close. A glass of OJ supplies four times the

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amount of potassium and almost three
times the amount of carbs. It would take 11
beers to obtain the B-vitamins you need on
a daily basis.
It’s about timing, too. Training or competing
after drinking is never recommended, as
dehydration can lead to reduced athletic
performance, and while alcohol is a diuretic,
meaning it makes your kidneys produce
more urine, exercising straight after drinking
can make dehydration worse because you
sweat as your body temperature rises. You
need to stay hydrated when you exercise to
maintain a flow of blood through your body,
which is essential for circulating oxygen and
nutrients to your muscles.
Alcohol can also make you more prone to
injury in a variety of ways, such as altering
your sleep cycles, which reduces your
body’s ability to store glycogen. Alcohol also
increases the level of the stress hormone
cortisol, which slows down healing.
Drinking has an enormous impact on
muscle protein synthesis, the process where
muscles generate new proteins, which are
necessary for skeletal muscles to benefit
fr