Alcohol Good for Women Runners?

A friend and I were talking this week about weight.

She’s been struggling the last year or two with 10 pounds that just don’t want to come off.  Her diet is really pretty good, but she doesn’t exercise regularly.  And there’s one other thing.  She and her husband are pretty regular social drinkers.  I say social drinkers because I wouldn’t characterize them as having a “problem with alcohol”…they just drink frequently with friends…like multiple times a week.

“How did you do it?” she asks me – referring to the 15 pounds or so I’ve shed over the last year and a half.  So I tell her:

·       Cut WAY back on the bread and other carbs

·       NO processed sugar

·       Pay attention to fat content

     ·       NO in-between meal snacking

     ·       Portion control at all meals

     ·       Run at least 20 miles/wk J

     ·       NO alcohol

She ponders this last one.  “No alcohol?”  “Yeah, no alcohol.”  “You don’t EVER drink?”  “Rarely.”

Now, anyone who’s ever run a road race knows that runners are beer drinkers.  What’s a post-race celebration without a keg or two?  And what about the Hash House Harriers?

But my conversation with my friend got me thinking about this.  What are the implications for runners who drink?

According to the National runners Health Study conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab:   

“Men and women who drink alcohol are at less risk of cardiovascular disease than non drinkers. The decreased risk may be due partially to alcohol-induced increases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (the so called "good cholesterol").

“Running also elevates HDL-cholesterol. Although some researchers have argued that consuming three beers daily is equivalent to jogging (with respect to raising HDL-cholesterol), running does not increase plasma triglyceride levels or blood pressure (two negative effects of alcohol.)”

In the study, “Men who ran over 45 miles and drank over 6 oz. of alcohol per week (between one and a half and two beers or glasses of wine per day) were five times more likely to have high HDL as nondrinkers running less than 15 miles per week.  All the women (in the study sample) who ran over 45 miles per week and drank at least 6 oz. of alcohol per week had high HDL-cholesterol.”*

Mmm… so maybe alcohol consumption is not that bad for women runners?

Well, most of the resources I have checked confirm that alcohol should be avoided prior to, as well as during exercise because of numerous negative effects on the body. Such effects include a significant decrease in aerobic endurance, reduced gluconeogenesis by the liver and glucose uptake by the legs later in the exercise.

Additionally, alcohol consumption can lead to hypoglycemia or muscle glycogen depletion when participating in prolonged exercise, which ultimately impairs performance. Alcohol can also reduce absorption of vitamin B1, which is important in the aerobic metabolism of carbohydrates and can diminish your ability to run in warm weather.

Bottom line?  As in all else, all things in moderation.  But if you want to control your weight, you may want to consider dropping the booze altogether…or run an extra mile for every beer you drink.

*Williams PT. Interactive effects of exercise, alcohol, and vegetarian diet on coronary artery disease risk factors in 9242 runners: the National Runners' Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Nov; 66(5):1197-206.)

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