How often do you drink alcohol?

[matt1164]

I'm drunk right now

 

[zgipson91]

GEEZE, i'm dam near an alcoholic compared to most of you guys in this thread. I love me some beer.

On a side note, speaking of insulin release and whatnot. Do any of you older members remember Vander? he would drink a beer or two before his workout and claimed it did wonders. well I would slam a budweiser on occasion before a workout, combined with my intra workout shake and post workout shake, it honestly DID do wonders. I got more from a beer than all my pre workout drinks that usually have me feeling like im on some sort of amphetamine and leave me feeling like shit after it wears off. I think i may actually try a beer for todays back day. I'm not an insulin guru, but if it causes a spike prior to my workout, along with my carb/pro mix, it couldnt hurt.

A beer with a pre and post work out shake??? Really? May have to give it a shot

 

[rollo1101]

Now that I'm settled down w/ a step daughter I only drink when friends come to visit, maybe once a month its probably 3-5 glasses of straight liquor no mixers. Much better than just 3 yrs ago single 3 nights a week minimum 5+ a night.

 

[Mini Truck]

Mack, with all do respect but i 100% disagree. Yes alcohols that have carbs in them can raise your sugar such as beer, certain rums etc. But alcohol in vodka for example is not a carb source at all. Also can you explain to me why insulin released is so bad when guys are using insulin pre- or post work out for anabolism? Also, how would this insulin release be any different than having a cup of oats or brown rice. Your body still releases insulin to those carbs as well. Insulin is not the bad ugly hormone that it is made out to be. It is possible that in certain diabetics (like yourself) when the pancrease isnt working properly that alcohol may have other dubious effects but this does not apply to the rest of the population.

Alpha,

First, thanks regarding respect. I return that back to you.
It's OK many of us disagree, I think that's good, actually.
But I'm impressed most, by the respectfulness everyone has given and received, that's always the best approach.

By the way, before I start. As I stated, I have no problem with folks drinking.
It's the behaviors that often go along with it, that I may take issue with.

OK , here I go.
There are 64 cals, 0 fat, 0 protein in one shot of vodka. If there are no fats or proteins in the shot, where do the cals come from..........CARBS, 16 in our discussion.

Your next thought delt with slin and it's usage. To be perfectly honest with you, I have no answer and I have pondered this thought a lot. Myself as example, if insulin mades you grow, I would be twice the size of Kai Greene
by now. So I accept that I'm a middleweight. I hope that someone with some real insight explain the science behind slin use, as an anabolic agent.

Your body releases insulin at varying levels 24 hours a day to keep you BS maintained. If you eat a sweet potato, vs a red potato, your BS will spike more from the red potato, thus your pancrease will produce more slin.
If you eat chicken and rice for example, your body will actually reduce it's release because the protein slows down the conversion of the carbs turning to sugar. If you just ate the rice alone, that would spike your insulin more.
All proteins, fats, and carbs eventually turn into sugar at some point. What makes one food produce more or less insulin to be released than another.

That's what is the GI (glycemic index) of food is. The higher the GI, the faster the food gets broken down into sugar, and thus requires your body to release more insulin quicker. When that happens, you tend to store fat.
Being a diabetic, my carbs are always from foods with a low GI. That just makes it easier for me to control my BS and diabetes. If my BS goes too high and I don't adjust, I can slip into ketosis, if I still didn't adjust. For muscle building, ketosis is not a good place to be. So for me, the keto diet is a concept I could never grasp, under any conditions, but especially for BBers.
I avoid this by checking my BS 8-10 times a day. A lot of finger pricking.

In my case, I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 5, so in essence my pancreas just died. That's Type 1 Diabetes. In Type 2, the pancrease still works, but it's a little lazy, so Type 2ers, take a different type of slin, usually oral, some injectable. I'm 100% injectable. "I" serve as my own pancrease.
So yes, I wouldn't be surprised if I had more "dubious" effects than a non-diabetic. I would know where I would even begin to research that.

Good Talkin' Bro,

Mack

By the way, if we could measure the lean muscle on the "never or rarely's, and average it out, I'd betcha every dollar I have it will be higher, than the "regulars".

 

[concreter]

Drank heavy for over 10yrs, still mostly beer but 20 of'm.
Since back under the iron, now in the winter eo week but come summer it escalates to weekly and then some. Still I lose weight from drinking because I consume less food.
Not the worst for getting ripped.[ not the best for muscle]

 

[justntime]

Very rarely i don't remember the last time.

 

[concreter]

Very rarely i don't remember the last time.

Thats what happens when you drink to much.lol

 

[justntime]

Thats what happens when you drink to much.lol

LOL i hear ya bro, that's why i stopped.

 

[maldorf]

This is not geared towards anyone here but some of these comments crack me up. So injecting home brewed shit, UGL gear when most of us dont know where and what the source of materials, peptides that come from china etc is not bad but suddenly alcohol is bad? Obviously if you are drinking a 1/5th a day you have a problem. But mild to moderate consumption of alcohol has many health benefits. AMA actually recommends 1-2 drinks for a healthy heart. No you cant make up what you didnt drink Sun-Thursday and have 14 drinks on Friday night. It doesn work that way.

Also, i have seen a lot of autopsies on alcoholics that died from liver failure, but god damn their coronary arteries were baby smooth with no damn plaque. That should tell you something.


But here is direct from AMA and American Heart Association concurs.


Guidelines for moderate alcohol use

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that if you choose to drink alcohol you do so only in moderation — up to one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men.

Examples of one drink include:

Beer: 12 fluid ounces (355 milliliters)
Wine: 5 fluid ounces (148 milliliters)
Distilled spirits (80 proof): 1.5 fluid ounces (44 milliliters)


Health benefits of moderate alcohol use:


Moderate alcohol consumption may provide some health benefits. It may:

Reduce your risk of developing heart disease
Reduce your risk of dying of a heart attack
Possibly reduce your risk of strokes, particularly ischemic strokes
Lower your risk of gallstones
Possibly reduce your risk of diabetes

Thank you for coming out and saying this!! I too used to think that drinking was bad no matter what.

In addition to the benefits you listed, I would also like to suggest that there are some psychological benefits to drinking socially in moderation. I can remember in the old days when I wouldnt even go to parties where people were drinking because I didnt want to drink. Having a few drinks with close friends is a good way to relase some tensions and bond with them, IMO. I dont see anything wrong with having a single drink with a good meal when you go out. If I am taking my wife to a nice resturaunt I am going to share a bottle of wine.

 

[alpha6164]

Alpha,

First, thanks regarding respect. I return that back to you.
It's OK many of us disagree, I think that's good, actually.
But I'm impressed most, by the respectfulness everyone has given and received, that's always the best approach.

By the way, before I start. As I stated, I have no problem with folks drinking.
It's the behaviors that often go along with it, that I may take issue with.

OK , here I go.
There are 64 cals, 0 fat, 0 protein in one shot of vodka. If there are no fats or proteins in the shot, where do the cals come from..........CARBS, 16 in our discussion.

Your next thought delt with slin and it's usage. To be perfectly honest with you, I have no answer and I have pondered this thought a lot. Myself as example, if insulin mades you grow, I would be twice the size of Kai Greene
by now. So I accept that I'm a middleweight. I hope that someone with some real insight explain the science behind slin use, as an anabolic agent.

Your body releases insulin at varying levels 24 hours a day to keep you BS maintained. If you eat a sweet potato, vs a red potato, your BS will spike more from the red potato, thus your pancrease will produce more slin.
If you eat chicken and rice for example, your body will actually reduce it's release because the protein slows down the conversion of the carbs turning to sugar. If you just ate the rice alone, that would spike your insulin more.
All proteins, fats, and carbs eventually turn into sugar at some point. What makes one food produce more or less insulin to be released than another.

That's what is the GI (glycemic index) of food is. The higher the GI, the faster the food gets broken down into sugar, and thus requires your body to release more insulin quicker. When that happens, you tend to store fat.
Being a diabetic, my carbs are always from foods with a low GI. That just makes it easier for me to control my BS and diabetes. If my BS goes too high and I don't adjust, I can slip into ketosis, if I still didn't adjust. For muscle building, ketosis is not a good place to be. So for me, the keto diet is a concept I could never grasp, under any conditions, but especially for BBers.
I avoid this by checking my BS 8-10 times a day. A lot of finger pricking.

In my case, I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 5, so in essence my pancreas just died. That's Type 1 Diabetes. In Type 2, the pancrease still works, but it's a little lazy, so Type 2ers, take a different type of slin, usually oral, some injectable. I'm 100% injectable. "I" serve as my own pancrease.
So yes, I wouldn't be surprised if I had more "dubious" effects than a non-diabetic. I would know where I would even begin to research that.

Good Talkin' Bro,

Mack

Here is the nutritional value of 1oz of vodka/gin. Notice there are no carbs. Yes there are calories, but no carbs.

**broken link removed**











Just to clarify and i dont want to get nerdy but by no definition is alcohol a carbohydrate. Ethanol would require another oxygen to be a carbohydrate (HOCH2-CH=O). Its not a carbohydrate, its an alcohol. Those are two distinct different molecules in biochemisty. Yes, it has calorie because anything that the body can burn for energy can have a calorie rating but that does not make it a carb.

Now having said that i was disagreeing with the statement that "alcohols are bad since they release insulin and insulin puts you in storage mode and makes you fat." Sorry for paraphrasing but that is pretty much what was said. As you mentioned your body releases insulin 24hours a day, in varying degrees, if this was the case we would be in storage mode all the time and be fat as a tub of lard. But it obviously is not that way. We just cant make blanket statements like that. And i am willing to bet you since alcohol is not a carbohydrate that the amount of insulin your body releases is much less than even a sweet potato

 

[sonicwaste]

Alpha,

First, thanks regarding respect. I return that back to you.
It's OK many of us disagree, I think that's good, actually.
But I'm impressed most, by the respectfulness everyone has given and received, that's always the best approach.

By the way, before I start. As I stated, I have no problem with folks drinking.
It's the behaviors that often go along with it, that I may take issue with.

OK , here I go.
There are 64 cals, 0 fat, 0 protein in one shot of vodka. If there are no fats or proteins in the shot, where do the cals come from..........CARBS, 16 in our discussion.

Your next thought delt with slin and it's usage. To be perfectly honest with you, I have no answer and I have pondered this thought a lot. Myself as example, if insulin mades you grow, I would be twice the size of Kai Greene
by now. So I accept that I'm a middleweight. I hope that someone with some real insight explain the science behind slin use, as an anabolic agent.

Your body releases insulin at varying levels 24 hours a day to keep you BS maintained. If you eat a sweet potato, vs a red potato, your BS will spike more from the red potato, thus your pancrease will produce more slin.
If you eat chicken and rice for example, your body will actually reduce it's release because the protein slows down the conversion of the carbs turning to sugar. If you just ate the rice alone, that would spike your insulin more.
All proteins, fats, and carbs eventually turn into sugar at some point. What makes one food produce more or less insulin to be released than another.

That's what is the GI (glycemic index) of food is. The higher the GI, the faster the food gets broken down into sugar, and thus requires your body to release more insulin quicker. When that happens, you tend to store fat.
Being a diabetic, my carbs are always from foods with a low GI. That just makes it easier for me to control my BS and diabetes. If my BS goes too high and I don't adjust, I can slip into ketosis, if I still didn't adjust. For muscle building, ketosis is not a good place to be. So for me, the keto diet is a concept I could never grasp, under any conditions, but especially for BBers.
I avoid this by checking my BS 8-10 times a day. A lot of finger pricking.

In my case, I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 5, so in essence my pancreas just died. That's Type 1 Diabetes. In Type 2, the pancrease still works, but it's a little lazy, so Type 2ers, take a different type of slin, usually oral, some injectable. I'm 100% injectable. "I" serve as my own pancrease.
So yes, I wouldn't be surprised if I had more "dubious" effects than a non-diabetic. I would know where I would even begin to research that.

Good Talkin' Bro,

Mack

By the way, if we could measure the lean muscle on the "never or rarely's, and average it out, I'd betcha every dollar I have it will be higher, than the "regulars".

I too say this with respect, but I must disagree almost wholly.

1) There are approximately 5 calories per gram of alcohol. These calories are from alcohol, not CHO.

2) GI is a can of worms. Red potatoes vs sweet potatoes, brown rice vs white rice. The difference in insulin release is pretty much nil. Remember the GI tells us how CHO impact BG; not how they impact insulin release. And there are webs of intricacies that exist in the GI.

In addition: I have just read studies that found low GI carbs showed a lower blood glucose response because it generated a higher early insulin response ,clearing blood glucose out of the bloodstream... And that higher GI carbs resulted in a larger rebound in blood fatty acid levels.

Again, GI is a conversation for it's own time. Too many things to talk about.

3) Insulin isn't the main fat storing hormone, and it isn't evil. There are many other hormones that contribute much more to fat storage than insulin.

We are constantly shuffling back and forth from fat oxidation and fat storage... all throughout the day. So long as calories don't exceed energy balance eq, then fat storage is net 0 for the day. Regardless of whether or not we have spiked insulin, ate fat, drank alcohol, etc...

4) The studies that I have looked at show that moderate alcohol consumption

a) improves insulin sensitivity
b) decreases triglyceride concentrations
c) improves glycemic control

This has also been shown in people with type 2 diabetes.

d) lowered risk of cardiovascular disease
e) increased disease prevention (of all types)

That being said... I drink once per week, or thereabouts (unless there is a special occasion). Sometimes I drink more than other times. I enjoy a few drinks and dinner with my wife, or to help improve my social abilities in certain settings.

Also, that being said, I am in top physical condition and health.

 

[zgipson91]

Alpha, does this mean I could drink vodka without worrying about putting on any body fat?

 

[alpha6164]

The studies that I have looked at show that moderate alcohol consumption

a) improves insulin sensitivity
b) decreases triglyceride concentrations
c) improves glycemic control

This has also been shown in people with type 2 diabetes.

d) lowered risk of cardiovascular disease
e) increased disease prevention (of all types)

:yeahthat:

 

[alpha6164]

Alpha, does this mean I could drink vodka without worrying about putting on any body fat?

There is no correlation of alcohol and getting fat. Most alcoholics are pretty slim actually. Of course they are what we call empty calories so two vodka drink (no juices) can be 100-150 calories, but if you are someone that works out, does cardio i dont see it at all being a problem. I drink 1-2 drinks a day and have no problem staying lean. My drink of course is Belveder, water and lime

 

[sonicwaste]

Alpha, does this mean I could drink vodka without worrying about putting on any body fat?

So long as you don't exceed calorie balance.

If your maintenance calories exist at 2500 calories, you consume 2300 calories from food, 600 calories from alcohol. That is a total of 2900 calories, 400 calories in excess of maintenance.

At some point, calories are calories. So any excess over maintenance is going to cause either fat gain, or increase in skeletal muscle.

 

[zgipson91]

Hell yeah! :headbang: Thats the answer i was looking for. I guess ill have to put the beer down

 

[sonicwaste]

Hell yeah! :headbang: Thats the answer i was looking for. I guess ill have to put the beer down

Just don't forget to keep track of those calories.

Also, beer does have carbohydrates.

Strong beers, (like my favorite chimay or st sebastian) can have around 20g CHO .

 

[zgipson91]

So long as you don't exceed calorie balance.

If your maintenance calories exist at 2500 calories, you consume 2300 calories from food, 600 calories from alcohol. That is a total of 2900 calories, 400 calories in excess of maintenance.

At some point, calories are calories. So any excess over maintenance is going to cause either fat gain, or increase in skeletal muscle.

That makes sense bro. So eat less on days I drink, cardio and lots of water the next day? Could that be bad? I like going out with friends and gettin wild but i dont want to lose what ive worked for and I dont want to put on anymore fat...

 

[concreter]

I need to create a beer high in protien to hit 500 grms.

 

[sonicwaste]

That makes sense bro. So eat less on days I drink, cardio and lots of water the next day? Could that be bad? I like going out with friends and gettin wild but i dont want to lose what ive worked for and I dont want to put on anymore fat...

Yeah, eat less than maintenance on days you drink. Keep protein high, carbs moderate, and fat as low as you can. If you keep calories at maintenance, you won't gain fat.

Just don't go overboard.