Propaganda: The spreading of information, esp. in a biased or misleading way, in order to promote a particular cause or point. One of the most insidious things about alcohol is how connected it has become with “having a good time”. Think about it, it’s your day off, what seems to be connected with most activities, events, or leisure time? Alcohol’s unusual connection to relaxation, sports, social events, and even fitness is the primary focus of this blog. Now don’t get me wrong, in the right dose and moment, alcohol can enhance certain activities. However, the way it has taken center stage for most people’s weekends and holidays, is way out of balance.
Let’s first analyze the upsides of what alcohol brings to the table. In the right dosage, which is difficult to predict, you are left with a buzz that can enhance mood, catalyze conversation, open people’s personalities, and leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling. In the wrong dosage, you end up feeling drunk, sick to your stomach, vulnerable, hungry, possibly in jail, and completely ruined for the next day. To me, the payoff seems completely out of proportion to the benefit.
Let’s create a few scenarios to better demonstrate this trade off…
Scenario 1: Imagine it’s a 3-day weekend, you’re out with friends at a lovely dinner, you have some cocktails or wine with dinner, and maybe a night cap before heading home. The food and drink combination, a recipe for terrible sleep and recovery, leaves you hungover the next morning. You wake with a pounding headache, you will not go for a walk, at least not an enjoyable one, you will not exercise, you will most likely eat some greasy trash food to “cure” your hangover, and the rest of the day will be lost. Perhaps at the end of the day you will feel ok, and just repeat the night prior.
Scenario 2: Dinner is still wonderful, you have a mocktail, perhaps a topo chico, and you finish the meal with a decaf cappuccino. Even better, because you abstained from the booze, you have yourself a little ice cream sundae. At home prior to bed, you hop in the sauna or hot bath to wind down. After 8 wonderful hours of rest and recovery you wake refreshed the next morning. You grab a hot cup of coffee and bounce around the kitchen before taking the dog on a much-needed early morning walk. Because it’s Saturday, the streets are empty and there is a calm tranquility in the air, your senses are fired up from the coffee and sounds and smells of nature around you. The birds are singing, the squirrels are frolicking around the trees, and the sun is rising. The air outside is crisp, refreshing, and you take some long breaths while pondering your choices for the day. Because you feel great, you have a healthy snack and head to the gym, go on a bike ride, and even do both boxing classes at Archetype! Post-workout, you are truly feeling alive. You decide to clean up your yard, house, and K.O some errands prior to a fresh sushi lunch. After lunch, you will be tired from activities, exercise, and productive adulthood, so you take a nice nap. As you still have plenty of time, you get to decide how to use the rest of your day. Perhaps you watch some TV, read a book, develop and work on your hobbies, write, or catch up with some friends. It’s obvious that scenario 2 is far superior to scenario 1. Now, what’s really sad is what you get when you extrapolate these options out over 5-10 years and you see the person on the other end vs. the person that could have been. If nothing else, just imagine the time lost over the years due to alcohol.
As I said earlier, alcohol has an insidious connection to many activities that otherwise could be healthy. Here are a few activities that have been interconnected in a very negative way with alcohol. Golf, fishing, swimming, camping, hunting, just to name a few. Being a member at a fancy country club in Santa Barbara, California, I’ll explain what I witnessed over the 9 years I was a junior member there. For a lot of the members, golf was an excellent way to get outside, walk 6-8 miles carrying a bag, socialize with friends and family, and get an outstanding workout. However, there are large groups that organize the money games. In these games, members ride in carts, drink excessively, and gamble. I witnessed many start out in these games, feel obligated to drink, and after a 4-hour round, leave drunk and low on cash. It typically didn’t end on the course, the men’s clubhouse had a bar and game room inside where the drunks would then play cards, gamble more, and spend another few hours drinking. Now, from time to time this isn’t a big issue. But when they play in these games 3-4 days a week, it can really add up quick. For the members who were retired, this lifestyle would send them to an early grave. For the younger members, it was a complete disaster. Watching this from the outside, I witnessed many people’s lives completely fall apart. I watched men lose their jobs, their families, end up in rehab, or age 20 years over a 5-year period. Not only had golf become a major vice, but they also actually couldn’t physically play unless they were drunk, which was the norm they created. Once again, we have two scenarios playing out, many people trivialize the situation, as the process is slow, with many realizing far too late.
Vacation, the few times a year one gets to explore Europe’s ancient cities, or the natural beauty of places like the Hawaiian Islands. Where do you stay when you travel to Kauai? Are you at a large resort parked in front of the fake pool, cocktail in hand, with the sound of annoying children screaming around you? Or are you hiking the Na Pali coast, arguably the most beautiful hikes in all the world? Now, keep in mind, this hike is not for everyone. If you’re not in good physical shape, you won’t be able to get to the top of the waterfall. You will have to stop with the rest of the tourist at the beach. If you’re in top shape, and feeling up to it, you would choose the 8 hour intensely physical kayak of the Na Pali coast. The payoff? Unparalleled views of the most beautiful beaches and landscape the world has to offer. In addition to memories that will endure a lifetime. Or, if you were up all night drinking sugar filled Mai Tais, you would still be at the lame resort with a headache looking at the stupid fake slide and not the waterfall.
Physically, what are the effects of alcohol on the body and how does it damage recovery? Alcohol acts like a sedative and makes you drowsy, however it both fragments your sleep and prevents REM sleep. The result is feeling much less refreshed in the morning. It seems most of the problem is the inability to stay asleep due to multiple factors. First, the increase in body temperature due to the fight or flight sympathetic nervous system being triggered. Along with this is the increase in heart rate, the lowering of HRV which typically occurs during sleep, and the increase in nighttime urination due to the diuretic effects of alcohol. Keep in mind the more you drink that night, the worse these effects will be and the worse your sleep will be. That being said, if you want to properly recover and feel amazing, I recommend the following protocols:
- Sauna, or dehydrate in the evenings prior to going to bed to reduce the need to wake up and urinate.
- Buy an 8-sleep mattress or keep your bedroom cold at night (65 degrees).
- Limit TV, phone, computer use a few hours prior to going to bed.
- When you wake up, drink plenty of water and supplement a salt electrolyte package first thing prior to any coffee.
Once again, it’s a choice. How to do you want to feel in the morning and how is that going to impact the next day? Now, if you drink moderate amounts of alcohol 1-2x week, the effects on sleep aren’t going to crush you. The real issue is the daily evening drinking and lack of proper sleep. Over time, this can really take a serious toll on your health. Also, let’s not forget how in large doses, alcohol can completely ruin every aspect of your life. I think most people are fully aware of the dangers of excessive alcohol on the body; the focus of this blog is narrowed to the slow crushing effects that even 1-2 drinks a night can have.
So, what is the right amount of alcohol? This is an individual decision since different bodies metabolize alcohol differently. As a lover of fine wine and living a large portion of my life in world class wine country, it was difficult for me to eliminate the daily glass of wine. Like many others, it fit in with my daily unwinding process and paired wonderfully with dinner. As I got older, my body’s ability to process the wine worsened, making the morning feel groggy while my sleep got worse and worse. I made the decision to eliminate all alcohol on the weekdays and only have wine on the weekends. The first thing I noticed was how good I felt in the mornings and how much better I recovered. I always justified that the huge amount of physical activity and exercise would make up for the small vice at the end of the day. I was WRONG. The harder I pushed my body, the MORE critical the sleep and recovery was. Once the daily wine was eliminated, I learned how much it really was affecting my body in a negative way. My suggestion to you would be eliminate the alcohol for a period of time and pay attention to how your body reacts. Fight camp is the perfect time, as all booze are off limits for 8 weeks during camp. If/when you add it back in, think about moderation. Daily habits are so important to long term health. If you exercise, eat a healthy diet, and drink in moderation, your body will age with grace. Do it not, and you will witness the tidal wave crash down upon you with no mercy.
