Posted on December 27, 2012 by Jenny Cromack

Alcohol is a terrible substance, it stops fat burning, erases performance gains and delays recovery, and should be avoided!

However since it’s the holiday season and most of you will have had some its handy to have a few strategies that will help your body cope best with the poison. Before we begin to discuss these strategies its worth noting a few key points about alcohol;

• Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (nearly double that of carbs and protein)
• When its consumed all other metabolic processes are put on hold until its dealt with
• Fat and Carbohydrate burning are stopped
• Protein synthesis and tissue rebuilding is stopped
• Alcohol has been shown to depress growth hormone production
• Alcohol also increases levels of aromatase that turn testosterone into estrogen (not good, especially for men)

When we drink alcohol the liver has to metabolise it, this process causes oxidative stress and chronic drinking leads to significant damage and fatty deposits inside the liver. No process can stop the effects of chroninc alcoholic abuse however, if you drink responsibly there are methods of increasing the rate of detoxification . These include the intake of;

1. Curcumin- Found in the spice turmeric, this has been shown to help protect the liver from alcohol damage
2. Green tea- the catechins found in green tea have been shown to inhibit absorption of alcohol in the gastrointestinal tract, which leads to less inflammatory response and faster elimination.
3. Milk Thistle- this is a well know liver tonic which has been shown to have anti cancer and anti inflammatory effects when supplemented regularly.

At the end of the day YOU HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY!