Mind Body & Soul

Bodybuilders who like to drink should consider the effects of alcohol on both muscles and hormones. A 1989 study of alcohol found that heavy alcohol consumption damages the heart muscle in one third of the subjects, and skeletal muscles in half of them. It’s very clear that alcohol’s toxic effects on muscles are significant and far more widespread than anyone thought.

The study also found that muscle weakness is proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed. But the study also noted that such detrimental effects occurred over a sustained period of heavy drinking. Nonetheless, the study concluded that alcohol is a toxin for striated muscle, regardless of where it is.

Consider the effects of alcohol on the endocrine system. Large amounts of alcohol increase the liver breakdown of testosterone 2 – 5 times normal. Alcohol also prevents the conversion of Vitamin A into an active form in the testes. This may cause sterility. Even a single bout of heavy drinking raises cortisol levels (an adrenal stress hormone) enough to cause a significant drop in blood testosterone. Large amounts of alcohol decrease the binding of luteinizing hormone from the pituitary to its receptors in the testes. Luteinizing hormone normally stimulates the testes to synthesize testosterone.

Chronic alcohol intake eventually decreases LH receptors in the testes, thereby making the testes insensitive to LH and lowering testosterone production. Alcohol also interferes with several enzymes in the testes that manufacture testosterone.

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