Alcohol may be hindering your body composition goals, performance and recovery from exercise more than you realize.🫣🍻🍹The effects of alcohol on performance may last several hours past signs or symptoms of intoxication or hangover are present. ▪️Alcohol + Performance & Recovery: After exercise, it’s important to replenish glycogen stores & stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which is why consuming a combination of carbohydrates & protein is recommended. However, when you consume alcohol after a workout, alcohol ⬇️muscle protein synthesis (over 37%!) & interferes with glycogen replenishment, delaying the recovery process. This can make it very difficult to improve performance & muscle growth over time. Alcohol has been shown to slow the rate of rehydration because of its diuretic function that increases fluid loss. ▪️Alcohol disrupts your restorative sleep cycles, decreasing rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This poor sleep quality may lead to increased sleepiness throughout the day, poor recovery and performance, and may hinder your body composition goals. Alcohol can also increase unplanned food consumption. This may be an issue for those working towards specific body composition goals. Alcohol is 7 cal/gram which will also increase total caloric intake for the day. ▪️Cortisol & testosterone are just two of the hormones that affect muscle growth. Cortisol fuels protein breakdown while testosterone elevates protein synthesis. Studies have indicated that alcohol (2-3 drinks/day) impairs testosterone levels by ⬇️ secretion, which can impair protein synthesis & negatively affect the results from resistance training over time. I'm not saying you should never drink alcohol again, but it's a good idea to hold off post-workout, and keep track of how much you're drinking regularly. If you've been struggling for some time now to reach your goals or see any sort of progress, consider how much you are drinking and how this might be playing a role in your results.🍻🍹 Tag + share with someone who may find this helpful!💚Research linked in comments. #sportsnutrition #fuelyourbody #eleatnutrition #performance #nutritionist #sportsrd #sportsdietitian