Saint Patricks Day. Luck of the Irish. Wearing green. Where did binge drinking come into the picture? Holidays mean different things to different people. To many, it seems like St. Pattys Day is a reason to overindulge in alcohol. When did that tradition start? Or better, why?

Some say it’s to honor the day St. Patrick died. Pour one out for the homie, pour ten down your throat. Some say it’s because the Lenten restrictions are lifted for the day, encouraging people to revisit the vices they are abstaining from for lent. Nothing cleans the soul like a good black out.

Whatever the reason, St. Patricks Day has become a day of parades and heavy drinking. By some estimates, over 4.2 billion pints of beer are consumed during St. Patty’s Day celebrations. That’s a lot of pints. While it may be all in good fun, not everyone benefits from this indulgence. Number one of that list? Your body.

While you may say alcohol helps you enjoy the holiday, your body has to work overtime to process what you are putting into it. Both binge drinking and consistent consumption put your body at risk of a whole host of health related issues.

So before you head out to the parade this weekend, keep these facts in mind.

Effects of Alcohol on your Body

 

Your Heart

In case you did not hear this during Heart Month (link to Heart Month Blog), excessive alcohol consumption can have a negative effect on you heart, including:

Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

• Long term heavy drinking causes heart muscles to weaken and ‘droop’. These weakened muscles are not able to pump blood as effectively throughout the body, causing the heart to work harder to supply your body. If your heart cannot pick up the pace, it will result in not enough blood circulating throughout your body which can lead to damage to your organs and tissue.

Arrhythmias (irregular heart beat)

• High alcohol consumption can affect how your heart beats. This can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure), an early warning sign that could put you at increased risk for a heart attack.

Strokes

• Irregularities in heart beat increases the chance of blood clotting in the heart. Blood clots account for nearly 80% of strokes, so increasing your risk of blood clots will increase your risk of a stroke at the same time.
• Binge drinking also can increase your risk of having an ischemic stroke (stroke caused by a blood clot) by over 50% versus people who never binge drink

Liver damage

• More than 2 million Americans suffer from liver disease that is directly related to alcohol consumption.
• Your liver is the organ mainly responsible for processing alcohol through your body. Consistent alcohol consumption leads to your liver working overtime, which can introduce multiple health problems such as steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Consistent heavy drinking can cause fat to build up around the liver (steatosis, or fatty liver). This excess fat makes it harder for your liver to process alcohol.
• When the liver breaks down alcohol, toxins are created that are even more dangerous to your body than the alcohol is. Increased levels of alcohol consumption lead to more and more of these harmful toxins being present in the liver.

Immune system

• Drinking too much weakens your immune system. This increases the chances of getting sick as well as makes it harder to fight any illness that may already be present.
• Chronic alcohol consumption reduces the effectiveness of white blood cells when they are fighting bacteria in our body.
• Excessive alcohol consumption also affects your sleep. While you might notice that you fall asleep faster after a night at the bar, that does not mean you are getting a better night’s rest. Drinking actually has a negative effect on the deep sleep (REM) that leaves your body feeling refreshed.

Derailing Fitness Efforts

Hangover

• After consuming alcohol for an extended period of time, especially if it’s with a sugary mixer, your body becomes dehydrated. Ever have a headache the morning after a night on the town? That is probably why.
• Ever feel nauseous during or after drinking? Ever go overboard and vomit? Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and intestines, so that is a common reaction from excessive consumption.
• Remember the toxins processed by the liver? They are called acetaldehydes, and have been shown to  be up to 30 times more toxic than alcohol. The more of these toxins your body is trying to flush out, the longer the hangover will last.
• With all of these feelings combined, it may be a struggle to make it to the gym. And even if you do go, you can probably guess that you won’t have your best performance in there. Keep that in mind if you are training for something where missing a day is not an option.

Extra, empty calories

• In the drinks themselves, yes. Many beers and most mixed drinks are packed with calories, especially if you are drinking something that ends with ‘and cola’. Even worse though, who hasn’t binged on fast food or something greasy after a night of drinking? While that pizza or quick trip through the drive through sounds amazing at the time, chances are you will probably regret those choices the next morning.

Conclusion

When it comes to alcohol, the key is moderation. ‘Low Risk’ drinking levels for men are no more than 4 drinks on a single day, not to exceed 14 drinks per week, and for women 3 drinks in a day and 7 drinks per week. Keep in mind a “drink” is one of the following: 12 fluid ounces of beer, 8-9 ounces of malt liquor, 5 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. If you are going to drink, staying in these low risk levels will help to limit the damage caused by alcohol.

One cheat day once in a while will not derail all of your fitness efforts, but consistently going overboard with the alcohol will have a negative effect on the body, both externally and internally.