When I say alcoholic, you say… couch potato? Liver disease? Beer belly? Let me paint you a different picture. Think instead of the flat abs, toned thighs and defined biceps of your buffest gym buddy. Studies dating back to 1990 have shown a perplexing correlation between exercise and alcohol consumption, one indicating that the most active women also tend to imbibe more frequently, according to Women’s Health Magazine.
Confused? So was I. While I think of exercising as a healthy habit, I associate drinking with the kind of fall-off-the-bandwagon weekend behavior that dedicated gym-rats make up for during the weekdays. Why would the most fitness-conscious women participate in harmful binge drinking at such an alarmingly high rate? Experts do not have an answer to this question, but they do have theories that try to explain the conundrum.
Work hard, play hard. Some women may use exercise and happy hour as go-to stress relievers. They crave the mood-boosting effects and sensory stimulation associated with both activities and may substitute one for the other depending on what is available. Some researchers have even found a “cross-tolerance” effect: serotonin and dopamine are released while exercising as well as while drinking, so doing either increases the brain’s tolerance to these neurotransmitters. This may explain why women are chasing kickboxing class with a round of martinis instead of smoothies at readily increasing rates.
Repenting in reps. Another theory suggests that women may engage in vigorous exercise to avoid weight gain associated with a night out on the town. For some women, one too many microbrews (and possibly a shared sampler plate of fried food) necessitates an early morning workout session to counteract the negative health effects of the previous night’s shenanigans.
Researchers have been investigating the ways in which both exercise and alcohol can benefit longevity for decades; a more recent discovery however, is that combining the two may compound these positive effects. Time reported that people who exercise and consume moderate amounts of alcohol cut their heart disease risk in half, as opposed to a mere 30% decrease for people engaging in one or the other, but not both. Alcohol and exercise both help build good (HDL) cholesterol (which helps rid blood vessels of fat deposits that impede blood flow), so combining the two may be the quickest route to a healthier heart.
Unfortunately, these health benefits do not make up for certain biological facts of femininity. Women are more prone to alcohol-induced brain, heart and liver damage, possibly because their bodies break down alcohol at a slower rate than their male counterparts. Sticking to a moderate intake (one drink max per day) can help offset these risks, while still enabling women to blow off steam with friends.
Next time you find yourself “workin’ for the weekend” make a mental note not to become a statistic in one of the above researchers’ studies. Hitting the gym in the morning does not have to lead to overindulgence at happy hour later in the evening. Exercise and moderate alcohol consumption may very well be two means to a healthier end—and that’s something to drink to!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tulane chapter.