Exercise capacity is not impaired after acute alcohol ingestion

Abstract

The usage of alcohol is widespread, but the effects of acute alcohol ingestion on exercise performance and the stress hormone axis are not fully elucidated.We studied 10 healthy white men, nonhabitual drinkers, by Doppler echocardiography at rest, spirometry, and maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) in two visits (2-4 days in between), one after administration of 1.5 g/kg ethanol (whisky) diluted at 15% in water, and the other after administration of an equivalent volume of water. Plasma levels of NT-pro-BNP, cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were also measured 10 min before the test, at maximal effort and at the third minute of recovery. Ethanol concentration was measured from resting blood samples by gas chromatography and it increased from 0.00 ± 0.00 to 1.25 ± 0.54‰ (P < 0.001). Basal echocardiographic and spirometric parameters were normal and remained so after acute alcohol intake, whereas ACTH, cortisol, and NT-pro-BNP nonsignificantly increased in all phases of the test. CPET data suggested a trend toward a slight reduction of exercise performance (peak VO2 = 3008 ± 638 vs. 2900 ± 543 ml/min, ns; peak workload = 269 ± 53 vs. 249 ± 40 W, ns; test duration 13.7 ± 2.2 vs. 13.3 ± 1.7 min, ns; VE/VCO2 22.1 ± 1.4 vs. 23.3 ± 2.9, ns). Ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide at rest was higher after alcohol intake (28 ± 2.5 vs. 30.4 ± 3.2, P = 0.039) and maximal respiratory exchange ratio was lower after alcohol intake (1.17 ± 0.02 vs. 1.14 ± 0.04, P = 0.04). In conclusion, we showed that acute alcohol intake in healthy white men is associated with a nonsignificant exercise performance reduction and stress hormone stimulation, with an unchanged exercise metabolism.

Alcohol consumption and cardiorespiratory fitness in five population-based studies

“…This finding is in line with randomised trials indicating that acute excessive drinking does not affect peak VO 2 . 45,46 Previous research suggested that heavy episodic drinking counteracts the putative protective effect of low-to-moderate moderate consumption. 6 However, the association between average alcohol consumption and peak VO 2 persisted after adjustment for heavy episodic drinking, and the association was not modified by heavy episodic drinking.…”

Efeitos da ingestão de cerveja combinada a uma tarefa de alta demanda cognitiva sobre o desempenho físico em teste de corrida de 30 minutos

“…* apresentou efeito significante em função do tempo (P= 0,000). , 1993;MCNAUGHTON;PREECE, 1986;SUTER;SCHUTZ, 2008;WANG et al, 1995 1984a;FERREIRA et al, 2004;POPOVIC et al, 2016) 2005). De fato, do ponto de vista fisiológico, a ingestão de cerveja promove maior consumo de oxigênio devido a alterações no metabolismo energético e no sistema cardiovascular (FERREIRA et al, 2004;WANG et al, 1995).…”