Booze and Barbells - Part 1 - Mitochondria

[KennyRogers]

Jordan,

Read Part 1 last night - great stuff. In the article you mention how cellular mitochondria die-off/destroyed from the excessive consumption of alcohol. I assume that there is some sort of life-death cycle of the mitochondria. How long does it take for new mitochondria to regrow? How long to recover from, say, a night binge drinking?

If it's in Part 2, I will be patient and wait.

Thanks

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

There's no specific time-frame that would be applicable to a wide range of tolerances, body sizes, etc. The mitochondrial dysfunction lasts for as long as it's injured and cellular repair mechanisms hasn't taken place. I know biogenesis of mitochondria can be induced and completed in roughly 48 hours, but to what degree and rate this will "repair" any alcohol damage is unknown to me.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

On the blog, here.

[KennyRogers]

Thanks for the quick reply Jordan. It would be interesting to look at the effects from a heavy night of drinking.

I have had shitty lifting sessions and good lifting sessions after a night of too many rounds - it's hit or miss. I must add that I usually have good lifting sessions after a few rounds of beer. I don't know if it is mental or physiological, but could never recreate the same energy output with other food combinations. I'm part Irish, maybe that's it.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Thanks for the quick reply Jordan. It would be interesting to look at the effects from a heavy night of drinking.

I have had shitty lifting sessions and good lifting sessions after a night of too many rounds - it's hit or miss. I must add that I usually have good lifting sessions after a few rounds of beer. I don't know if it is mental or physiological, but could never recreate the same energy output with other food combinations. I'm part Irish, maybe that's it.

I've had the same experience. There's quite a bit of data supporting the idea that alcohol intake below a certain threshold doesn't mess with performance in resistance training, but as far as enhancement, the mechanism remains unclear to me right now.