Wellness Wednesday

A Few Drinks a Day Keeps the Muscle Gains Away

A recent study conducted found a relationship between high alcohol consumption and muscle loss in postmenopausal women.

That reason you've been feeling like you can't physically do what you used to is relatively normal; both aging and menopause are known factors for inducing sarcopenia (muscle loss) in older women. A new study conducted in Korea looked at 2,373 postmenopausal women, 8.2% of whom were already diagnosed with sarcopenia. The participants were placed into three groups according to drinking habits and alcohol patterns to assess a possible correlation between drinking and those who had sarcopenia in the existing study group.

Upon collection and analyzing the data, the researchers discovered that those who were associated with high alcohol consumption were 4 times more likely to be at risk for sarcopenia. The determination of the high-risk categorization was dependent upon self reporting from the women, including perceived understanding of lack of self control, blacking out, and passing out from too much drinking. Women in this high-risk pool also were at a higher risk for high blood pressure and cholesterol, and were also younger than the majority of those in the study. This finding, along with the recent study that postmenopausal women who drink are more likely to increase their risk of breast cancer, should leave all postmenopausal women wary of how much alcohol they are consuming.