Does drinking alcohol cause muscle loss? Here’s What the Experts Say

Heavy drinking has long been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver cirrhosis, cancer, and heart disease. But our latest study finds that these aren’t the only issues that can lead to binge drinking. We found that heavy drinkers had lower levels of muscle mass than those who did not drink or drank moderately.

To conduct our study, we used data from UK Biobank, a large database of lifestyle and health information from half a million people in the UK. We included data from nearly 200,000 people aged 37 to 73, which looked at their average alcohol consumption and their muscle mass. We adjusted for any factors that might have affected the results of our analysis, such as a person’s level of physical activity, how much protein they consumed and whether they smoked.

Our analysis looked at men and women separately because of differences in body composition between the sexes. We also only included white participants in our study because we only had data on a small number of people from other ethnic groups – and this was not sufficient to model them separately.

We used a statistical model that would characterize muscle mass differently according to the amount of alcohol people drank. Because larger people have more muscles, we scaled the muscles for body size. Overall, people had less muscle mass the more they drank. This effect occurred after about one unit of alcohol a day (under a small glass of wine) for men and just two units (the equivalent of a pint of lager) for women.

Men and women who were among the heaviest drinkers – about 20 units a day, consuming the equivalent of two bottles of wine or ten pints of beer – had 4 percent–5 percent less muscle mass than those who didn’t drink at all. Were. Comparing this difference with the average annual loss of muscle mass (about 0.5 percent), our findings could have important implications when it comes to our health as we age.

muscle loss and health

Our study cannot conclude that alcohol is directly causing muscle loss, as we measured both alcohol consumption and muscle mass at the same time. In the same study, we also tracked changes in people’s muscle mass over time compared to their alcohol intake.
This may give a better idea of ​​whether this relationship was cause and effect. But this data was for a very small group and we did not find any association.

We also don’t know what the results would be in people aged 70 and over, as there were too few people in this age group in our study.
It is possible that the effects of heavy drinking may be more severe in older people because alcohol may interact with other factors that may lead to greater muscle loss in older age, such as changes in body composition or increased inflammation. .

Our study is not the first to show that excessive alcohol consumption can affect muscle mass. But it is one of the first to examine a large population of both men and women with wide variation in alcohol consumption. It will be important for future studies to examine how alcohol affects muscle mass in people aged 75 and over and of different ethnic backgrounds, as our study did not look at these groups.

The muscles in each of us begin to atrophy and gradually lose function, starting in our 30s. While we may not notice much of this loss at first, as we get older, the rate at which we lose muscle mass and strength increases – leading to a condition known as sarcopenia. This muscle loss can lead to other health problems, such as lower bone density, fractures, falls, frailty and even a higher risk of premature death. Sarcopenia is also a risk for type 2 diabetes.

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But this loss of muscle mass can be prevented to some extent by exercising and eating a diet rich in enough protein. Our findings suggest that avoiding high alcohol intake if you are in your 50s and 60s may help you avoid losing too much muscle mass as you get older.
So if you drink a bottle of wine, or four to five pints a night, and you’re concerned about the health of your muscles, you might want to cut down on your alcohol intake. Even if you’re a moderate drinker, you might want to think about this. Replacing some of your alcoholic beverages with soft drinks may be one way to help you cut down.