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Scott Welch
BASc. (Nutrition)
Scott Welch has devoted his career studying performance enhancement and weight loss through dietary intervention. He received a bachelor of applied science degree in Nutrition from Ryerson University and later completed a post-graduate certificate in advertising. He’s had countless interactions with leading scientists, doctors, and hundreds of trainers from around the world, giving him a unique perspective that others lack. Welch founded MUSCLE INSIDER in 2009.
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Alcohol & Bodybuilding
QUESTION: I love drinking beers on the weekends with the boys and picking up the ladies! I train all week for the ladies. Work my ass off doing a stupid job for the ladies. Go through traffic jams to work every morning for the ladies. Spend money on expensive clothes for the ladies. When Friday night comes, I can’t wait to go chase the ladies for phone numbers and panties. The weekend is my time to take it to the max, but I’ve heard that alcohol lowers testosterone levels, which has me worried. Should I stop drinking?
ANSWER: It sounds like you could use a lower testosterone level, dude! In fact, I think if you stopped drinking, your testosterone levels would rise a bit too high and you’d end up getting locked up for being such a sexual deviant! Just kidding. It turns out that there actually may be some good that comes with drinking beer! A natural compound derived from hops called xanthohumol may have longevity effects in men. It actually may block the effects of the male hormone testosterone and could potentially be used to prevent prostate cancer!
“We hope that one day we can demonstrate that xanthohumol prevents prostate cancer development, first in animal models and then in humans, but we are just at the beginning,” says Clarissa Gerhauser, Ph.D., at the German Cancer Research Cente
In this study, the researchers stimulated hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells with testosterone, which led to a massive secretion of prostate specific antigen (PSA). Cells were then treated with testosterone and xanthohumol, and the effects were examined.
“Xanthohumol prevented the receptor from translocating to the cell nucleus, thus inhibiting its potential to stimulate the secretion of PSA and other hormonedependent effects,” Gerhauser says.
My Prescription
So to answer your question, no! I wouldn’t stop drinking if I were
you. The ladies love guys who drink, act wild, and are the life of the party! But seriously now, if you drink way too much, you’ll reduce your testosterone, make less progress in the gym, get fat, and mess up your liver!
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