Makgeolli after hiking, pork belly after football: Was your workout just an appetizer to make alcohol taste better? [Nom Nom Body]

[The Financial News] A pajeon restaurant at the entrance to a weekend hiking trail. A place for blood sausage soup after an early-morning amateur football match. Scenes like these are common wherever recreational sports are played in Korea. There is a certain romance to clinking glasses after working up a sweat. Underneath it all, though, lies a particular belief.
"I worked out really hard today, so I can eat and drink at least this much. I already burned it all off anyway."
This is the so-called reward mentality. But let’s look at the facts from the perspective of exercise physiology. The sweat you shed probably did not burn off fat; it was more likely just an appetizer to make the alcohol taste better. In fact, it is closer to a process of injecting poison that damages your body.
Right after exercise, your body is like a sponge. It is ready to absorb anything to replenish depleted energy stores. So what happens if alcohol goes in at that moment?
First, it’s the sound of your muscles quietly melting away. For the muscles you strained and tore through hard work to recover and grow, protein synthesis is essential. Alcohol interferes with this synthesis and instead promotes the secretion of cortisol, a hormone that breaks down muscle. You may have pushed through bench presses and hiked up a mountain, but a few drinks can turn all that effort into nothing.
Second, it makes your blood thicker. After sweating from exercise, your blood is already more viscous. When you then add alcohol, which has a diuretic effect, dehydration accelerates. It’s like dropping a bomb on your heart and blood vessels. You lace up your football boots to get healthier, only to receive the bill later in the form of gout and high blood pressure.
What about professional athletes on the field? Do they celebrate a win in the locker room with a toast and pizza? Absolutely not. They call the period right after a game the golden window. For them, performance is their livelihood, so within 30 to 60 minutes after exercise they take in quality carbohydrates, protein, and electrolyte drinks. For pros, restoring damaged muscles is considered part of the training itself.
Even when they do drink, it is only after they have rehydrated properly and eaten enough to bring their bodies back to normal. Heading straight from the field to a bar in full uniform is unimaginable in the professional world.
Of course, athletes and office workers live in different worlds. In social life, you can’t refuse every post-workout gathering. But you can change the order of things.
Right after exercising, drink at least two cups of water first. Then eat some meat or rice to fill up to a certain point. Alcohol should come last, and in the smallest amount possible.
That first cold beer after a sweaty workout can taste wonderfully refreshing. But don’t forget: your liver and muscles are screaming right now.
Is the purpose of your workout a healthy body, or just better-tasting alcohol? The choice is yours.
jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter