Many are confused over whether to drink alcohol or not. As with other health related issues including certain types of diets, the answer lies in making an informed decision. The truth is you can enjoy alcohol once in awhile and be physically fit -- unless you are pregnant or have a predisposition to alcoholism.

It is important to know the risks of heavy alcohol use. Alcohol biochemistry can lead to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and lactic acidosis (too acidic blood). Another problem is that fat production increases in the liver, possibly leading to a fatty liver.

Finally, alcohol metabolism leads to the death of liver cells and alcohol hepatitis can lead to liver cirrhosis (which about 25% of alcoholics have). Coma and death can result due to toxic levels of ammonia affecting the nervous system.

Now for the good side. Numerous health studies have recently reported that moderate drinking can decrease the risk of coronary artery disease by about 25%. One or two drinks per day also increase HDL levels. That’s the good cholesterol that gets rid of the bad stuff. People who drink in moderation have been shown to be in better overall health than those who never touch the stuff.

2) Q & A: What do you think of Crystal Light? Does rum and diet coke have zero grams of sugar?

Rich Younker writes:

"Hey Billy, what's happening. Can't even describe the positive feedback I got from working out this summer. Thanks again. Your ideas did wonders. I was just wondering what you thought of this Crystal Light soft drink mix. It is sugar free and once a week I have one just to add some flavor to the usual water. Anyway, living in my own house up at college makes it a lot easier to eat healthy so I'm keeping in shape. Being a college student, I like to kick back on the weekend, and I recently saw an advertisement that said rum and diet coke has 0g of sugar. I was just wondering what you thought of this. Anyway, I enjoy these newsletters and look forward to the next one. Hope all is well."

Hey Rich, I apologize for the tardy response. My power supply (along with some other things) went on my computer and I just got things running again. I'm glad to hear that your doing so great and I also appreciate the question.

I'm sure some "Health People" would say that Crystal Light is dangerous due to the artificial sweeteners like aspartame and acesulfame k (acesulfame potassium). The truth is there is a very small amount of the artificial sweeteners in a serving. Acesulfame is 200 times stronger than sugar so you can imagine how little as needed.

There is a rare condition (phenylketonuria ) that prevents the metabolism of one of the amino acids (phenylalanine) in aspartame. I'm assuming you don't have phenylketonuria. If that is the case then some Crystal Light once per week is a great idea to add some variety (and taste) to plain old water.

As far as the rum and coke, saying it has 0 grams of sugar is very clever marketing. Since alcohol is sugar fermented with yeast, I guess you can say that it is no longer sugar. The truth is that it is simpler than sugar. It yields 7 calories per gram compared to 4 for sugar. The calories are worthless and easily converted to triglycerides and stored as fat (beer belly).

There are other problems associated with alcohol including a disturbed insulin balance. This is why many individuals wind up eating high sugar/high fat foods after a night of drinking.

Relaxing the rules once in a while is certainly OK but now you are armed with more facts. As a general rule, mixed drinks that are lighter in color are lower in calories. Mixers in mixed drinks and not the actual alcohol can cause calories to add up quickly. That is why you are better off with rum and diet coke than rum and coke. You'll save about 100 calories.

3) Congratulations to the fitness trivia winner!

Congratulations to Joe Reggi who was the winner of last months fitness trivia question. To refresh you memory, this was the question: How many calories does 1 gram of each of the following contain?

Protein=?, Carbohydrate=4, fat=?, alcohol=?

Here is Joe’s answer which was correct: Protein=4, Carbohydrate=4, fat=9, alcohol=7

Great job Joe!

4) Hofe-Man Fitness Personal Training Procedures

This section is for anyone interested in one-on-one training. I urge you not to wait any longer. Don’t wait until January 1st. Start now by picking up the phone to call and schedule a consult.

If you know that you want to be empowered and gain control over your metabolism and you life, you can schedule your "consultation" or "first session". I require a retainer fee in advance (equal to the amount of one session) and then you pay for each session before we start. There are no large sums of money required up front. It is as simple as that. During the first session we will develop a baseline for where you are now and start you on your fitness plan so you can get where you want to be. This comes with an unconditional money back guarantee so you can't lose.

Don't just roll with the punches and wind up wherever it is that life takes you. Take control and create your own destiny -- there are no limits! Here is what one of my clients recently told me.

"A lady in the gym told me I look great and that I lost so much weight. Three people at my office gave me compliments this week alone. I am very pleased. Last week I went shopping and was down 2 sizes." - Robin Dunn

Call (631) 225-7831 now while it’s fresh in your mind.

Until next time, be a Functional Fitness Freak,

- Billy Hofacker