Abstinence from alcohol consumption and exercise capacity: A pre and post intervention cohort study

The benefits or harm associated with moderate levels of alcohol consumption on cardiorespiratory fitness are unclear. We hypothesised that in moderate drinkers, four weeks of abstinence could improve cardiorespiratory fitness. This was a single centre, prospective, pre and post intervention, experimental cohort study. Participants were recruited from healthy volunteers among hospital staff, who were non-smokers, over 25 years of age and regularly consumed ≥3 units of alcohol a day, ≥4 times a week for > 1 month. Cardiopulmonary exercise test was used to provide objective, quantifiable and reproducible data. In all, 30 participated, and data were analysed for 22 participants. Mean (SD) peak oxygen consumption and oxygen consumption at anaerobic threshold were similar before and after alcohol abstinence: 37.55 (10.89) and 39.66 (11.48) (P = 0.21) and 18.52 (5.43) and 16.82 (5.19) ml/kg/min (P = 0.1), respectively. It is concluded that this preliminary study did not establish a correlation between four weeks alcohol abstinence and cardiopulmonary fitness as measured by cardiopulmonary exercise test, among healthy volunteers self-reporting moderate alcohol consumption.