Alcohol is devoid of any kind of nutrients, and yes it does not help you in “carb loading“. So be aware of the following facts when it comes to alcohol consumption :

• It’s a Toxin: Your body treats alcohol like a toxin, and these toxins end up in the liver. It plays havoc with your brain, tissues, organs and your heart.
• Glycogen Replenishment Stops: As the liver enzymes are working non-stop to get rid of alcohol toxins from your body, therefore they are not available for the glucose conversion to glycogen (the stored form of glucose in our muscles) and normal energy metabolism functions.
• Fat Storage Increases: Your body won’t tolerate excess glucose in the blood, so your body lowers the blood glucose levels, and as the excess glucose is not being metabolised into glycogen, therefore it is stored as fat.
• Once your body deals with all the toxic alcohol content only then, it returns to the normal state where it taps into the fat stores to replenish the glycogen depleted muscles. The body can metabolise 7-15 grams of alcohol per hour. Example: A 12-ounce beer bottle has 10-14 grams of alcohol, so a few beers will take about 3-4 hours to metabolise.
• Affects Sleep Cycle: Alcohol causes low blood glucose levels which has a serious effect on your sleep.
• Causes Dehydration: There is a reduction in the antidiuretic hormones when you drink alcohol, and this results in increased urine production (dehydration). This dehydration continues and affects your cycling performance the other day even with a minimum of 2% decrease in body water weight.
• Affects Muscle Growth: Lack of sleep results in less HGH production, which is responsible for building muscles.
• Cortisol Production Increases: The levels of cortisol increases with alcohol consumption. And increased cortisol levels have a negative effect on testosterone levels.
• Reduces Testosterone Production: Post-ride drinking to celebrate your victory can affect the period of muscle growth post-training. (Also note that testosterone is not only a guy issue as girls also need it for muscle development).
• Although drinking is never going to help you in carb loading you can have it in moderation if you are not competing.

Suggestions: Avoid pre and post-ride drinking and always go for a low cal drink. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking water in between your alcoholic drinks, and try to avoid drinking before a training ride.