Boozing as bad for powerlifting?

[Hazerboy]

I don't drink but maybe once every two or three weeks, but its usually on a friday after one of my heavy squat/bench sessions.

If i understand it correctly, alchohol consumption is bad for weightlifting for a few reasons:

Your dehydrated the next day/that night - this would hurt lifting the next day and would be detrimental towards your healing muscles

Your absorbing lots and lots of calories (beer): This would hurt if you're on a diet

You use the sugars from alchohol instead of absorbing protein during that time.

Because powerlifting is based less on the breaking down/repairing of muscles and more on building strong tendons/ligaments as well as increasing your CNS effeciency, wouldn't boozing hurt a powerlifter much less than a bodybuilder or other athlete, as long as its not the day before a session? Would this really hurt my gains, if, say, tomorrow night I got hammered 7-8 hours after a heavy lifting session?

[Sensei]

There are plenty of PLers who drink, but alcohol increases cortisol production and that's not good. Once in a great while is probably not going to hurt you, but getting hammered and/or drinking frequently is going to affect you whether it's noticeable or not.

[WillKuenzel]

Are you asking that, so that you can drink and call yourself powerlifter and/or because you're worried about your gains in other areas?

[Jinkies]

Drinking supresses your central nervous system.

Go figure.

[Hazerboy]

Hmm... What excactly is cortisol?

And as far alchohol suppresing the CNS, wouldn't that only be while you're drinking/perhaps the day after?

I'm worried about my gains, yes, and what effect alchohol has if taken several hours after a lifting session (will it render todays session "worthless?")
What I was really asking was, aren't most of the detrimental aspects of alchohol only the next day/day after, if only taken every once and awhile? I don't lift on saturdays/sundays anyways.

[Sensei]

Hmm... What excactly is cortisol?
Sheesh... You have a world of information at your fingertips - a simple search will find you the answers: http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

[toki]

obviously if you are having cortisol problems, you need relacor.

[Westsidemonster]

I don't believe relacor is the answer, that's absurd. I believe drinking once in a while, in moderation is ok for a powerlifter, that means, do not get totally hammered, no more than 10 beers a day, and red wine is always healthier, at the same time, avoid hard liquor like vodka or tequila. I believe drinking once every other week is alright...;)