Alcohol Effects
“Alcohol is the only drug where if you don’t do it, people think you have the problem.”
Alcohol is a squirrely topic. What I mean by that is it’s not something people like to discuss with me as a health practitioner or coach. This is why I feel the need to make it clear to you as the reader that I am not demonizing you for drinking and I’m not demonizing alcohol itself. For one that would be hypocritical of me, I do drink. I’m also not here to be authoritative and hyper critical of your life choices in hopes to eradicate them. That's dogma not science. I am someone who loves to research, it’s an actual hobby of mine and a requirement for my job.
With Sober September (starting yesterday, but you can still join, it’s not too late!) I wanted to research what alcohol ACTUALLY does to you and why it would be a good idea to assess one's current drinking habits and what information people would be beneficially for people to have in order to make considerate choices surrounding their drinking habits and behaviors. Therefore this is a scientific offering and not an opinion.
I had no idea that I would uncover what I have in regards to what alcohol does to your health and not just while drinking but the longer and more systemic effects it has on your health. While I knew that alcohol is poison, and you should to, and that’s not debatable. I didn’t know what it did in regard to your neuroplasticity in your brain when it comes to habit formation (including the formation of drinking as a habit.) And how little you had to do it in order for the habit of drinking to become, well, a habit.
As I launched into my research I assumed all that I would find wouldn’t apply to me seeing how I am a 1-2 drinks a week and not always kind of a gal. Well I would be wrong which is upsetting to deal with in itself. There is ZERO research that shows if you drink less or more moderately it’s better. In fact the opposite is true. You do not need to be an excessive drinker, only a regular one. All of these processes have been studied in people who drink a.1-2 drinks a night b.1-2 drinks a week and c.1-8 drinks a month but only once a month.
Alcohol is poison and kills your cells. No way around it. A little chemistry lesson for you to understand how our body processes alcohol: There are three kinds of alcohol, the one that is distilled into spirits is ethanol. Your body cannot store this or use it at all and ethanol kills cells so your metabolism quickly goes to work on breaking alcohol down. And it’s one of those things that gets worse before it gets better. It takes ethanol and breaks it down into a compound called acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a carcinogenic and again, it kills our cells all over the body including the brain. Why does our body do that? Because it’s then going to change the structure again to something it can use which is acetate. Acetate then can be utilized in cellular energy but only in expenditure. Meaning it takes energy to break down but it doesn’t break down to anything the body can use or store. It only can then be excreted from the cells via carbon dioxide and water.
Thus leading to “empty calories:” I’m sure you’ve heard this term before and you needed the above explanation to support this one. Empty calories simply means that what you’ve put into your body, in this case ethanol, has demanded a lot from the metabolism which is the body's energy and communication system, put it through work and then offered it nothing as far as nutrients or cellular rebuilding materials. Sugar is often considered empty calories however sugar does offer building blocks for energy to use, alcohol does not. This is a problem because when you run out of stem cells you die. I understand that is overly simplistic and seemingly fear mongering but the statement isn’t wrong and we have to keep moving. The next one was the most informative and surprising to me to learn.
Neuroplasticity and impulsivity. We are all aware that when we drink we are impulsive. This is where it gets interesting and this is what I learned in my research: it doesn’t just happen while you drink. How alcohol affects the brain is by changing its neuroplasticity during AND AFTER you drink. Alcohol impairs the part of your brain that moderates impulsive behaviors, which also increases the habit formation of those behaviors. It increases the synapses in the brain that deepens current behavior patterns even while we are not drinking. This process can happen by only drinking 1-2 drinks a week. A chronic drinker is not considered to overdrink, just frequently enough for the body to create these outcomes.
Health Issues: Alcohol disrupts the gut microbiome and increases inflammation in the gut and that also affects the brain through the gut-brain-axis. I have done lots of research on the gut-brain-axis and it’s one of the most overlooked functions of our body when it comes to health and wellness. Mental and physical. Of course alcohol only kills good microbiomes because the bad gut bacteria is food fueled and in the process it creates isolated leaky gut which then leaks the bad bacteria into your body and viola! Inflammation! Which isn’t just achy joints, it’s how autoimmune diseases are created, and many other diseases have been suggested as possible consequences of leaky gut syndrome, including metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma and fibromyalgia.
Wow. What an informative and depressing newsletter you’ve shared with us today. Those of you still here reading may wonder: Are there any positive outcomes to drinking? What can you do to mitigate some of this damage while you drink? If I continue to drink will you think less of me? All great questions.
Some have heard that red wine has resveratrol aka “a powerful antioxident” from the grapes it made from. The amount of red wine you would have to consume in order to get a helpful dose of resveratrol would kill a horse with alcohol poisoning and also likely you. Bummer, I know, it’s another example of what journalism and “food science” has turned into. I am so sorry. But there is NO evidence on reversetol being in any sort of useful amounts in red wine. And it’s good to keep in mind that regular consumption of wine, beer or spirits thins the lining of your brain. Overall in my research I did not find reasons that would counter what it does, such as de-stressing you, due to what has to happen in order to get that release. So no, just know when you make the choice to drink it is what it is. With my understanding I do think an occasional drink would be fine for someone in good health and not be a detriment to your health if you are not a chronic drinker already.
Mitigating damage: Eat all the macros, not just one! A meal of protein, fats and carbohydrates while drinking has shown to increase the repair response in the body: a good example would be steak and potatoes with butter or a cream sauce. Drink electrolytes to help support rehydrating while also keeping two glasses of water per drink and keep it to 1-2 drinks (6oz of wine/beer and 2oz of spirits per) and allow for plenty of time between drinking opportunities.
Will I be mean to you or any of the coaches think less of me? NO! This again is to tell you how to optimize your health and life line. This is not to judge your personal life. This is information so you can make informed health decisions and if I learned about some of these things, I am sure and hoping you learned some things here too, just like I did. The right information helps us make the right decisions for ourselves.
