Alcohol…What You Probably Don’t Want To Know

I love wine. I often have it with dinner and enjoy the taste as well as the ritual of pouring a glass and transitioning from day to night. But I also know that too much of it is not good for me. What I recently learned is that even 7 – 14 drinks a week can have a very negative impact on one’s health.

I learned just how negative from a recent episode of the Huberman podcast. This was one of best overviews of the impact of alcohol, both while drinking and after, that I have come across. In today’s issue I have summarized what I thought were some of the key points, but I encourage you to listen to the full episode of “What Alcohol does to your body, brain & health.”

Some parts are a bit technical, and I have tried my best to capture the concepts accurately. Lastly, the context for most of the episode is for people drinking on average 1-2 drinks per night or 7-14 drinks a week.

Alcohol

Alcohol is both water and fat soluble and can easily pass into all the cells and tissues of your body. Alcohol is toxic and when ingested it is converted into acetal aldehyde, a poison which damages and kills cells.

Acetal aldehyde is then converted in the liver into acetate to be used as fuel. But this process of conversion produces another toxic molecule, which if the conversion doesn’t happen fast enough, causes a buildup of acetal aldehyde which causes more damage. This process is what makes liver cells so susceptible to damage.

Acetal aldehyde is what leads to being drunk and being drunk is basically a “poison induced disruption in the way your neural circuits work.”

Alcohol and Your Brain

A recent study looked at the grey and white matter of over 30,000 middle aged, healthy adults in the UK. Even in those drinking 1-2 drinks per day on average (7-14 days per week) showed evidence of thinning of the neocortex and other regions of the brain.

Because it is both water and fat soluble, alcohol can cross the blood brain barrier. It seems to impact some parts of the brain more than others. It suppresses the prefrontal cortex and top-down inhibition, it shuts down parts of the brain responsible for considering different options, and impacts memory formation and storage.

Drinking alcohol also increases habitual and impulsive behavior, in both the short term and long term. The more often someone drinks the more the neural circuits which control impulsive and habitual behavior change. This in turn makes people more impulsive and more habitual even when they are not drinking. Fortunately, for most people if they stop drinking for at least 2 to 6 months their brain circuitry can recover.

Mood, well-being, and self-image all rely on serotonin. And alcohol also causes dramatic changes in neuron activity which controls the release of serotonin. Alcohol initially makes mood circuitry hyperactive but as the alcohol wears off people end up feeling more down. However, there is a subset of people (due to genes or who are regular heavy drinkers) who as they ingest more and more alcohol, get more alert and more energetic.

Alcohol also changes the relationship between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenals. This in turn impacts the release of adrenaline and cortisol. People who drink regularly experience changes which result in more cortisol being released when they are NOT drinking. This means these people will feel more stressed and anxious when they are not drinking.

Alcohol and Your Gut

The gut and liver communicate by chemical and neural signaling. The liver also communicates with the brain. Any amount of alcohol disrupts the gut microbiome, which then disrupts these flows of communication. In addition, because alcohol indiscriminately kills bacteria and disrupts the lining of the gut it can give you temporary leaky gut. The impact of these disruptions is increased alcohol consumption by disrupting circuits which control alcohol intake.

In terms of protecting your gut, research, although not in the context of alcohol use disorder, has shown that 2-4 servings of fermented foods can reduce inflammation and improve the gut microbiome.

Sleep

Even one drink near bedtime can impact your sleep as it disrupts the architecture of your sleep (meaning how much REM, deep, and light sleep you get). Depending on how much one has had to drink, poor sleep can also contribute to the feelings of hangover.

Impact of Alcohol on Weight

Alcohol is empty calories because the process of conversion is metabolically expensive but there is no real nutrition derived from the process.

Alcohol and Women

It is well documented that due to its toxicity, alcohol can alter DNA methylation and gene expression. This is associated with significant Increases in the risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer for women. There is a well-documented relationship between alcohol intake and breast cancer and some studies have suggested a 4 – 13% increase in the risk of breast cancer for every 10g/day of alcohol consumed. In the US this roughly equates to a 12-ounce beer or 1 glass of wine.

The more someone drinks, the greater the risk of cancer, as alcohol increases “tumor growth and decreases molecules which suppress and combat tumor growth.” And lastly, alcohol increases the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. This may be one reason for increased risk of estrogen related cancers in women.

There is some evidence that taking folate and other B vitamins, especially vitamin B12, might address some of the negative effects of alcohol.

Surprising Facts

People who have a genetic predisposition to alcoholism tend to feel more alert, energized, and good for longer periods of time than occasional drinkers and can drink more.

Regarding alcoholism, both genes and environment play a role. There is not any one single gene for alcoholism. Although, if you have an immediate relative who is a chronic abuser, you have a greater predisposition to becoming an alcoholic. And those who start drinking at a younger age (seemingly before 21), are at a greater risk for developing alcoholism than someone who starts drinking later.

Having an occasional drink (every 3-4 weeks for example) won’t cause major health concerns for most people.

Feelings of increased anxiety and stress are to be expected as you stop drinking but will dissipate eventually.

Parting Thought

This was one of the more depressing podcasts which I have listened to given how much I enjoy drinking wine and champagne. I don’t see myself completely giving up alcohol, but it does make me rethink how often and how much I am drink. I’m always a believer it is better to have the information than not, and hopefully you feel the same! Lastly, at around 1:16 of the episode he discusses various strategies which might help with addressing hangovers.

To be continued…