S23 E10: The One Where I'm A Buzzkill
Surfacing the detrimental effects of alcohol
You’ve probably seen an increasing trend of people quitting alcohol.
I’m one of them.
I committed to entirety of 2023 without alcohol as an experiment to see how it affects my life.
The majority of information in this article is sourced from this Huberman Lab episode (one of the podcasts I mentioned last week).
This is no longer underground knowledge. Canada reduced its guidance on recommended alcohol intake to 2 drinks per week. Down from 15 in men and 10 in women.
The reason for the change in based on the known increased cancer risk and heart disease linked to alcohol.
So how bad is it?
Alcohol Is A Toxin
There is no sugarcoating it.
To get more specific, when the liver breaks down alcohol (ethanol) it turns into a toxin called acetaldehyde.
Acetaldehyde is the chemical compound responsible for inebriation. You’re poisoning your body into an altered state.
The Brain
Part of what makes alcohol so detrimental is its ability to be both fat and water soluble.
This simply means it has the ability to enter any cell in your body — as opposed to many other drugs that bind to receptors on the outside of cells.
This allows alcohol to cross the blood-brain barrier that normally protects the brain from unwanted toxins.
Outside of the immediate effects while drinking, alcohol affects the brain in 3 ways.
Increased stress when not drinking from elevated baseline cortisol levels.
Decreased mood or increased depressive symptoms when not drinking from reduced serotonin levels.
Changes in brain wiring that cause you to drink more to return to baseline hormone levels.
Most of these effects can be reversed after a period of abstinence. The period will be proportional to the length and amount of alcohol consumed.
The Body
Alcohol also has detrimental effects outside the brain.
Alcohol is used for sterilization, but it’s indifferent to what bacteria it kills. This means it kills healthy bacteria in your gut micro-biome when drinking.
Converts testosterone to estrogen. In women this can lead to increased risk of estrogen related cancers and in men it can decrease libido and increase fat storage.
Makes fat loss harder. Beyond the consumption of extra calories, it limits the ability of the liver to oxidize (burn) fat.
Destroys sleep quality. When studied in lab settings, sleeping after alcohol consumption is defined as pseudo-sleep and not considered true sleep.
Causes cancer. Well documented since 1987, alcohol is known to increase the risk of cancer by promoting tumour growth and inhibiting the immune response that fights tumour growth.
For every 10g of alcohol consumed per day (1 drink in the USA, varies around the world) there is an associated 4-13% increased risk of breast cancer. This increased risk is loosely on par with smoking 5-10 cigarettes per week.
As of writing this article there are no documented positive effects of drinking alcohol.