Alcohol consumption is one of those topics that doctors can’t seem to agree on.
You’ve probably heard all sorts of conflicting information over the years, mostly thanks to dated research and marketing tactics from the alcohol industry. This isn’t your fault, but it’s still affecting your health — and you deserve to know the truth.
Studies from the early ’90s suggested alcohol could result in longer lifespans. Others highlighted benefits like low blood pressure and a lower risk for heart disease.
But when we look at the facts about alcohol and metabolic health, none of these studies hold water.
Modern research finds an undeniable link between alcohol consumption and poor health outcomes, and even a 43% increase in all-cause mortality. Coupled with higher risks for cancer, depression, and suicide, alcohol consumption no longer seems as fun as the smiling people in the ads may indicate.
In my professional opinion: there is no health benefit to drinking alcohol.
But before we talk about why that is, let’s take a moment to understand its chemistry.
How alcohol interacts with the body
Alcohol is the result of fermentation, a chemical process that breaks down sugar, yeast, or starch molecules into ethanol. You may be familiar with the drinks that result, including mead, beer, and vodka.
However, many of our favorite processed foods go through fermentation as well. Sweetened yogurt is a common example, as well as soy sauce and hamburger bread. While they don’t have the psychoactive properties that result from overindulgence (i.e., getting you drunk), they’re still harmful to our metabolic health.
When you consume an alcoholic beverage, your body converts ethanol molecules into acetaldehyde. This is a toxic carcinogen that breaks into acetate, which then breaks into carbon dioxide and water, which eventually passes out of the body. Organs such as the stomach, small intestine, and pancreas work together to produce the acetaldehyde enzymes and eliminate any ethanol present in your bloodstream.
But this isn’t easy for the body to do. Alcohol molecules are extremely small and dissolve in both fat and water, meaning they can permeate our cells and damage their structures while traveling to organs like the brain.
Ethanol molecules absorbed into your cells penetrate the blood/brain barrier and attach to your GABA receptors. Brain functions slow down, ultimately dulling other bodily processes, lowering your inhibitions and response times. We generally refer to this as intoxication, which may last for several hours.
Intoxication is the most physically obvious way that alcohol can affect your bodily function. However, many of its negative impacts go entirely unseen — leading to toxic buildup in the body and other severe side effects. Even a single drink can:
- Harm white blood cells, reducing your immune system response
- Damage the liver by forcing it to constantly remove toxins
- Reduce the pancreas’s ability to produce insulin
- Inhibit the reparation of bones and muscles
Some sources believe these effects are negligible if consuming ‘moderate’ amounts of alcohol. However, not everyone is able to consume ‘just one drink,’ especially if they struggle with addiction or mental health concerns. Alcohol is an extremely potent and dependency-setting substance, and binge-drinking is the norm for 17% of the American population.
That’s almost one in five people who may not live past their mid-fifties.
Ties between alcohol and your metabolic health
Knowing the above, it’s not hard to imagine alcohol’s impact on metabolic health. After all, alcohol is the byproduct of another toxic product — sugar.
Alcohol and sugar are metabolized in a very similar way. Consuming either one can lead to:
- A spike in insulin
- An increase in body fat
- Higher blood pressure
- Damaged heart muscles (cardiomyopathy)
- Chronic inflammation and high cholesterol
Since added sugar is present in 60% of our food supply, and 70% of Americans drink alcohol every year, most of our cardiovascular systems are in for a beating. The CDC reports heart disease, liver failure, stroke, and cancer as some of the leading chronic diseases associated with alcohol consumption, as well as hypertension, diabetes, and heart attack.
And if you already have some of these issues or have a genetic propensity for disease, you could be shortening your lifespan by up to 10 years.
Moderating alcohol for your metabolic health
The recreational aspect of drinking is simply not worth the risk — especially if you want to live a longer, happier, healthier life. Rather than going cold turkey (which, depending on your current consumption, may be dangerous or even fatal), I recommend starting with baby steps:
- Slowly remove alcohol from your pantry. Give away bottles that aren’t open yet, and drain, throw away, or repurpose others. If you often go out to bars or pubs, consider some ways to reduce your visitation frequency.
- Find healthier substitutions for your favorite alcoholic beverages. Many recipes exist online for kombucha, mocktails, and other popular beverages. Avoid added sugars as much as possible.
- If you feel you may have an alcohol dependency, look for support groups that can help. Traditional organizations like AA have chapters in thousands of US cities, and there are many licensed therapists who would be happy to provide support.
If you can’t or won’t remove alcohol entirely, it’s also worth considering what you’re drinking. If you’re a fan of beers or fruity cocktails made with sugary juices and energy drinks, a good step is to look for alternatives. A scotch on the rocks is a better option than Jack Daniel’s and Coke, for example.
Like anything, moderation is key. If you’re someone who has one or two drinks now and again, you’ve no need to worry yourself about the damage it’s causing. But if you drink daily, hit the bars every week or get drunk regularly, you should evaluate the role of alcohol in your life if you want to stay healthy.
If you’re interested in learning more about the intricacies of alcohol and metabolic health, you can take my self-paced course at any time. We’ll cover the complexities of cardiovascular health, explain how alcohol impacts your hormones, and explore ways to avoid the temptation in the future.