This guide is about the effects drinking alcohol can have on your health. We will explore the latest research on how alcohol affects your organ systems or disease risks, and then share some recommendations on how to reduce those risks.
After seeing the research, some people may want to stop drinking entirely. Others people may want to make a tradeoff between their physical health and their social health or enjoyment. Here you will learn what those risks are so you can make an informed decision about how much and when to drink. You will also learn how to to reduce the negative health risks and severity of hangovers if you do decide to drink.
When you have a drink, what is in it? Ethanol is the main ingredient in alcohol, responsible for the feeling of being intoxicated. It is also the cause of many of the health risks associated with alcohol intake.
Ethanol is a toxin to humans, and it is filtered out of your bloodstream by your liver. However, ethanol is not the only chemical found in alcoholic beverages. Most drinks are not pure ethanol, and have many other substances — including sugar, congeners, sulfites and more.
What all is in your drink?
Congeners
Congeners are non-ethanol substances found within alcoholic beverages. These substances include methanol, acetone, esters, tannins, acetaldehyde, and aldehydes.
Drinks high in congeners include whiskey, cognac, and tequila. Bourbon whiskey is exceptionally high in congeners. On the other hand, colorless drinks — like vodka, gin, or rum — generally have lower levels of congeners.
Alcoholic drinks with high levels of congeners seem to increase the frequency and intensity of hangovers. Studies suggest that methanol is strongly associated with hangover symptoms. *
Sulfites, Tannins, and Histamines in Wine
Nearly all wine contains sulfites because the fermentation of yeast creates sulfites as a byproduct. Many winemakers also add sulfur dioxide to preserve the taste and color of wine.
Some people are sensitive to sulfites and can experience a variety of symptoms including breathing difficulties, skin reactions like hives, or digestive problems like abdominal pain or diarrhea. Sulfites can also be found in other foods such as dried fruit, soy sauce, and pickles.
If you are someone who experiences wine headaches, sulfites are likely not to blame. The other compounds found in wine, namely the tannins and histamines from grape skins and seeds might be causing your headaches.
Histamines and tannins are higher in red wine, specifically Cabernet Sauvignon than in white wines like Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Grigios and Rieslings.
Sulfites can be found in both red and white wine, though some wines are specifically sulfite-free.
Sugars
Many alcohols don’t contain sugar. Some wines can have sugar, depending on how “dry” they are.
However, mixers and soft drinks are often added to alcohol that contain massive amounts of sugar. Many cocktails therefore end up having a lot of sugar, which makes them more tasty but also adds yet another negative variable to the mix.
Here are a few of the mixed drinks that are highest in sugar...
(For reference, an average chocolate chip cookie contains 11g of sugar)
Pimms — 25g of sugar
Espresso Martini — 25g of sugar
Moscow Mule — 23g of sugar
Sangria — 22g
Mimosa — 21g
Mai Tai — 17g
Pina Colada — 14g
Avoiding sugary cocktails can be one way to mitigate the impact if you are drinking, especially more than one. Or in some cases they can be ordered with less sugar, ie. a “skinny margarita.”
Calories
Alcohol is a dense source of calories. It provides 7 calories per gram! Remember, carbs and protein supply 4 calories per gram and fat is 9 calories per gram. In a cocktail, sugar from mixers adds additional calories.
Based on this, someone who is very serious about losing bodyfat and trying to remain in a calorie deficit should probably avoid drinking alcohol frequently.
Here’s how alcohol stacks up against a serving of other common beverages...
8 oz sparkling water — 0 calories
8 oz orange juice — 100 calories
8 oz 1% milk — 100 calories
5 oz red wine — 120 calories
12 oz craft beer — 170 calories
The Research
There are obvious risks associated with drinking alcohol: increased risk of injuries, dependency, and diseases like cancer. But there are other lesser-known effects on your gut-brain axis, sleep quality, and hormones.
You can decide for yourself what to set your alcohol targets to once you see the literature and decide how much risk you can take.
Classifying your current Intake
People can be categorized by how often they drink, especially in context of scientific studies that explore the effects at various levels (ie. moderate drinkers). These are based on how much and how often.
Non-drinker: Consume no alcohol for health, religious, or personal preferences. People who used to drink but no longer do are labeled as “current abstainers”.
Occasional Drinker: consume alcohol less than 1 day per week. These people are usually drinking once or twice a month in social settings or for special occasions.
Moderate Drinker: Consume 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks per day, one or more times per week.
Overconsumer: Consume more than 3 or 4 drinks in a single day, or more than 2 drinks per day.
Risks of Consuming Alcohol
Alcohol consumption is associated (based on studies) with many risks such as chronic disease, acute diseases, and injuries. Alcohol consumption is associated with a variety of short- and long-term health risks, including motor vehicle crashes, violence, high blood pressure, and various cancers *
Patterns of heavy episodic drinking (as defined by 60g of alcohol in a day) increase these risks to a much higher degree. **
Risks of Moderate Drinking
While moderate drinking has less risks then overconsumption or binge drinking, there are still risks associated with even moderate or occasional levels of drinking.
A moderate volume of alcohol consumption can increase your risk of developing the following major diseases:
- Infections such as tuberculosis and lower respiratory infections like pneumonia. **
- Cancer of mouth, nasopharynx, esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, and breast (females) **
- Unipolar depressive disorders *
- Sleep disorders *
- Cardiac problems including hypertensive heart disease, hemorrhagic stroke, conduction disorders and other dysrhythmias. *
- Preterm birth complications and fetal alcohol syndrome. *
- Injuries: For injuries, except suicide, blood alcohol concentration was the most important dimension of alcohol use. *
Most disease categories showed monotonic relationships with the volume of alcohol used. The more alcohol consumed, the higher the risk of disease or death. Exceptions were ischaemic diseases and diabetes, with curvilinear relationships (J-shaped curve), suggesting that there might be some beneficial effects of light to moderate drinking in people without heavy irregular drinking occasions. *
Does this mean alcohol is good for you in small amounts?
Not necessarily, since this is just measuring correlation and not causation.
You may have seen studies claiming that non-drinkers have a lower life expectancy than moderate or occasional drinkers, leading you to believe that the occasional drink must be healthier than not drinking at all. These are interesting to note, but don’t address a large confounding factor: many people stop drinking when their health is poor, either voluntarily or because many medications require you to stop drinking alcohol. *
Occasional drinking seems to have little effect on the risk of developing certain diseases like diabetes, but a very large effect on your risk of developing other diseases like cancer.
What about antioxidants in red wine?
The plant compound resveratrol is found in grapes used to make red wine. It has been investigated for many possible health effects, including cancer prevention. However, researchers have found no association between moderate consumption of red wine and reduced risk of developing prostate cancer * or colorectal cancer *
If you enjoy red wine and don’t notice any negative effects, then that is fine. However, studies have concluded that drinking wine for its health benefits from resveratrol are not worth it. You’d have to drink an incredible amount, and even then the evidence doesn't even really support its efficacy as a great health supplement. * Sorry!
What is alcohol doing to your body?
Alcohol is both fat and water-soluble, making it a substance that can easily permeate all of your body’s cells, membranes, and barriers. This means nearly every part of your body will be affected by the consumption of alcohol — including your brain, liver, immune system, gut microbiome, heart, reproductive organs, and even your bones.
Take a look at the ways that moderate levels of drinking can affect your different organs..
Liver
Ethanol is metabolized primarily in the liver. It is converted to acetate, which is then broken down to carbon dioxide and water, and provide calories to your body.
Alcohol (ethanol) → toxin called acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) → Acetate
This process creates a chemical called acetaldehyde. Although acetaldehyde is short-lived (before it is further broken down into acetate), it has the potential to cause significant damage. Acetaldehyde is a known carcinogen.
In the liver, exposure to the toxic compounds associated with alcohol metabolism create pro-inflammatory cytokines that affect liver health, reduce its function, and can increase inflammation throughout the body.
While most of the ethanol in the body is broken down in the liver — by enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) — some alcohol is also broken down in the pancreas, brain, and gastrointestinal tract, also exposing these tissues to the toxic compounds involved in alcohol metabolism. *, *, *, *, *
Brain
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works, changing mood, behavior, coordination, and productivity. *
• Alcohol suppresses GABA, the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in your nervous system. It can also inhibit the function of your prefrontal cortex, the most advanced part of your brain.
This decreases top-down inhibition and decreases impulse control. This makes us less cautious and more inclined to do things we would normally be shy or hesitant about, though sometimes this is the intentional reason to drink. *
• Affects the hippocampus and its ability to store memories
• Alteration of serotonin (a neurological modulator that affects mood) sharply increases mood, then subsequently lowers mood, causing you to seek out more alcohol to boost mood again*
• Reduces cortical thickness (shrinks brain structure and connections) even in moderate drinking (1-2 drinks per day) *
• Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways and can affect the way the brain looks and works. Alcohol makes it harder for the brain areas controlling balance, memory, speech, and judgment to do their jobs, resulting in a higher likelihood of injuries and other negative outcomes. Long-term, heavy drinking causes alterations in the neurons, such as reductions in their size. *
• The negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases. *
• Alcohol can increase the body’s production of dopamine and serotonin, two of the body’s ‘happy hormones, it can temporarily make us feel less anxious. After drinking, however, dopamine and serotonin levels drop (as well as blood sugar levels) leading to worsened anxiety.
• Increased serotonin during the acute phase of drinking makes it harder for people to stop drinking and puts them at risk of becoming reliant on alcohol to manage anxiety, leading to other physical and mental health problems.
• Alcohol consumption raises circulating glucocorticoid levels. Prolonged high concentrations of glucocorticoids such as cortisol are known to have detrimental effects on neuronal function and cognition.
Heart
Alcohol and the cardiovascular system have a complicated relationship.
The consumption of ethanol in low amounts seems to be fine for the heart, although there is a higher risk of dysrhythmias and hypertension for women at “moderate” alcoholic intakes. **
Alcohol inhibits the activation of the vagus nerve to slow your sympathetic nervous system. Initially, this decreases blood pressure up to 12 hours after ingestion There is also a drop in blood pressure associated with the changes in fluid balance after drinking (see kidneys). A few hours later, blood pressure can become elevated.
A meta-analysis found that chronic consumption of alcoholic beverages was associated with a high incidence of hypertension in men and women. It also found that, in women the risk begins at moderate alcohol consumption.*
Consuming more than 20 g ethanol/day (~1 to 2 drinks/day) significantly increased risk of HTN in women, and higher amounts (31 to 40 g/day) increased risk of HTN in men. *
Heart disease risk hasn’t been perfectly associated with alcohol intake (this is one of those diseases that seems to present a J-shaped relationship with disease risk) but there is some evidence that heavy drinkers are more likely to develop heart disease. ***
Other diseases of the cardiovascular system, including hypertensive heart disease, hemorrhagic stroke, conduction disorders and other dysrhythmias, however, are associated with alcohol consumption, even in moderate amounts. *
The lowest risk of mortality and cardiovascular events is likely to be associated with lower levels of drinking, up to approximately 105g a week. *
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion (binge drinkers) can damage the heart, causing problems including:
- Cardiomyopathy (Stretching and drooping of heart muscle)
- Arrhythmias (Irregular heartbeat)
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
In short, some drinking doesn’t seem to be bad for your heart (unlike other organs like liver and brain which are significantly impacted), but does still seem to have some risks to be aware of.
Immune System
Alcohol impacts your immune system, which means you may be at a greater risk of getting sick after drinking.
Alcohol affects the cilia in your upper airways to reduce their ability to remove pathogens, impairs the function and even destroys some immune cells. It weakens the barrier formed by your epithelia in your lower airways to protect you from the outside world. *
Moderate drinkers who consume alcohol many days of the week are more likely to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who drink less often. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections for up to 24 hours after getting drunk. *
In addition to being more susceptible to infections, there is evidence that alcohol may slow your recovery from trauma and prevent wounds from healing.
Additionally, when alcohol comes in contact with your digestive system, it affects the structure, function, and integrity of your gastrointestinal tract, the location of over 70% percent of your immune system. Alcohol damages important immune cells such as T cells and neutrophils and even the lining of your GI tract, allowing leakage of microbes into your bloodstream.
Allowing substances from your gut to enter your bloodstream increases inflammation throughout the body, especially in the liver (the location where blood is filtered). This inflammation triggers alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), a condition that affects more than 2 million Americans and which eventually may lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Alcohol also alters the microbes in your gut, restricting the communication, maturation, and function of beneficial gut microbes, which can also result in a weaker immune system.
Gut microbiome
Alcohol can kill bacteria. This is why people used to put rubbing alcohol on cuts and scrapes (now it is recommended to wash with gentle soap and water instead, as alcohol is harsh even for cuts).
People used to think of bacteria as harmful pathogens, but it turns out some are actually an essential part of your body, and especially useful in your gut. Drinking too much alcohol disrupts the normal balance of bacteria in your gut (dysbiosis).
Unfortunately, drinking can increase the bacteria that cause inflammation and irritation in the gut and kill the beneficial bacteria, decreasing your body’s ability to digest food, fight pathogens, create beneficial short-chain fatty acids and vitamins, and altering your gut-brain axis. *
The disruption of microbiota can have an impact on normal physiology. It is not fully understood, but seems to play a role in inflammation, depression, obesity, and addiction. *
Depression: The microbiota-derived metabolites may act as the key signaling molecules of gut-brain interactions, including the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. *
The presence of alcohol also upregulates the synthesis of bacteria that are able to breakdown ethanol into the toxic compound acetaldehyde as discussed earlier, increasing the exposure of your GI tract to the toxin. This is one of the mechanisms that increase the risk of colorectal cancer and other pathologies in alcoholics.
Adrenals and Stress
Drinking alters your body’s levels of important hormones like dopamine, cortisol, serotonin, and even sex hormones like testosterone.
Alcohol impacts your adrenal glands, one of the key players in the HPA axis. This organ is responsible for your “fight or flight” hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Even moderate drinkers experience an increase in these stress hormone levels when they drink, increases that can have long-term affects on stress and anxiety levels even long after drinking.
Cortisol’s main function is to increase blood glucose levels, and alter protein and fat metabolism to ultimately support and “feed” your central nervous system during stress. (That’s one of the reasons why you crave sugar during stressful times
High levels of cortisol can also influence cardiovascular function, learning, memory, inflammation, immune reactions, and arousal. This is why the HPA axis tightly regulates cortisol homeostasis — your body needs just enough stress to keep you motivated and function correctly, but not too much or all these systems will be affected.
A healthy stress response includes a quick rise in cortisol levels, followed by a rapid decline of cortisol when the stressful event is over. When you’re constantly burdened by stress, cortisol levels never return to normal. This increased exposure to glucocorticoids increases systemic inflammation and causes increased “wear and tear” on your brain and metabolic systems.
Acute alcohol consumption (even seen in moderate, or social drinkers) activates the HPA axis, resulting in elevated cortisol and causing adaptations that prolong cortisol from returning to normal, healthy levels. ***
Sex Hormones
Alcohol stimulates the production of aromatase enzyme (the enzyme which converts testosterone into estrogen). The higher concentration of estrogen in the body can increase breast cancer risk for women, and for men increases breast size and fat storage, and decreases sex drive.
Its hypothesized that the drinking-related increases in estrogen levels may be partially responsible for the associated increased risk for breast cancer in women. *
Teeth
Cocktails often mix sugar and an acid (wine, brandy, tomato juice, lemon or lime), which is unfortunately a harmful combination for the health of your teeth.
A pH below 5.5 can damage enamel, and even a squeeze of lime or lemon affects acidity. Dentists recommend you follow cocktails with a drink of water to reduce the length of exposure to your enamel. Drinking water is also a good idea for many other reasons also.
Water and salt balance
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it disrupts vasopressin pathways in your kidneys to excrete more water through your urine. It can lead to dehydration and create imbalances in electrolytes.
Following moderate alcohol consumption—just 1 milliliter of alcohol per kilogram of body weight (about 24 oz for the average person) — alcohol-induced urination reduces plasma volume, resulting in an increased concentration of plasma sodium. Blood pressure and plasma potassium concentration are decreased, throwing your body’s electrolyte balance off. This is one of the reasons why you feel terrible during a hangover. *
Chronic alcoholic patients experience low blood concentrations of key electrolytes, as well as potentially severe alterations in the body’s acid-base balance. In addition, alcohol can disrupt the hormonal control mechanisms that govern kidney function. *
Genes
Alcohol alters gene expression, contributing to the development of many types of cancer.
According to the National Cancer Institute: “There is a strong scientific consensus that alcohol drinking can cause several types of cancer.” In its Report on Carcinogens, the National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services lists consumption of alcoholic beverages as a known human carcinogen.
"The evidence indicates that the more alcohol a person drinks — particularly the more alcohol a person drinks regularly over time —the higher his or her risk of developing alcohol-associated cancer. Even those who have no more than one drink per day and people who binge drink (those who consume 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more drinks for men in one sitting) have a modestly increased risk of some cancers. Based on data from 2009, an estimated 3.5% of cancer deaths in the United States (about 19,500 deaths) were alcohol-related." **
Sleep Quality
Alcohol acts as a sedative that interacts with several neurotransmitter systems important in the regulation of sleep. Acute administration of large amounts of alcohol prior to sleep helps you fall asleep faster but disrupts sleep later in the night as blood alcohol concentration increase resulting in poor quality sleep *
The development of alcohol use disorder (AUD) involves binge or heavy drinking to high levels of intoxication that leads to compulsive intake, the loss of control in limiting intake, and a negative emotional state when alcohol is removed. *
Even one drink can alter sleep quality.
Alcohol is a CNS depressant and slows brain activity. Initially it acts as a sedative, helping you fall asleep faster. But instead of experiencing restorative sleep, you enter a pseudo-sleep that makes you more tired the next day.
Alcohol increases the time spent in slow wave sleep in the first half of the night and decreases the amount of time you spend in rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, the state of sleep that is the most restorative. It also increases wakefulness in the second half of the night and puts you in more restless, stage one sleep.
The poor quality of sleep brought on by alcohol consumption can lead to a cycle that is hard to break. Insomnia is self-treated with alcohol to help you fall asleep faster, subsequent poor sleep, daytime sleepiness that is self-treated with caffeine, the caffeine worsens insomnia, requiring more alcohol to fall asleep, etc.
It's estimated that alcohol is used by more than one in ten individuals as a hypnotic agent to self-medicate sleep problems *
Bodyfat
You may have heard the term “beer belly.” Does alcohol cause you to gain fat more than other foods?
ANY food in excess can make you gain weight due to a calorie surplus. Alcohol is considered “empty calories” because it is quite caloric without providing any useful nutrients like vitamins and minerals to your body. This alone is quite a problem.
Switches off fat-burning metabolism. Due to its toxicity, when alcohol is consumed, it becomes first priority to metabolize (even before sugar, which is typically first). The liver immediately stops other functions until the alcohol is cleared from your body. This causes your fat-burning metabolic pathways to come to a halt. The fats and carbs that are present in your bloodstream for the hours it takes your liver to clear the alcohol from your system are more likely to be stored as excess body fat. **
Less satiating nutrients Alcohol doesn’t contribute to feelings of fullness like other foods. In fact, it’s one of the least satiating nutrients and might even magnify your inability to feel full. Studies show that your body doesn’t compensate for alcohol calories by eating less later, making calorie-overconsumption (and weight gain) more likely.
This is one of the reasons, along with decreased willpower/inhibition, that creates a perfect storm for overeating while consuming alcohol.
Lowers willpower Alcohol consumed before or with meals tends to increase food intake. We can blame this on the inhibitory side effect of alcohol. While intoxicated, you become less aware of the amounts and types of foods you eat and your health goals might feel less important. *
These three aspects combined can make it harder to lose fat when consuming alcohol is a regular part of your meals. Cutting back on alcohol might help you reach your fat loss goals more quickly or reliably.
Muscles
There is some evidence that alcohol might affect muscle synthesis in men.
After drinking alcohol, testicular testosterone is decreased which lowers the concentration of available testosterone, an important anabolic hormone in the bloodstream of men.
When alcohol is consumed after a workout, it suppresses your body’s ability to create new muscle, resulting in impaired recovery and adaptation to training, but especially performance. ****
Who should be avoiding alcohol altogether?
Based on the evidence and dietary guidelines around the world, the following people really shouldn’t be consuming alcohol:
- Women who are pregnant or might be pregnant.
- People younger than age 21.
- People with certain medical conditions (such as liver disease, cancers, etc) or are taking certain medications that can interact with alcohol.
- People recovering from an alcohol use disorder or if they are unable to control the amount they drink.
If I stop now, can I return to low risk?
Abstaining from alcohol will gradually rebalance brain circuitry and adrenal response (lower cortisol).
Over time your risk of cancer will decline as well! **
Who should consider cutting back on alcohol?
How much alcohol you can safely drink can depend on your goals, your sex, your health, etc. From the evidence, the following people might consider dialing back to occasional drinking or stopping altogether:
- people who are trying to lose bodyfat
- people with sleep disorders
- people with mental health disorders
- people with breast cancer in their family history
- women who are breastfeeding
Not drinking alcohol also is the safest option for women who are lactating.
Generally, moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages by a woman who is lactating (up to 1 standard drink in a day) is not known to be harmful to the infant, especially if the woman waits at least 2 hours after a single drink before nursing or expressing breast milk. Women considering consuming alcohol during lactation should talk to their healthcare provider. *
How to Drink Responsibly
The safest way is to not drink altogether, as the risks mentioned above are significant and serious. However, some people really enjoy alcohol and know they’ll never stop entirely. In that case, you should try to find balance to stay an occasional or moderate drinker, rather than venturing into overconsumption territory and much higher disease risk?
Now for the fun part...
If you are drinking, how can you do it safely? How can you avoid a terrible hangover the next day?
You may have heard different drinking advice about the timing or type of alcohol you drink. Sayings such as “Beer Before Liquor, Never Sicker; Liquor Before Beer, You're In The Clear” or maybe the advice that having an alcoholic drink the morning after a binge will help your hangover.
These myths are catchy but have no scientific grounding. Here’s what to do instead...
Before drinking
Prior to drinking, it is recommended to have a balanced meal (not an empty stomach) as well as to drink some water.
While drinking
Alcoholic drinks are not all the same — as you saw above, some may have more congeners or calories or sugar or other combinations. Which drink you order (and how many) can be something you optimize to reduce the impact.
1. Drink water before, during, and after drinking alcohol. This is simple but very important. Best practice: drink a glass of water before you drink, one glass between drinks, and a glass after. This will help your body maintain better fluid balance and make it easier on your body’s detoxification systems, while also helping you consume less alcohol in a sitting.
Pair the water with electrolytes from food and you’ll decrease the negative effects further.
Other beverages you can try that might prevent alcohol-related liver damage: Green tea, Honey Chrysanthemum tea, Soda water, milk thistle
Avoid drinking energy drinks along with alcohol, because the combination could lead to ethanol-related liver damage*
2. Never Drink on an Empty Stomach
You should always eat before and while consuming alcohol. If you drink first and “chase” with food after, the damage has already been done.
Without food, alcohol enters the bloodstream rapidly, and even more rapidly when your stomach is empty. (Similar to sugar, which also has the same recommendation of not eating on an empty stomach or by its own for this reason)
Eating balanced meals that contain a source of protein, carbohydrates, and fat appears to be the best at slowing the uptake of alcohol into your bloodstream and protecting your liver.
Additionally, having food in your stomach before you start drinking can reduce your chance of experiencing gastritis. *
3. Choose lower calorie, lower-sugar beverage options. Sugary cocktails and craft beers tend to be higher in calories. Be aware of serving sizes and opt for drinks like vodka soda, white wine, hard seltzer, tequila with lime, or other low-sugar lower-calorie options.
This helps you avoid the problems from a glucose spike, and also helps keep your nutrient density high by not having a significant percentage of your energy intake as empty calories from alcohol.
4. Avoid drinking right before bed: Ideally, you want to be sober by the time you sleep so your sleep quality isn’t affected as much. Try to time your eating and drinking to be at least a few hours before bedtime to reduce the negative impact on your sleep quality.
For example, drinking around 6 or 7pm (but remember, not on an empty stomach!) would be much better than drinking at midnight.
You can experiment with this yourself by looking at your sleep score, HRV and resting heart rate metrics in the app and comparing drinking nights with non-drinking nights, or comparing nights when you drank early with right before bed.
5. Avoid drinks with congeners or tannins. Some alcohols may cause worse hangovers due to the other substances in them. Some studies suggest lighter alcohols may have less of these. With some experimentation, you can find which affects you less the next day.
After drinking
1. Exercise: Exercise is associated with brain health. The mechanisms by which exercise benefits the brain directly counteract the mechanisms by which alcohol damages it. *
2. Take B12 and Folate. These nutrients promote healthy gene expression, so they might offset some of the cancer risk slightly (but not completely removed) *
3. Eat 2-4 servings of low-sugar, fermented foods each day This can help your body balance inflammation that is brought on by alcohol consumption. These include fermented dairy products like kefir, yogurt (brands with active, live cultures and no sugar), kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and miso. Alcohol typically damages your gut bacteria, so this can help to hopefully reduce some of that damage. *
Ways to reduce drinking
Only at specific times
For some people, drinking can become a habit. You may just order a glass of wine with your meal as a habit without getting much benefit or enjoyment.
Setting only a specific time for drinking — like weekends or special occasions or on birthdays — can help reduce mindless drinking at every meal and limit your disease risk while not needing to stop entirely.
Not drinking late at night can also help. For example only drinking only with dinner. This is useful for other reasons as well, as mentioned above.
Trying non-alcoholic drinks
If you like the taste or social aspect of drinking, try ordering these beverages when you’re out with friends instead:
De-alcoholized or “non-alcoholic” beer. Many craft breweries make at least one 0-0.5% beer. The flavor is the same, but without the negative effects of alcohol. As an extra bonus, these drinks are significantly lower in calories as well! You can also just alternate between alcoholic and nonalcoholic beers when you are out with friends to help you lower your overall alcohol consumption.
Sparkling water. These beverages are very hydrating. With so many different varieties out there, you’re sure to find something you like. It’s more interesting than just drinking plain water while everyone else has cocktails. Here’s what some of our Gyroscope coaches like to choose when they’re out...
- Voss sparkling water
- Liquid Death
- La Croix (mango, peach or lime flavors)
- Topo Chico
- Sparkling water with lime, crushed raspberries, or a touch of stevia
Mocktails: Many restaurants and bars now have mocktails. Try to avoid very sugary drinks, but you may be able to find a non-alcoholic drink that you enjoy.
Kombucha: This fermented tea will still give you a lightly fermented taste (because it does contain a tiny bit of alcohol as a byproduct of the fermentation process) but fewer calories, and a source of beneficial bacteria! Try different varieties of kombucha, but steer clear of the alcoholic kombucha varieties, or ones that are really high in sugar.
White wine spritzers: Mix half a glass of white wine with half a glass or more of sparkling water. This gets you two glasses for the price and calories of one!