The silly season is fast approaching and with it a likely increase in alcohol consumption for most people. While I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I also feel obliged to share the information I know about alcohol as I wish I had learned it sooner for myself.

Before I get into the cons of alcohol, let’s first look at the pros. You should know, there aren't many.

The most obvious pro is alcohol's ability to make you more social, and more confident, and it seems that is one of the most common reasons people choose to drink alcohol. To have a good time. Now I am not against having fun, but I do think that if you are relying on alcohol to have fun at social events, you may have a bigger problem, you may need to step back and look at why it is you and or everyone else feels the need to be drunk when together. The second pro I believe relates to alcohol is when it complements a meal. When it complements the flavours of food. When it enhances the experience. However, drinking alcohol to enhance a dinner experience doesn't mean you need to get drunk. 1-2 glasses in this situation should be and can be enough.

So how much is an okay amount to drink?

A recent study conducted in the UK showed that drinking 3-4 alcoholic drinks a night clearly increases neurodegeneration in the outer layer of the brain, the areas involved with memory, planning and regulating mood. However, people drinking 1-2 drinks a night or 7-14 drinks on the weekend will also likely suffer some brain degeneration (1).

Let’s break it down.

Alcohol is water soluble and fat soluble which means when you drink alcohol it can pass into all of the cells and tissues of your body. The fact that it can do this is what makes alcohol so damaging to cells.

When you drink alcohol a coenzyme called NAD converts alcohol into a poisonous chemical know as acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde kills cells. The body then turns acetaldehyde into acetate which can be used as energy, however, the energy from alcohol is purely empty calories, meaning it contains no nutrients, no vitamins or minerals. If your body cannot complete this process fast enough that is when acetaldehyde can build up in your body and cause more damage. This whole process takes place in the liver, so the cells in your liver really take a beating because they are often exposed to this toxic chemical acetaldehyde.

Acetaldehyde is actually what causes you to feel drunk. When some people can feel drunk from 1-2 drinks, myself included, it’s because their body isn’t as efficient at processing acetaldehyde into acetate.

What happens in the brain?

Firstly, there is a suppression in the activity of neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This part of your brain is in control of thinking, planning and suppression of impulsive behaviour. Notice how at parties people slowly start to become louder, dance more or say things they normally wouldn’t say? That is a result of the prefrontal cortex being shut down.

You may have heard that this is also the last area of the brain to develop in later teen years, hence teenagers are renowned for having greater impulsive behaviours. And when we drink it is clear we revert back to similar behaviours.

Alcohol also suppresses the part of the brain responsible for memory formation, hence we often forget what happened on a night out. What I find really interesting is that over the long term of drinking, say every Friday night or every Saturday night, the neural circuits in your brain actually change! Regular alcohol consumption causes them to physically change. And they change in a way that makes the people who are regular drinkers more impulsive outside the times in which they are actually consuming alcohol AND when they drink impulsive behaviour tends to increase even further. Now, this change in brain function is reversible for some people. You can revert that brain circuitry back. For people who have been drinking moderately, buy taking 2-6 months off alcohol can help to revert that brain circuitry back and improve brain function again.

It’s important to note if you are having 1-2 drinks occasionally, say once a month, that is not going to cause significant damage. When I say moderate drinking I mean 1-2 drinks a night or 7-14 drinks on a weekend. For more heavy drinkers, say 3-4 drinks a night, there is no set time that can help revert this damage, quitting alcohol or becoming completely sober would be your best chance at beginning to reverse any damage.

Serotonin

Before we leave the brain and head to the gut I think it is important to briefly touch on how alcohol affects our mood and feelings of well-being. The toxins from alcohol cause the communication between neurons for serotonin to first become hyperactive, increasing our levels of serotonin, and making us feel fantastic. You become confident, happy, and talkative and then as you drink more alcohol or the alcohol starts to wear off, serotonin levels really start to drop off. So then what do you do? Go and get another drink in an attempt to restore that feeling. However, most people as they drink more and more start to feel low, they have less motor control, and less alertness. These effects can last for up to four days after drinking alcohol. You may be familiar with that post-night-out anxiety or depression.

What happens in the gut?

I’m sure you have heard of the gut-brain axis. Your gut and your brain communicate through neurons and chemical signalling. Any amount of alcohol produces a disruption in the gut microbiome (2). The trillions of little micro bacteria that live inside your gut signal to your brain to increase the release of serotonin (happiness and mood) and dopamine (involved in emotions and feeling of reward) and regulate your mood. Alcohol disrupts this communication as it kills bacteria, that includes the bacteria in our gut!

Now I know this all sounds dreary and negative. But a positive side of alcohol affecting the gut microbiota means we can also implement things into our diet to begin to reverse these negative effects. And the most effective way to do that is through fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, Keifer, and low-sugar yoghurts that have active bacteria. They will help reduce inflammation and support healthy gut bacteria. 2-4 servings a day have been shown to improve gut function, however, if you don’t have any of these foods in your diet at all, I recommend slowly introducing them into your diet a few times a week.

Food and alcohol

I always believed that if I or someone was drinking that eating something was the one way to sober up. It turns out that does not work. However, if you eat something before drinking alcohol or during drinking it will slow the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. Especially if that meal or food contains carbohydrates, fats AND proteins. The combination of all macronutrients slows the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream far more than any one of those macronutrient groups alone. Ensuring that you have had a well-balanced meal before heading out for the night can help slow the negative effects of alcohol.

What can you do about the dreaded hangover?

I could not find any sound research that supported one thing that could cure hangovers. However, there are a number of things you could try together that may lessen the feeling of a hangover. The most beneficial is making sure you have proper electrolyte balance. For every glass of alcohol, I would recommend 2 glasses of water, or even better a glass of water with electrolytes! If you don’t want to be the one who takes their electrolytes to a party I completely understand! You could always have some before you go to sleep or when you wake in the morning. The other method I would recommend is taking a cold shower. Cold exposure has a long list of health benefits and can only help with the negative effects of being hungover.

Summary

To sum up all of this information, as little as 1-2 drinks a night can have negative effects on your brain and body; however, they are reversible. Some negative effects on emotion regulation and mood may take many months to revert. When drinking alcohol occasionally, ensure you stay hydrated and aim to add fermented foods into your diet as often as you can.

You've made it to the end of this blog, and I couldn't be more excited to have you here! If you want to learn more, you can listen to any of our other episodes on health and fitness.

If there's anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to reach out!

References

(1). Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank: https://go.nature.com/3PNFj7y

(2). Alcohol and Gut-Derived Inflammation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513683/