Alcohol
Apr 13, 2024
Health
Recent Posts
Welcome to The Long Haul! Every week, I’ll explore a longevity topic and then give a roundup of the big news in Longevity.
We’re talking about alcohol consumption this week. I think we all know it’s not good for us but I wanted to understand just how bad it was.
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Today's Topic
Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is the 7th leading cause of death worldwide. Limiting alcohol intake is one of the fundamental building blocks of longevity. [1]
Despite knowing this, many people (myself included) continue to drink. For me, it felt like the social benefits of occasional drinking outweigh the impact.
But I wanted to know for sure. So I did some research, to see if I could:
Confirm the social benefit I feel is real
Understand a “healthier” way to drink
Determine if there was an age where it’s healthier to quit
Know exactly the benefit I’ll get if I quit
Here’s what I found.
The social tradeoff
People claim to feel more social when they drink. A systematic review of 36 studies showed that’s true. [5]
Notably, it was found that alcohol doesn’t enhance mood, it just makes us okay with rejection. In science-speak, alcohol “limits our awareness of unstable negative outcomes.” Self-consciousness is out the door!
Drinking culture also connects us. One study found that CEOs in regions with strong drinking cultures have more social connections both in and outside of work. [6]
A different study found participants with a local pub feel more content in their lives and trusting of their community. [7]
So the benefit does seem to exist.
How to do it correctly
The CDC describes “moderate drinking” as 2 drinks/day for men and 1 drink/day for women. [2]
And sorry, Weekend Warriors — having 14 beers on Saturday night is way worse for you. [3]
In a 9-year study of 100,000 people, drinking more shows an increase in overall mortality.
Unfortunately, the studies claiming a little bit of alcohol is good for you have mostly been debunked. [4]
Even worse (for me, a tequila fan):
Wine is the healthiest alcoholic choice, followed by beer. Spirits come in dead last. [8]
Spirits have been shown to have a two-and-a-half times greater effect on increasing biological aging. Wine is shown to have no impact. (Lucky you Mom!) [9]
All in all, there is no “good for you” amount. But wine is less bad.
When should we quit
Beginning at age 50, alcohol has a more intense effect, for longer:
Alcohol is less diluted, because we have a reduced water percentage in our bodies
It breaks down more slowly due to reduced stomach and liver enzymes [10]
That means you get more drunk, causing more potential falls and fractures. Not to mention your hangover is going to take longer to clear.
What happens when we quit
Turns out, a lot! Within a month of quitting, moderate to heavy drinkers will see::
Better sleep quality
Lower blood pressure
Healthier weight
Better liver function
Better insulin resistance [11]
RECAP:
The decisions behind alcohol consumption are complex:
Alcohol is shown to make us more social and provide connection
Try to limit to 1-2 drinks/day
Wine is the healthiest alcohol, followed by beer - spirits are the worst
Quitting at age 50 has greater health benefits
Within a month of quitting, we see health improvements
So take this info and choose your own adventure. Cheers! (Or not.)
The Haul: What you can’t miss in longevity this week
The “delve” test: ChatGPT loves the word delve, finding it in research papers may be a sign a human didn’t write it:
Reframing Exercise: When exercise regimens are broken down by minutes/day instead of hours/week we’re more likely to complete them
Research
Prescription diets reduce hospitalization When doctors prescribe fruits & vegetables and medically tailored meals hospitalizations are 47% lower
Podcasts
ZOE Science & Nutrition helps us beat stress with science:
08:56: Continued stress is correlated with type 2 diabetes and dementia
11:19: Some stress is good for memory and our hippocampus but chronic stress kills hippocampus nerve cells
21:05: Light exposure at the wrong time of day is a huge stressor on our bodies
23:37: 60-80% of all medical cases are somewhat related to stress
32:36: Acknowledge the power of breath work in managing stress - deeper breaths = less stress
Practice 3-4-5 breathing: inhale for 3, hold for 4, exhale for 5
We’ve been updating weekly from great feedback! Reply and let us know if you like the updated Haul.
Thanks for reading.
– Robyn
Interested in advertising? Reach out to robyn@girdley.com.
[2] https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/moderate-drinking.htm
[4] https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002585
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4153408/
[6] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167268123002275
[7] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-016-0058-4
[8] https://zoe.com/learn/healthiest-alcohol
[10] https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2022/age-and-alcohol.html
[11] https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/8/5/e020673.full.pdf
DISCLAIMER: None of this is medical advice. This content is strictly educational.