Would I be healthier if I quit drinking? My quest to understand the real tradeoffs of alcohol consumption. The after- work gin and tonic. The bottle of wine over dinner. A few beers on the weekend. Before long, the alcohol adds up. Is that a problem? Can drinking stand in the way of your health and fitness? Do you need to quit drinking to change your body? What do you think about your drinking habits and how they may be affecting your health? Rethinking Drinking can help you get started. Alcohol doesn't have to damage your waistline. Read this before your next night out to beat those cocktail calories. Generally, women are more vulnerable to alcohol poisoning. They feel the effects of alcohol faster than men of the same size. Unfortunately, they’re also more. Or could it actually be good for you? In this article we explore the question in a personal way.++++“Should I take a break from booze?”Have you ever asked yourself this question? I’ve asked it, as have many of our Precision Nutrition Coaching clients. At the same time, like many of our clients, I’ve never really felt like I needed to quit drinking. My consumption is normal by most accounts, as is theirs. It’s “moderate.”But boozy beverages seem to show up a lot in my life — and I know I’m not alone in that. Maybe we like having a beer to mark the end of a work day. Maybe on Friday we get fancy with a cocktail. Something to celebrate? Pour a little champagne. That Chardonnay or Cabernet will soften the edges a little bit. The drinks can start to add up. If we consider ourselves healthy people, alcohol is easy to justify. We exercise. We try to eat nutritious food. If we’re getting coaching, we know we’re working on our stuff. But still. Some of us wonder. If drinking is so good for you, then why not add that antioxidant- rich red wine to My. Plate — a nice goblet right where the milk used to be? Because no one knows if any amount of alcohol is actually good for all of us. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you not to drink. That’s not what this article is about. But, despite all the headlines and pro- drinking studies: Most of the research on alcohol’s potential health benefits are large, long- term epidemiological studies. This type of research never proves anything. Rather than showing that X causes Y, it simply says that X seems to be correlated with Y. So even though many studies suggest that light to moderate drinkers have lower rates of the above- mentioned health problems than non- drinkers, that doesn’t mean drinking causes those benefits. Sure, it could be that alcohol consumption raises HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Or it could be that moderate drinking reduces stress. Or it could be that drinking doesn’t cause any health benefit. Rather, it could be that people who drink a light to moderate amount also have something else going on in their lives, unrelated to alcohol consumption, that keeps them healthier, such as: robust and resilient genesa lower- stress personalitya particular lifestylegood social connections and support. We just don’t know for sure. Any physiological effects would vary from person to person. The amount of alcohol that may help your heart health might harm your friend’s — for instance, if they have a history of high blood pressure. And most of the research indicates that you’d have to be a light to moderate drinker with no heavy drinking episodes (even isolated ones) to see a heart benefit. OK, given that. The body breaks acetate down into carbon dioxide and water. A second system for processing alcohol, the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), involves cytochrome P4. CYP), an enzyme group that chemically affects potentially toxic molecules (such as medications) so they can be safely excreted. In light to moderate drinkers, only about 1. MEOS. But in heavy drinkers, this system kicks in more strongly. That means the MEOS may be less available to process other toxins. Oxidative cell damage, and harm from high alcohol intake, then goes up. The biochemistry doesn’t matter as much as the core concepts: 1. We have to change alcohol to tolerate it. Our ability to process alcohol depends on many factors, such as: our natural individual genetic toleranceour ethnicity and genetic background (for instance, many people of East Asian ancestry have a genetically- linked aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme deficiency, which affects their ability to properly metabolize alcohol)our ageour body sizeour biological sexour individual combinations of conversion enzymesetc. Dose matters. But all alcohol requires some processing by the body. So what’s the “sweet spot”? What amount of alcohol balances enjoyment (and your jokes becoming funnier) with your body’s ability to respond and recover from processing something slightly poisonous? The moderate- vs- heavy guidelines are the experts’ best guess at the amount of alcohol that can be consumed with statistically minimal risk, while still accounting for what a lot of people are probably going to do anyway: drink. It doesn’t mean that moderate drinking is risk- free. But drinking is fun. In reality, quality of life, enjoyment, and social connections are important parts of health. So let me say it: I enjoy drinking. So do a lot of other people. In the U. S., for example, 6. Of those drinkers, at least three quarters enjoy alcohol one or more times per week. The wine flows at lunchtime in continental Europe (for Scandinavians, it’s the light beer l. Hitting a pub or two after work is standard procedure in the UK and Japan. Northern Europeans swear by their brennivin, gl. South America and South Africa alike are renowned for their red wines. Thus, for much of the world’s population, alcohol — whether beer, wine or spirits — is something of a life staple. And if you’re doing it right — meaning tasteful New Year’s Eve champagne toasts are more common in your life than shot- fueled bar dances to “Hotline Bling” — there are some undeniable benefits to be gained: Pleasure: Assuming you’ve graduated from wine coolers and cheap tequila shots, alcoholic beverages usually taste pretty darn delicious. Leisure: A bit of alcohol in your bloodstream does help you feel relaxed. And like a good meal, a good glass of wine should offer the opportunity to slow down for a minute. Creativity: There’s evidence that when you’re tipsy, you may be more successful at problem- solving thanks to increased out- of- the- box thinking. Social connection: Drinking may contribute to social bonding through what researchers call “golden moments” — when you all smile and laugh together over the same joke. This sense of community, belonging, and joy can contribute to your health and longevity. If you’re going to drink, drink because you genuinely enjoy it. Drink if it truly adds value and pleasure to your life. Not because: you’re stressedit’s a habitother people around you don’t want to drink alone; orit’s “good for you”. With confusing alcohol consumption categories and contradictory news headlines, many people give up trying to decide whether drinking is healthy or not. A new study shows alcohol may be harmful? Whatever. Or: Drinkers live longer? I’ll hop on that horse and ride it straight to the bar! So forget about the potential health benefits of alcohol. There are plenty of (probably better) ways to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease — like eating well, exercising, and not smoking. Wanting the enjoyment of a perfect Old Fashioned or a rare sake is a legitimate — probably the best — reason to drink. As with what you eat, what you drink should be purposeful and mindful. And delicious. Drinking or not drinking isn’t about “healthy vs. It’s about tradeoffs. Alcohol is just one factor among many that affect physical performance, health, and fitness. Whether to keep drinking or cut back depends on how much you drink, what your goals are, and how you want to prioritize those things. Only you know what you are, or aren’t, willing to trade. It may be a simple “yes” or “no”. Saying “yes” to Friday happy hour might mean saying “no” to your Saturday morning workout. Saying “yes” to marathon training might mean saying “no” to boozy Sunday brunches. Saying “yes” to better sleep (and focus, and mood) might mean saying “no” to your daily wine with dinner. Saying “yes” to moderate alcohol consumption might mean finding a way to say “no” to stress triggers (or human triggers) that make you want to drink more. Or it may be where you’re willing to move along the continuum. Maybe you’re willing to practice drinking more slowly and mindfully, but you’re not willing to decrease your total alcohol intake. Maybe you’re trying to lose weight, so you’d consider drinking a little less. Like 2 beers instead of 3, but not 0. Or, maybe you’re willing to stay sober during most social situations, but you’re not willing to endure your partner’s office party without a G& T on hand. Maybe there is a “best” answer for how much alcohol is okay for everyone. But we don’t know what it is yet. At least not for certain. That’s OK. You can write your own “Owner’s Manual” for YOU as a unique individual. Guidelines for drinking don’t tell us who YOU are or what effects alcohol has on YOU. So let’s forget about “expert” advice for just a moment. Instead, let’s try letting your body lead. Read its cues. Observe yourself carefully, gather data, and see how alcohol is — or isn’t — working for you. Here’s how. What to do next: Some tips from Precision Nutrition. Observe your drinking habits. Keep track of all the alcohol you drink for a week or two (here’s a worksheet to help you). You don’t need to share it with anyone or feel like you need to change anything. Just collect the info. Next, review the data. Ask: Am I drinking more than I thought? Maybe you hadn’t been taking the couple of casual beers with Sunday NFL into account. Is my drinking urgent, mindless, or rushed? Slamming drinks back without stopping to savor them can be a sign that drinking is habitual, not purposeful. Is alcohol helping me enjoy life, or is it stressing me out? If you’re not sleeping well or feeling worried about the drinking, the cost can outweigh the benefit. Does alcohol bring any unwanted friends to the party? Binge eating, drug use, texting your ex? If any of the answers to these questions raise red flags for you, consider cutting back and seeing how you feel. Notice how alcohol affects your body. Use Precision Nutrition’s “how’s that working for you?” litmus test. Ask: Do I generally feel good?
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November 2017
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