Alcohol: Friend or Foe?

Alcohol and Your Health: A Clear-Cut Link or Not?

 

Whether it’s to celebrate a joyous occasion or take the edge off certain stressful social situations, alcohol is often there for people to fall back on. To rationalize their wine or beer habit, some people claim that there are certain health benefits associated with drinking, such as improving your heart health or reducing your risk of kidney stones.¹ But is alcohol really as beneficial or helpful as some people claim? Especially when you consider how the morning after hangover is often worse than what led you to drink in the first place. As you will see below, the real answer is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But, despite some lingering questions, there is enough evidence to suggest that the health risks of your alcohol consumption likely outweigh any potential benefits.

 

The Surprisingly Strong Link between Alcohol and Breast Cancer

According to a 2015 Women’s Health study, drinking alcohol can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer by up to 16%.² Even light or moderate use of alcohol, which may not spike the risk of other cancers, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Even though alcohol consumption at any age can be risky, being exposed to the ethanol in alcohol during adolescence and young adulthood has a greater adverse effect on her lifetime risk of breast cancer.

While it’s not 100% clear why this connection exists between alcohol and breast cancer, years of research suggest that alcohol increases the amount of estrogen in the blood in pre-and post-menopausal women. This increase in estrogen can, unfortunately, lead to the development of breast cancer.

 

Does a Glass of Wine a Day Really Keep the Cardiologist at Bay?

For years, pop culture has pushed the idea that not only is a glass of wine (or even two) at the end of the day a good way to help you unwind from stress but it’s also good for your heart. Truth is, no studies to date have shown a causal link between alcohol consumption and improved heart health. Researchers have found an association between wine and a decreased risk of dying from heart disease, but this could be due to many factors. One suggestion is that wine drinkers may just live healthier lifestyles and others say that the antioxidants in wine offer protection against chronic cardiovascular diseases.³

 

Boosting Your Immune System or Sending It Crashing?

Scientists have devoted a lot of attention to exploring the potential association between alcohol and cancer and alcohol and heart disease, but far less attention has been focused on the possible impacts of alcohol on the immune system.

This has begun to change, however, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about spikes in alcohol consumption. Some preliminary studies have shown that people who drink alcohol have worse COVID-19 outcomes than their sober peers, and this aligns with earlier study results about alcohol and respiratory illnesses.⁴ Alcohol can potentially damage the immune system in many ways. It can make it harder for immune cells to mount an appropriate response to viral and bacterial pathogens.

 

Ever wondered why your nightcap might be sabotaging your sleep?

Well, even if you manage to clock a number of hours under the influence, the quality of that sleep is often poor, leading to what many refer to as a “sleep hangover.” This groggy, fuzzy-headed feeling is akin to the aftermath of drinking too much, except it’s the result of fragmented sleep and a lack of restorative REM cycles. Your body and brain miss out on the vital repair processes that usually happen while you slumber. Thus, while the initial sedative effect of alcohol might lure you into thinking it aids sleep, it essentially robs you of the deep, healing rest your body truly needs.⁵

 

Simply Put, Alcohol Is Not a Panacea

Despite claims by some people that alcohol may help guide them to better health, the truth is far different. Most of the claimed benefits have little legitimate science backing them up. Still, the risks of alcohol, including dramatically higher rates of breast cancer and a dampened immune system, are very real. Instead of consuming alcohol in hopes of achieving better health, look for fruit, like grapes, that contain the same antioxidants as wine. Overall, if you do drink, do understand that moderation is key. Consuming too much alcohol will do more harm than good, which is something you want to avoid.

 

 

References:

1. https://journals.lww.com/mdjournal/fulltext/2015/07020/self_fluid_management_in_prevention_of_kidney.11.aspx
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4299758/pdf/nihms-654017.pdf
3. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.030387
4. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/can-alcohol-hurt-your-immune-system-during-covid-19-outbreak#Drinking-impairs-immune-cells-in-key-organs
5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11584549/