What Alcohol Does To Our Brain and Body After 40

I don't know what my life is like without alcohol or if I could just have a glass. What's the deal with alcohol? If we're exercising and we're reducing our intake of garbage food, we're eating as little processed foods as possible. If we're doing everything right, isn't it also okay to indulge in the aging occasional glass of wine? Or is all alcohol bad? Are there, in fact, health benefits to consuming one glass of wine a day? Is all alcohol considered carcinogenic? And how do you know if you're drinking too much? Should we change the way we drink as we age? And if we choose to drink in moderation, is one type of alcohol perhaps better than another? The catalyst for doing my prep work for this episode started with our trip through Europe. And we were going out to dinner every single night and eating at fine dining restaurants, like Michelin star restaurants, where the pomp and circumstance around bringing an expensive bottle of wine or champagne to your table is part of the experience. Like every single table. This is going on. But we're traveling for two months, and after about 30 days, I started noticing. Actually, not just noticing, like, started like, really being honest with myself and going, like, wait a second, this isn't just like an occasional thing. We're drinking a lot. And you know what, it's okay though, because we're drinking alcohol that's in Europe, and these are from the finest local farms. Everything's organic and natural. There's no additives and ingredients. So this is certainly a less toxic alcohol. That's how I felt. And so I thought. But I am a health expert and I, I like you hear the same conflicting information, like, you should have a glass of wine with dinner every night. It's gonna improve your overall health and wellbeing. And then I've also heard people say, like, even three glasses of wine per week puts you at a much higher risk of getting cancer. So what's the answer? There was an episode of Andrew Huberman's podcast that came out, I believe, in 2022, about alcohol and your health. That video has over 6 million views. And I remember, I'm going to be honest, when that, when I saw that video come out because I obviously subscribed to his channel. I'm a big fan. I thought, I am not going to watch this video because I don't have a problem because I drink healthy champagne. It's healthier than the garbage that people drink that go to, you know, the local gas station, they buy the ready mixed margaritas or the People who are buying, like, cheap wine. Wine. And so, like, I am not going to watch that. I don't. I don't need to watch that because I know, of course, that drinking too much is not good for you. And I know that, you know, many types of alcohol are toxins. So I'm. I'm not going to watch that. It was literally, I chose to be ignorant because I didn't want to hear things that I already knew to be true. But now I'm on this trip with my husband through Europe, and I'm noticing that I'm not feeling my best. I'm noticing that I'm having, like, bouts of anxiety. Like, I don't know how to describe it, but since experiencing those things, a lot of people call it hangxiety. It's like this anxiety that sets in the night after you've done some drinking. And so I start realizing, like, okay, I. I'm going to not only go through this video and I'm going to watch it, and I'm going to take notes, and I'm actually going to look up some of the research paper that he's citing. I'm going to look to see if there's newer research and see how much of this actually does apply to me. And I'm a health and fitness expert. You're listening to this episode right now because I've probably helped you in some way to improve your health. So don't I also have a moral obligation, like, an ethical obligation to, like, take my head out of the sand and really know what the impact of alcohol is and talk about it? Because I haven't been talking about it ever on my show. Because I'm just gonna be fully honest, because I didn't want to look at it myself. I really enjoy having a glass of champagne. I like going out with my husband. I like some of the things that we do that involve celebrating with alcohol. I like the way it feels. I like looking forward, having a glass of champagne to kind of, like, commemorate the fact that the day is over and I've finished this really hard project. But I want to share with you first, kind of a summary. And I encourage you to watch the whole Andrew Huberman video if you're so inclined. But if you're someone who's, like, too long, didn't read, you're that kind of person. You're like, surely, just give me the Cliff Notes. Here we go. Hey, my name is Chalene Johnson. Welcome to the Chalene show, where today we're. We are going to have a Very real conversation about all of those things and more. I'm also going to share with you my personal feelings about alcohol, what I have been doing, and how I'm changing my relationship with alcohol based on some of the research that I did for this episode. Before we go too far, I want you to know I am not going to tell you that you can't drink alcohol, that alcohol is bad for everyone. You need to cut it out. You're going to make your own decisions for you, as you have thus far. But I do want to give you more information to make an informed decision about your relationship with alcohol. And I hope that by watching or listening to this episode, you will just, just examine, just look more closely at your relationship. And I think it's important for me to say that because if you are someone who's in recovery and you are, you are currently sober, this might not be the episode for you. You might want to skip this episode. It might be detrimental for you to hear someone who believes as I do and that there isn't a one size fits all, that there are alcohols that are worse for you than others. And if that is something that is going to be contradictory to your journey into sobriety and your current recovery, then I encourage you to skip this episode. The next disclaimer I have is that I am not in any way, shape or form an expert on this subject. I'm not an expert in alcohol. I'm not an expert on recovery or, or sobriety or 12 step programs. I'm just sharing my own experience and summarizing some of the most recent research so you can make an informed decision. I also want to ask anyone who believes that there's only one way to do this, there's only one way to look at alcohol. I am going to ask you to refrain from making those kinds of comments under this episode because I think when we do that, it shuts down the conversation. It tends to shame people who aren't where you are yet. It makes others feel. And really the objective of this episode is to just get people to take a closer look. And so I'm really proud of anyone who has made a decision that alcohol does not serve them and they have zero tolerance for it and believe that everybody else should cut it completely out of their lives. I commend you for having that stance and for being so determined and, and to want the best for other people. But I. I'm also asking you to be mindful of the way that you word things so that just doesn't shut down the Conversation. Right. I mean, I know personally, when I would see comments like that, as someone who regularly drank alcohol, I would see those comments and think, like, what do they think they're better than everybody else? Like, I just, I would stick my fingers in my ears. And that cognitive dissonance, like, not wanting to hear what other people said, not wanting to look at research, is part of the reason why I think so many people are in a position that they don't want to be in, and they. They actually do want to limit or even cut back on their alcohol consumption. So in this episode, I'm just going to lay out the facts for you and you'll be able to make an informed decision, hopefully. And I'm also going to share, like I said, some really personal information about myself and how I've been living my life and some of the changes that I want to make moving forward. First, you need to know that alcohol consumption, even moderate to light alcohol consumption impairs our body's ability to process protein. It impairs our body's ability to. To build muscle. When we consume alcohol, our body's sole function is to get that poison out of our bodies. So our metabolism focuses exclusively on breaking down that alcohol and removing it from our systems. Research has shown that alcohol interferes with signaling pathways involved in muscle protein synthesis. So can we drink alcohol and build muscle? The answer is yes, but less effectively. And don't we want our efforts to be worth something? Don't we want things to be easier for us? Like, I have been drinking alcohol and I've been able to put on muscle. But, like, what would be possible if I wasn't consuming any alcohol? Studies also show that alcohol has a negative impact on the hormones that we need to produce muscle. It lowers testosterone. It increases cortisol levels. And y' all know you can't outrun high cortisol levels when you are drinking alcohol. And by the way, the more often you drink and the more drinks you have, the higher your cortisol level will rise, making it incredibly challenging to reduce visceral body fat, which is a nightmare for anyone who's in perimenopause or menopause specifically. It's no wonder that the correlation between visceral fat, the fat we have around our abdomen as women, and the amount of alcohol that we consume, those two things correlate. As women age, they tend to drink more and have more fat around their midsection. Now, certainly there are those who don't drink anything. And because of the changes in our hormones, you're Going to see more visceral fat. But we are making matters worse when we're drinking alcohol. Alcohol consumption also leads to poor nutrient absorption. This is why people who are regular to moderate drinkers will often find that they are deficient in many important vitamins and minerals. For instance, alcohol depletes the body of zinc and magnesium, and these things are vital for testosterone production as well as protein synthesis.

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Button and leave a comment. I love you. Back to the show. What about her skin? I had an esthetician once who told me that the second someone laid down on her table and she looked at their skin, she would know within just a glance if, in fact they were an alcohol drinker, how much alcohol they drank and if they had a problem with alcohol. She's like, no amount of makeup and moisturizer with would cover up the telltale signs that alcohol causes in the face. Well, that's just one person's anecdotal experience. And so I remember hearing that and thinking, well, I mean, certainly she can't tell that I drink on a regular basis because I'm wearing moisturizer. People tell me I look young, I wear my makeup a certain way. She can't tell. But the fact of the matter is, alcohol is a diuretic. It drains the water from the skin. When we. Our skin doesn't have as much water when it's not holding water. It does look more crepey. It looks older, and it ages faster. Alcohol damages every cell of our body. It's water permeable. It's fat permeable. And for that reason, when we drink, it's affecting everything. Our skin, our hair, our eyes, our nails, our organs, our muscles, our hormones, our everything. And that sucks. I didn't want to read that, but it's true. And it's something I had to look at recently. I had, like, a weird health scare when I was in France, and we had a doctor come to the hotel room to give me an iv, and he was like, you are very dehydrated. I'm like, I am. And I'm like, I. I drink all day long from my water, but it's like, no. And he, like, pinched my skin. He's like, your skin shouldn't be doing this. This is. You are very dehydrated. Yeah, I'm sure I was. We were drinking almost every single day. Not good. But, hey, I'll just drink extra water. Like, I'll have a glass of champagne, and then I'll down two glasses of sparkling water, and then I'll have another glass champagne, and then I'll down two more glasses of sparkling water. I'll just compensate for the difference. Like, that's. Honestly, if I'm being, like, completely honest with you, that was one of my thoughts, is like, oh, okay, well, you know, we're on vacation, so I don't want to put a damper on that. So I'll just drink more water. But this next one, there's no getting around. Alcohol thins the brain. Even moderate to low consumption of alcohol causes the thinning of the neocortex of the brain. This means that drinking just one glass of wine per day, like, you know, like a real one glass, not. Not the pour that you and I do when we're at home, but like, the pour they give you in the restaurant. Just one glass per day or seven glasses per week, leads to brain degeneration. And there's no drinking water to get yourself out of that pickle. I don't want a thin brain. Okay, great. If you're following along, this means that alcohol is going to make us fatter and our brains thinner. We want the opposite effect. And the reason why this is happening, in part, is because alcohol is ethanol, right? And ethanol, when it's in the body, is converted into acetaldehyde, which is a toxin. And that toxin is extremely damaging to every cell and every function in our body. And alcohol kills bacteria, good and bad bacteria in our gut. I mean, it's why alcohol is used in so many different cleaning products. Like, if you want to disinfect something, if you want to kill all the germs, if you want to kill all the bacteria, you put some alcohol on it. That's what we're putting into our bodies. And so that is why so many people who drink even a low amount to moderate amount of alcohol on a regular basis have poor gut health. It creates leaky gut. But what about alcohol being carcinogenic, alcohol causing cancer? Is there really any truth to that? I mean, if it was true, wouldn't they have to put that on the label like they do on cigarettes or other drugs? I mean, like, so many people are afraid of taking medications because they know that There's a very slight chance of getting cancer. So are we really increasing our risk of getting cancer if we're just having a couple of alcoholic beverages a week, like, and we're choosing a healthier form of alcohol? Like, are we really putting ourselves at risk? Well, the answer is. And I did not want to hear this. No, God, please, no, no, no, no. I did not want to hear this, but alcohol consumption increases the risk of various cancers, particularly, particularly breast cancer in women. A recent study that looked at regular drinkers. Regular drinkers had a 37% higher risk of getting breast cancer compared to non drinkers. Okay, 37%. That's insane. I will link to this study in my show notes as well. But are you ready for this? Those who consume two drinks per day increase the risk of breast cancer. But what I'm about to read to you is literally what has. It's made me change everything. It's opened up my eyes because I care about my husband, I care about my kids. I want to live forever. I want. My goal is longevity. Are you ready for this? Women who drink two drinks per day increase their risk of cancer 74%.

74%.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, well, I, I don't drink every day, so at least I don't have to worry about that. But if you're averaging 14 drinks per week, and remember, the average person when they're pouring themselves a glass of wine, it's actually considered 2 servings. The average person when they're at home is pouring themselves a two serving single glass. So let's just say that on Friday night you're drinking, you know, four of those big glasses. That's, that's actually eight servings. And then you're getting in a, you know, maybe three more glasses on Saturday and two more big glasses on Sunday. And when it comes down to actual servings, you're getting 14 servings in three days. That puts you at a 74% higher risk of breast cancer. And we know this. But again, I'm not here to tell you what to do. I just want to lay out the facts as I did not want to see them for myself. And, and I want to share with you this information because sometimes, sometimes when we know better, we can do better. Maybe you need to cut back. Maybe you need to quit completely. I don't know. And I'm not the person to make that decision for you. But I am here to tell you I need to make a lot of changes, and I'm going to share those with you as I keep saying, you're like, okay, we know you're going to do that. All right, what else? Alcohol acts as a serotonin disruptor, meaning this is why people often have a difficult time falling asleep. And you think that you're actually falling asleep easier after you have a glass of wine. But actually what's happening is a blackout or a brownout. It increases our cortisol levels. It also impacts our estrogen and testosterone. In fact, those who even consume a low amount of alcohol on a regular basis will find that they are heavily estrogen dominant, which means that you're not producing enough, enough testosterone, which is going to impact your libido, your ability to put on muscle, and your cognitive function. Not only does alcohol cause thinning of the brain, but it also causes brain fog. And that is because alcohol suppresses the neural networks that allow our brains to form memories, to recall. You know how like, sometimes you're like, I can't think of the word. What's the word? What's the name of the thing? And you wonder, is this, I'm just aging, is this my adhd, or is this because I'm regularly drinking alcohol? Something I talk about all the time is inflammation. How important it is for us to eat a diet that's low in processed foods, to figure out what things are toxic to us and to try to minimize those things. Because it is systemic inflammation that often leads to all cause mortality. Like, we are so inflamed. And one of the, one of the biggest contributors to systemic inflammation is alcohol. I mean, just take a week off of drinking and you will see your face start to thin. Go on TikTok or Instagram and type in alcohol face before and after, and you will see people's faces literally change. This is one of the other things that caused me to make a serious change in my relationship with alcohol. And that is when learning this, I started looking back at photos and realizing that my eyes look puffy and hooded after a night where I've had, quote unquote, my healthier organic champagne. But in the morning, I still look puffier. So it's, it's causing inflammation. And there's just no denying that. And I don't want to be inflamed. It's also very important to recognize that alcohol, even if you're trying to choose a healthier form of alcohol, is addicting. It's addicting and your tolerance goes up. So as you're aging, your body's ability to process toxins decreases. Right? We don't methylate as well, as we did when we were younger. So you may have found, as have I, that having a little bit of alcohol, like, it doesn't impact me. It's harder to get rid of it. I don't feel as refreshed. It hits me harder. And I'm also finding that as I age, like, one glass of champagne wasn't giving me the buzz that I wanted. So it's like, oh, well, then, you know, I'll have two. And if I'm just gonna be, like, all the way honest with you now, that's not good. It's become a habit. It had become a habit in my life, in part. And I'm not, like, placing blame, but I do think it's really important to understand the excuses that we all make that allow these things to happen. And I have a lot of them. I have decided to abstain from alcohol in an effort to understand my relationship with alcohol. So the time that I'm recording this, it's, you know, been two weeks since I've had champagne was my drink of choice. Two weeks since I've had any alcohol. And I didn't want to record this video. I don't want to say this. I didn't want to admit this. This is embarrassing. I don't want this to be me. I don't want this to be my reality. I don't want these things I've just told you to be true, but they are. And I'd love to tell you that, you know, I have a. On a rare occasion, I will have a glass of champagne. That's not true. I have gotten in the habit of drinking it way too often, and I had to examine all of the excuses that I've been making. I don't black out. I, I, I hold my own. I never lose control. I don't have hangovers. It doesn't make me feel bad. These are all the things I've been saying to myself, you know, but maybe it's just I don't know what it feels like to feel good. I had my first sip of alcohol at age 13. I didn't grow up in a house that had traumas or abuse or did I experience things that I'm trying to numb out. I'm not trying to escape a life that I love, my life. I'm not trying to escape anything. So all of these, for all of these reasons and more, I was always like, well, I don't have a problem. It's perfectly fine. But I've gotten in this habit of drinking more and more often. And you build up this tolerance. And now I'm finding that, like, I would have to have a lot of champagne to actually just feel a buzz. And that's not okay. And it's, like I said, it's. I don't want to admit that to you. And I've really kind of waffled back and forth, like, am I going to say this on video? Am I actually going to tell people this? Like. And am I saying I'm done with alcohol forever? I'm two weeks in and you're not supposed to make a video like this. You're not supposed to tell people. If you and I looked and looked and looked and looked and looked for anyone who'd made, especially a health expert who'd made a video and said, you know, it's been two weeks. No, they make a video after a year, they make a video after six months. They make a video after 100 days. Why? I'll tell you why. I have been reluctant to tell you that I'm doing this because I fear that I might fail and you would know, and that because I have to be an open book. But that's not a good enough reason. And I'm going to do this to hold myself accountable. I don't want to do that. I want to be able to say that I can enjoy a glass of champagne. I also know I'm not an all or nothing person, so I can't. I don't have enough data. I don't know what my life is like without alcohol or if I could just have a glass once every six months or at a wedding to toast or just celebrate. I don't know any of that yet. I'm at the very beginning of this journey and it's weird and it's hard. And I am doing this because I'm hoping someone who's listening can relate, that I know I'm going to hold myself accountable by being open about this and that it's not shameful. It really isn't. It's not nothing to be proud of, but, like, it's an addicting substance. It's very addicting. And 87% of the adult population says that they drink. Maybe not as often as others. There are those people who. And I like to think that I'm one of those people that can take it or leave it. It wasn't until recently that this became such a bizarre, regular habit. And I don't like it. But I do love the way that I feel right now, having gone two weeks without any alcohol, being able to I mean, while we're on vacation, like the fact that we could go to the races and we could go to find dining establishments and hang out with friends that did drink, like during, in these two weeks. And I'm like, it's weird. I don't have the urge to do it. I mean, I have had a couple of urges, but it's not like killing me then. It's like, this is good data. This to me says like, oh my gosh, now that I have all this information, like I finally looked at it, I set aside the ignorance, I put down the cognitive dissidence. I am a health expert. I want to live a long life. So I have to change my relationship with alcohol. Does that mean that I'll never drink another drop? I don't know. I don't have enough information yet. But if I need to be that way, then I will. I tend to be the kind of person who all or nothing makes me want to binge. Like if, if you tell me I can't eat french fries and then you set some down, I'm gonna eat all of them. Like right now, French fries are fine. And because of that I can have a couple of breads, I don't need to eat the whole serving or I can order them for myself and I can have like four or five french fries and I have to finish the whole thing. But if you told me I couldn't have any french fries, that would make me crave it all the time. I would make me want to. Like when I was in Orthore, when I was orthorexic, when like I'd swore off certain foods, like, that's when I would do crazy things and could not stop obsessing about eating certain foods. Like now because it's like I can take it or leave it and I know what it's going to do to my health. I don't, I don't crave it. So I, I don't know the answer. But I am here to say I'm going to be honest and transparent with you. You know what I am going to do as it seems like the right places? What? Every week when I record my Patreon, I'm going to give you an update. If I fall off the wagon, so to speak. I mean, it's not like I'm doing sobriety, it's like I'm doing a 12 step program. I just realized I don't. After looking at all this information, it didn't make any sense for like, now that I know this now that I've like lifted the veil and stopped being ignorant to this. What am I doing? Like, what would be possible? Like I've been able to transform my body in the last year. What's possible? If I take alcohol out completely now, does that mean I won't be able to, you know, have a glass down the road? I don't know yet. But I'm really excited about what it's going to do to my face, what it's going to do for my body, what it's going to do for my longevity and what it's going to do for maybe you if I'm all the way honest and tell you what I'm doing. So I'm going to document my journey. My patreon won't be all about that. But every week at the end of my patreon, I'll tell you how I'm doing. I owe that to you. And here's what I would like to encourage you to do. Under Andrew Huberman's video, I started reading people's comments and one of the comments said, thank you for this YouTube video. Like this is what I need to hear. Here's to day one, sober. And then underneath it said, edit. Here's to day two, edit. Here's to day three, edit. And the person kept editing, editing their comment every single day that they had a day sober. And that person now is like beyond a year and a half sober. So I want to encourage you, if today is day one and you just, and you know for you, you need to quit alcohol entirely, you're not the kind of person who can like cut because some of you, maybe it's just cutting back. Maybe you can do that. Some people can, some people can't. I'll tell you a couple of books I'm reading right now. I'm like immersing myself in what they call quit lit. This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. Wow, wow, what a great book. I'm listening to them all on audio. If maybe you want to just do a 10 day sober challenge for yourself, there's another great book by Lewis David, the 10 day alcohol detox Plan. We are the luckiest by Laura McGowan. Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington. That's a really popular one. The Sober Diaries by Claire Pooley. And another Sarah Warrington is another. Did I say Ruby Warrington? There's also Dr. Sarah Warrington who has also authored a couple of books on the subject. By the way, if you are someone who you know, you need to take a break and just examine your own relationship with alcohol and you need support, support and you need ideas and you need tools and you need community and that's something you would want to do. I don't have anything up my sleeve. I haven't planned anything. But if enough of you say you'd like to do a 30 day challenge, I'll put something together for us. So comment below this video. Just say, I want to do a 30 day challenge and I will. I'll figure something out for us and I will let you know. All right, thanks. Back to the episode. Here's what I do know and I. I will tell you this, that the first couple of days it was. I wasn't craving it. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I don't know if that means I was craving it, but it was like, it's like I knew I wasn't gonna drink those first couple of days, but I just couldn't stop thinking about all of the ways it had become a habit. And I just feel so good right now. I feel, I feel great and I'm encouraged and I, I want you to leave one of those comments if today is your day one. And I want you to come back and edit it every day that you do sober. And I'm not perfect. I don't like perfection. Perfection is never going to be my goal. Perfection does not work for me. But I do like being a lot healthier and I do like making better choices when I've got the right information. So I hope that you'll make better choices for yourself and I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I love you. Thank you for your support. I mean it. I'll talk to you soon. If you want something that's been. What's it called? What's it called? What's it called? What's it called? Oh, don't worry. This is not. This is non alcoholic. It is sparkling apple cider vinegar with pomegranate and elderberry. And it is so good. I got it from Trader Joe's. It's just a. Like drinking in a fancy wine glass sometimes makes. That's just all you need. You know what I mean? Anyways, I digress. Where was I? Sam?