What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health

It's Aug 2022 so a bit out of range for the OP, but his alcohol episode convinced me to really cut down on drinking, from about 2 beers (low variance/rarely drunk, just a homebrewer with a craft beer obsession) a day to a day to maximum 2 beers a week. I sleep better and lost 35 pounds in the last year. ▶ this video

Chronic (as in regular, not heavy) drinking causes changes in mood, increased stress and body function. A glass of wine a day for example. Reference: ▶ this video Alcohol is so ingrained in popular culture that criticising it is almost taboo. Culture will play a big part in what people under the legal age to buy consume with family. It can be a good think but I reckon once a month have a glass of wine.

Listening to the huberman podcast about alcohol really hit home. I knew it was bad for me, just not as bad as he explains. It's a horrific drug that most people don't even see as a drug. I am a weekend drinker and I thought that was ok. It's not. I've decided to quit completely. Last drink was 12 days ago. Fuck alcohol. (I also used to take other drugs but that was many years ago). ▶ this video Oh and I just finished the book: alcohol explained, utterly fantastic.

The pandemic has triggered / accelarated a lot of trends One trend I wonder about is cutting back on drinking. From a health perspective, I see more and more health officials loudly saying no healthy amount of alcohol[1]. It's simply poison. Not that I'm aggressively for any kind of prohibition, and don't very rarely drink, but I wonder if we'll see increased awareness and more people just deciding not to drink as much anymore. With this awareness, and the "modest amount of alcohol are actually healthy" claims debunked[2], maybe the hipster / wealthy / yuppy crowd will turn more and more away from the many many microbreweries / wineries that have cropped up in the last few decades. 1 - link Huberman has a great episode too - ▶ this video 2 - link link

Related: Andrew Huberman's 2-hour blog post on the negative effects of alcohol[1] convinced me to stop drinking. Once you stop drinking, it becomes so easy to see just how much alcohol pervades popular culture. People drink constantly on TV. People pressure you to drink in social situations, too. Unfortunately, it often feels like you need a 'good reason' to stop drinking or alternatively admit you were an alcoholic. It's really unfortunate and ... silly? Reddit's "stopdrinking" subreddit is also really good[2] if you are struggling with this. [1] ▶ this video [2] link

This article's intended audience seems to be high school children. For a detailed take, listen / watch the Huberman Lab podcast: ▶ this video (What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health | Huberman Lab Podcast #86)

It doesn't specify the actual ingredients. The "grapes" bit makes me think perhaps resveratrol? Dihydromyricetin is touted as being protective before and after drinking. It appears to have other benefits as well. I've now become a big fan and follower of Andrew Huberman and a recent podcast has helped sway me to effectively give up alcohol (I was already trending in that direction): ▶ this video My one remaining active vice is Kratom and I'm pretty comfortable with my relationship with it, considering the value it gives in managing chronic pain. Obviously different strokes for different folks.

What helped me eliminate almost entirely was understanding the impact it has on the body and the brain. More than " it's bad for your health ", it helped me understand why it's bad. Even the allegedly harmless " a glass of red wine a day is good for your health " (spoiler: no). There are many sources, but I recently saw this one from Dr. Andrew Huberman, which seemed more comprehensive than a lot of what I've read before. [1] What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health - ▶ this video