Understanding the Impact of Alcohol on Your Health

Dr. Mike: Hey, Dr. Mike here. You know, whether it's one drink, or four drinks, or whatever, you may want to minimize the effects of alcohol. Stay tuned to learn how.

Live Foreverish Introduction: You're listening to Live Foreverish, a show dedicated to helping you live just a little longer. Here's your hosts, Dr. Mike and Dr. Crystal Gossard.

Dr. Mike: Alright, welcome to Live Foreverish. We're going to be talking about alcohol, alcohol consumption, and ways to maybe minimize the effects of drinking, but there is a disclaimer.

Dr. Crystal: Let's hear it.

Dr. Mike: I'm just going to ... Do I have to read this? I probably should just read it.

Dr. Crystal: No. Not verbatim.

Dr. Mike: Okay, here's the gist of it. We're not promoting alcohol. Just because we're giving you some ideas to help minimize alcohol's effect, we're not saying drink more.

Dr. Crystal: Mmhmm.

Dr. Mike: The reality is, as adults, people drink alcohol, and we just want to give you ... some suggestions to minimize the effects.

Dr. Crystal: But there is no nutritional intervention that can eliminate the health hazards.

Dr. Mike: Right. The only way you can do that is to stop and not drink. Okay. Let's move on now that we got the disclaimer in.

Dr. Mike: First of all, Dr. Crystal, let's talk about how much is too much? I think that's a good place for us to start, and it's gone back and forth in the nutrition world, in the medical world. Years and years ago, this is back when doctors smoked in patients' offices or patient rooms ... it was much more liberal amounts to drink.

Dr. Crystal: Mmhmm.

Is Any Amount of Alcohol Considered Healthy? 00:01:37

Dr. Mike: Now we're looking at the updated 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and here's what it says. For men, it's two drinks or less in a day, and for women, it's one drink or less in a day.

Dr. Crystal: Yes. So, they recommend this, let’s clarify, to avoid or limit the intake to those [amounts].

Dr. Mike: Right, okay. Just gotta get that [in].

Dr. Crystal: They're not recommending to drink that amount. [Gotta get your] one glass, my dietary guideline says I need it.

Dr. Mike: That would be if you choose to drink, which, you know, they're saying: Don't. But if you do, there's your guideline for you. And now, it goes into heavy drinking. If you're a woman, if you're drinking 8 or more during a week, or 15 or more during a week. And then binge drinking is when … a man consumes five or more drinks or a woman consumes four or more drinks in one sitting.

Dr. Crystal: That's binge drinking.

Dr. Mike: That's considered binge drinking. A lot of binge drinking happens on Friday and Saturday nights.

Dr. Crystal: Really? That's when it's happening.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, let's just be honest.

Dr. Mike: Now, I do want to say something because people start talking about, “Oh, I drink just light beer, and I'm not drinking that hard shot that someone else is drinking.” … Here's the whole point of it. The USDA, a long time ago, if you follow the standard amount … it's the same amount of ethanol per gram in all of them. Did you know that?

What Is a Standard Drink? 00:03:12

Dr. Crystal: I did know that. So a 12-ounce beer at 5% is equivalent to five ounces of wine at 12%.

Dr. Mike: At 12%. Yup.

Dr. Crystal: Which is also equivalent to 1.5 ounces. That's a typical shot, right?

Dr. Mike: That's the [standard.] Remember, I was a bartender, I went to school. And 1.5 is the official one shot.

Dr. Crystal: One shot. So one shot of a distilled spirit, and that's at 80 proof or 40% alcohol.

Dr. Mike: 40% at 80 proof would still be the same amount… I actually calculated it… So whether it's the beer, the wine, or the shot, it all comes out to about 14 grams of ethanol.

Dr. Crystal: Right, so most people think, “Oh, I'm just going to have a beer,” … but it's the same as having one drink.

Dr. Mike: It's the same. There's a lot of variety, keep in mind. Just with light beers, for instance, there are light beers now that are 3.5%. That's going to be a lot less. [Or IPAs] which are like 9-10%. Or some wines are higher and lower, and some spirits are higher and lower. So right there is going to be differences. But I also think a lot of it is simply the speed at which [you drink]. When most people are at a bar, or at a restaurant, or home drinking wine, you're sipping, right? Beers maybe you drink a little faster, but unless you're young and guzzling, we're not talking about that age group. But with shots, people tend to shoot it. And then they do another one in 10 minutes.

Dr. Crystal: Time for another one.

Dr. Mike: Because it's not just how much per gram of ethanol you're getting in. How rapidly it's coming into your system can also play a role.

Alcohol Metabolism: The 1 Drink an Hour Rule 00:05:07

Dr. Crystal: That's true. Because the body has to metabolize what's coming in.

Dr. Mike: Standard acceptance will be different from person to person. I don't know if this is in here, we're already off on a tangent. The standard is, if you follow these drinks, the beer that’s 5%, the wine [that’s 12%], it takes one hour to metabolize 14 grams of ethanol.

Dr. Crystal: All right.

Dr. Mike: Average person. Some people are going to be way longer. For instance, people from Japanese cultures can have a hard time metabolizing alcohol. They're missing some enzymes, and for them, it could take two or three hours.

Dr. Crystal: Remember we did our “Waves of Aging” show.

Dr. Mike: Yeah. When does it change? Alcohol [metabolism] changes in your 40s.

Dr. Crystal: Yes. You are not metabolizing it like you used to.

Dr. Mike: I will say one thing about wine, too. … When you pour 5 ounces of … real wine, most people, they look at it like, “That's all you're giving me?” People don't realize when they're at home, they're probably drinking like 10 ounces.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it, because wine glasses have gotten larger.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, so they fill it up almost to the rim. That's way more than 5 ounces. You've got to consider all of that as you're drinking.

Dr. Crystal: I think this is good information for people to know because I don’t think that most people realize the difference.

How Alcohol Affects Your Body: Hangovers 00:06:35

Dr. Mike: All right. Let's just get into … the hangover. That's what most people [care about] if they do choose to drink. Many of them are like, “I just need to feel a little bit better in the morning.” Again, the best way to do that is not to drink. But if you are, fine. We're not here to tell you what to do. Let's talk a little bit about … what's going on. What is causing the hangover?

Dr. Crystal: Well, we have about three or four different mechanisms of action. One is mitochondrial dysfunction or oxidative stress. I think we can focus on oxidative stress. We know that alcohol is converted into acetaldehyde, right?

Dr. Mike: That's the real poison of it all, just so you know.

Dr. Crystal: That's the poison. Yes. It's a poison causing free radical damage, oxidative stress.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, and it does it quickly. If there’s any good news … thank God, it doesn't last long in the body. Thank God. Your body knows it's bad and it gets rid of it fast. … When I say it takes an hour to metabolize a drink, it's all of it.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, okay.

Dr. Mike: So, the ethanol goes up first, and then little by little you'll start seeing that drop and acetaldehyde goes up because it's turning into acetaldehyde, and then when it's all done, it's about an hour.

Dr. Crystal: Okay.

Dr. Mike: But thank God it's just an hour, because if it was longer, we would be seeing really bad things. Inflammation is another one… Oxidative stress and inflammation. Number two, neurotransmitters. It messes all that up.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah, we see an increase in excitatory neurotransmitter activity, which can lead to neuronal damage … just causing neuroinflammation and neuronal dysfunction.

The Hangover Headache 00:08:43

Dr. Mike: Then acetate accumulation is another one. That's part of the breakdown, associated with a lot of ... well, they think that's the headache.

Dr. Crystal: The hangover headache.

Dr. Mike: The hangover headache is from the acetate. Think of it this way: If you have the flu … it's not influenza that causes your symptoms, it's your body's reaction to it. Same thing here. It's how your body is reacting to that ethanol. You feel achy … maybe [you’ve] got a headache. With the flu, it's the same thing. In the flu and with alcohol, oxidative stress is way up. Inflammation is way up. We know neurotransmitters get messed up when the immune system's going crazy.

Dr. Crystal: So true.

Dr. Mike: It's the same thing. It’s almost like you're almost feeling sick, and you are.

Dr. Crystal: You are. Now we also have some more bad news. It’s so sad. Alcohol exerts a direct toxicity on GI cells.

Dr. Mike: That's the latest in the recent stuff we're learning, right? It used to be all liver, liver, liver. Now we're like, “No, no, GI.”

Dr. Crystal: And then … yes to the liver as well. We still know the liver has a lot of work to do to metabolize the alcohol. And then we talked about acetaldehyde. And then the congeners, which are produced during fermentation and distillation. … Those can be problematic.

Dr. Mike: Advanced flavors, aromas, colors… Wine naturally has these tannins that can cause [issues]. That's why they have tannin filters now for people that want to still drink their wine.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, I didn't know that.

Dr. Mike: Oh, yeah. They got all kinds of stuff now to take care of this. That’s why we’re talking about this. … Let's be honest, alcohol is a billion-dollar industry in this country… more than that.

Dr. Crystal: That is true.

Dr. Mike: It certainly is what it is, so we got to … let's help people out, right? So there you go. Those are some of the overall causes. In a sense, you're setting your body up almost like it's sick. Inflammation is up. You get these weird heat proteins and just oxidative stress. You just don't feel good. At the end of the day, your gut's taking a hit. You probably didn't sleep well.

Alcohol's Impact on Sleep 00:11:13

Dr. Crystal: We do know that. … It impacts sleep.

Dr. Mike: The older you get ... Now here's what's funny, if you're in your 20s or 30s and listening to this and you're like, “What are these people talking about? I feel fine!” You wait. You haven't hit that wave yet.

Dr. Crystal: That's so true, Dr. Mike, wait until you hit that wave of aging.

Dr. Mike: It changes, that was the first thing I noticed for me, was sleep. … I mean, being Greek, I used to drink my two red wines every night and loved it. It actually helped me sleep, I believe. As time went on, I started noticing …

Dr. Crystal: So you would wake up in the middle of the night?

Dr. Mike: Yes.

Dr. Crystal: Fall asleep … And this is what typically happens. You fall asleep just fine. But then you wake up.

Dr. Mike: When all that alcohol is gone, it's kind of like all these nerves that have been dampened are now [active again]. And that's why they call it anxiety night…

Dr. Crystal: Yeah.

Dr. Mike: So anxiety's higher, you're not sleeping. It's a mess.

Practical Drinking Tips 00:12:12

Dr. Mike: So, let's talk about some drinking tips, then.

Dr. Crystal: Okay.

Dr. Mike: Now why are we talking about these tips? These tips are going to help to mitigate some of those causes of hangovers.

Dr. Crystal: All right. So, first thing, eat!

Dr. Mike: Please eat. You learn that quick and early.

Dr. Crystal: Well, I know, that’s something you do learn. I remember in college, “We’ve got to get some food!”

Dr. Mike: Got to have a big dinner. And it does work.

Dr. Crystal: Well, it slows the alcohol going into the small intestine. It's delaying the absorption.

Dr. Mike: It's just a little slower.

Dr. Crystal: So… instead of getting that rush into the bloodstream…

Dr. Mike: Listen, the body is resilient with just about anything if you give it time. Think of it that way. If you rush it, you're in trouble. If you slow it down, your body's going to be able to handle that better.

Dr. Crystal: Very true.

Dr. Mike: All right … Follow the standard recommendation for drinking, go slow. Here it is: Metabolize one drink an hour.

Dr. Crystal: There you go. And then, of course, measure your pour for tracking purposes ... until you lose track.

Dr. Mike: Which is okay, we've all been there.

Dr. Crystal: But it's good to measure it when you're at home.

Dr. Mike: So you know! Five ounces for wine.

Dr. Crystal: You have to measure it. Get one of those [items] they have at the bar.

Dr. Mike: So you're not over-pouring.

Dr. Crystal: There’s two sides. There's one side that's the 1 ounce, and the other side is the one and a half.

Dr. Mike: Yeah. Now, be careful. There's a larger size of that glass which is 9 ounces of wine and two shots. … Buy the normal one.

Dr. Crystal: Okay.

Dr. Mike: … If you want two glasses of wine, you can actually pour … those two in there. That's what you're drinking.

Dr. Crystal: And that's it.

Dr. Mike: Yeah.

Dr. Crystal: What about buying the mini bottles? Does that help?

Dr. Mike: Sure. … I don't know what they are in volume.

Dr. Crystal: But you know what I [mean], like the mini wine.

Dr. Mike: They have those now, sure. Anything to stop.

Dr. Crystal: So then you're not tempted to drink an entire bottle.

Dr. Mike: Because if you're having problems keeping up with how much you're pouring, it's probably best to stop. At that point, okay, that's probably enough.

Staying Safe While Drinking 00:14:34

Dr. Mike: All right, let's go on. … Match each drink with a glass of water, stay hydrated.

Dr. Crystal: Especially if it's the summertime, you’re at the beach.

Dr. Mike: Totally different story. … Totally different show now.

Dr. Crystal: Uh-oh. Okay.

Dr. Mike: If you're in the sun and you're hot and you're sweating and you're getting suntanned...

Dr. Crystal: You're at the resort, you know.

Dr. Mike: Everything's going to be faster and faster and faster. You’ve got to really be careful. Drink more of that water. …

Dr. Crystal: Oh, and I know people that do this. Don’t take NSAIDs or acetaminophen. Now I would put an extra checkmark on absolutely NO to acetaminophen.

Dr. Mike: Acetaminophen 100% no.

Dr. Crystal: Like, a thousand, 100 trillion percent no. And that's your Tylenol.

Dr. Mike: If someone really needs a low-dose ibuprofen, I get what we're saying, because you're already roughing up your gut with the alcohol, and ibuprofen can do that. But I'd rather somebody do a low-dose ibuprofen than any Tylenol.

Dr. Crystal: Because that [Tylenol] will send you [to] the emergency room for liver toxicity.

Choosing What to Drink 00:15:48

Dr. Mike: Then you got to look at the various properties of these different drinks. It's not really necessary [to talk about] the amount of alcohol. Remember, it's 14 grams in these standard servings, right? … Beer and wine, for instance, have fewer toxic effects than spirits. And I think that might just be the speed at which people are drinking the spirits, especially if it's shots.

Dr. Crystal: Maybe so. … Some people think about all the health benefits, the polyphenols in your red wine. So maybe they're giving you some benefits?

Dr. Mike: I mean, listen, there is one consistent thing in the Mediterranean. ... There are a lot of red wine drinkers out there, and they live long. Now I do think it's because of the food, not so much the wine.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, you mean with the Mediterranean diet.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, a lot of red wine drinkers out there. They tend to have a lot. But I don't think that's the correct connection. I think it's the food and the olive oils. … Now beer is going to have the fewest of these nutrients, but could be a source of B vitamins.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah.

Dr. Mike: And that's good for your nerves. Remember, the nerves take a hit with alcohol.

Dr. Crystal: Vodka has almost no congeners and so may cause less severe hangover symptoms compared to something like a bourbon.

Dr. Mike: The darker ones, yeah, I think people kind of know that, right? The lighter spirits are not lighter in alcohol terms just maybe with color and stuff like that, which could also lead to the headache.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah, there’s a quick tip, it's not here ... but I think it's prudent for us to say, “Watch the chasers.”

Dr. Mike: Oh yeah, what are you drinking it with?

Dr. Crystal: What are you drinking it with? Is it a sugar bomb? So now you have the alcohol and you’re combining it with soda.

Dr. Mike: Yeah. Sugar after sugar… and that sugar load is going to make you feel bad. … People drinking rum and Cokes out there like crazy. Try Diet Coke. Just switch it.

Dr. Crystal: Maybe, yeah. … Or you know, try something with orange slices or ... Dr. Mike's giving me a look like, “What are you talking about?” … or lemon or lime, maybe just some natural...

Dr. Mike: Well, if you're into spirits you can do club sodas with the limes, the lemons. That might be a good way to do it. There's no sugar in that.

Nutrient Add-Ins to Help Hangovers 00:18:25

Dr. Mike: Let's get into the nutrient add-ins. At the end of the day, it's what people want to know the most. Like, “What can I just take?”

The first one is N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC). This supports glutathione levels. It is the detox driver of the liver. The more you’ve got, the better you're going to be able to handle alcohol. Your liver only has a set amount of glutathione. Think of it that way. It's using it a lot, right? And if you throw in this poison, this toxin, now it's using up all of it. So after a few drinks, the liver's [wiped out] of its main antioxidant.

Dr. Crystal: Like internally produced antioxidants.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, it's like it doesn't have any left. And that's why we start seeing liver damage and all that … stuff over time. So, N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) is going to help keep those glutathione levels nice and strong.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah, I love NAC. And we do have some research. It looks like the dose is about 600 to 1,200 milligrams. In a study, that showed a reduction in hangovers, nausea and headache following alcohol consumption.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, I did see, in when to take it, it’s probably better to take NAC before you start drinking. If you wait until after, there is some research showing that it might actually cause some liver issues.

Dr. Crystal: Oh.

Dr. Mike: So, NAC is better beforehand. Keep that in mind. So, if you're going out Friday for happy hour with your friends, maybe 1,200 milligrams of NAC to start.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah. Sounds like a good idea.

Dr. Mike: What about magnesium?

Dr. Crystal: Yeah, it looks like alcohol … poor magnesium, there are so many things that deplete it. … Alcohol rapidly triggers magnesium loss from tissues, including the brain and the liver.

Dr. Mike: Yeah. One of the theories is if you don’t normally drink and you binge drink … around the holidays ... people end up getting A-fib at night, and it's called holiday heart.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, yes, you talked about that.

Dr. Mike: Sometimes it could be like PVCs [premature ventricular contractions], but mostly it's A-fib. … The theory is, it's the loss of magnesium. So loading up on some magnesium will help to maybe reduce that risk.

Dr. Crystal: Very interesting.

Dr. Mike: Yeah. This is the one you love.

Dr. Crystal: Absolutely.

Dr. Mike: You got really into this. We did a reel. We do these shorts and stuff. You should go check that out on YouTube. …

Dr. Crystal: Oh, YouTube.com/LifeExtensionWellness.

How Clove Bud Extract Supports Detoxification 00:21:16

Dr. Mike: Clove. Clove bud extract.

Dr. Crystal: Clove bud extract. It helps in metabolizing that alcohol, supports normal detoxification of the ethanol, and what I liked about it was ... one study, 250 milligrams, a single dose, taken 15 minutes before drinking alcohol... [And this was the equivalent of six shots, let's get it in, whoever signed up for this study, maybe some college students, I don't know] … It led to a lower blood alcohol [concentration], … less depletion of detox enzymes compared to the control group.

Dr. Mike: That's pretty impressive, come on.

Dr. Crystal: And there were, of course, less severe hangover symptoms.

Dr. Mike: Yeah, clove.

Dr. Crystal: Clove bud extract.

Dr. Crystal: Can you just smoke a clove cigarette?

Dr. Crystal: You know, that’s the… Every time I see it I think about those clove cigarettes, and I'm like, no, that's not it, but it makes you think about it.

Dr. Mike: It's not it, but I do the same thing because ... I grew up a little earlier than you did, but in the 80s, cloves were huge to smoke.

Dr. Crystal: That was the thing. I do remember, at some point, maybe I was in college or something, everybody had their little cloves...

Dr. Mike: In high school, they were like, “This is what you should be smoking.” And I thought the smell was horrible. Never liked it.

The next one, silymarin, is just really good daily liver support. Silymarin can really activate the enzymes that break down alcohol. Silymarin is good if you have any liver issues.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, for sure.

Dr. Mike: It's just good liver support. Now magnesium and silymarin are things you can take every single day. You could also take NAC every single day.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, I was going to say NAC, too, Dr. Mike.

Dr. Mike: But if you're younger, maybe you don't use a lot of supplements. So magnesium should be in your multivitamin or a standalone. People should start that right away. We're almost all depleted a little bit of magnesium. Silymarin could be daily.

But if you're getting ready to go out with your friends, [take] some NAC, some water-soluble clove bud extract. And you might feel a little better.

How Alcohol Affects Your B Vitamin Levels 00:23:46

Dr. Crystal: Then, of course, your B vitamins. You mentioned that earlier.

Dr. Mike: Well, that's the big thing with chronic alcoholics, they get the shakes … and the hallucinations, alcohol-induced dementia. And that's all because they have no B vitamins left. … When they come into the hospital, they get a banana bag. Have you seen a banana bag?

Dr. Crystal: No.

Dr. Mike: It's bright, bright yellow. Looks like your urine after a good multivitamin.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, so is it like the B12?

Dr. Mike: It's all Bs.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah, all your Bs.

Dr. Mike: And it’s just [inserted] quickly in. Within 30 minutes, these people are feeling fantastic.

Dr. Crystal: So is that what's at those hangover mobiles?

Dr. Mike: Well, I don't know that. This is severe, like Korsakoff syndrome stuff.

Dr. Crystal: Oh, okay.

Dr. Mike: All right, there you go. I thought that was nice. That was helpful.

Dr. Crystal: Yeah, it's your guide.

How to Have a Healthy Relationship with Alcohol 00:24:41

Dr. Mike: Just a guide. Remember, the number one thing you can do to prevent all this is just not drink.

Dr. Crystal: Simple as that.

Dr. Mike: Think of drinking … because I think that's one thing we could all benefit from. I shouldn't say all, please forgive me for that. For those that enjoy drinking ... What's your relationship like with that? You know what I mean? … If there is a healthy one, it might be for special occasions.

Dr. Crystal: I do feel like, you said if there's a healthy one, and this can be debated, because we know the surgeon general just recently... it’s a carcinogen…

Dr. Mike: I understand the cancer risk goes up.

Dr. Crystal: But, I think that there could be a healthy relationship, but you have to face it dead-on. And if you realize there isn't a healthy relationship, then you have to do something about it.

Dr. Mike: Hey, did you know at LiveForeverish.com there's 500 and ... I already forgot the number again. 565, something like that. Well, over 550 episodes now at LiveForeverish.com. We appreciate you going over there to check it out, download, like, share, comment, and of course, subscribe so you never miss a show, that's at LiveForeverish.com.

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Dr. Crystal: Dr. Crystal.

Dr. Mike: Thanks for listening.