ALCOHOL’S EFFECT ON YOU AND YOUR LIVER

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ALCOHOL IS PART OF OUR SOCIAL DYNAMIC

It can add an element of fun, silliness or sophistication to our experiences. However, it is helpful to be aware of the benefits and risks behind anything we choose to put into our body.

ALCOHOL CAN ADD HAPPINESS AND ENHANCE OUR EXPERIENCES

It is fun to have a cocktail with friends. It can help us relax and unwind. Spending time with friends and family is good for the spirit. Of course, it is possible to take things a little too far. Getting a little carried away and having a few too many might make your next morning a bit of a challenge, but how much harm can a few drinks really cause?

YOUR LIVER HAS MANY RESPONSIBILITES

The liver performs hundreds of functions, including metabolizing the fats, carbohydrates and proteins in our diet. The liver’s primary job is to filter toxins from the blood. Drinking alcohol gives your body extra work to do which keeps it from performing other jobs, like removing other harmful toxins and metabolizing your fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

ALCOHOL IS HIGH PRIORITY FOR YOUR LIVER

Once you have a drink containing alcohol, your body makes metabolizing it a priority because, unlike fats, carbohydrates and proteins, your body doesn’t have a way to store alcohol.

YOUR LIVER WORKS HARD TO GET IT ALL DONE

When you have a cocktail, beer or wine, your liver detoxifies and removes the alcohol thru a process called oxidation. The liver first converts the alcohol to another toxic substance called acetaldehyde. When oxidation is complete, acetaldehyde becomes water and carbon dioxide, which is excreted from the body.

A healthy liver can metabolize one alcoholic drink per hour. Have more than that, and the toxic acetaldehyde builds up in the body, causing a hangover. Drink too much too often, and the liver suffers damage.

FAT CONSEQUENCES OF TOO MUCH ALCOHOL

When you drink alcohol, the liver must choose to burn acetaldehyde for fuel instead of fat. If you drink too much too often, damage can result. Acetaldehyde damages the liver, and fat is stored in the liver instead of elsewhere in the body or being burned off altogether. This can lead to a condition called fatty liver disease. This is an early stage of liver disease and can typically be completely reversed in a month or two from simply abstaining from drinking alcohol and supporting your liver. Once liver damage has progressed beyond the fatty liver stage, damage typically becomes irreversible.

ALCOHOL’S EFFECT ON THE REST OF YOUR BODY

IMMUNE SYSTEM

Alcohol can weaken the immune system. If you drink every day, or almost every day, you may notice that you catch colds, flu or other illnesses more frequently than people who don’t drink.

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Drinking can upset the balance of the microorganisms in your digestive system. It can also damage the tissues in your GI tract and prevent you from digesting food and from absorbing nutrients and vitamins. Drinking alcohol can also lead to gassiness, bloating, and diarrhea.

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

Alcohol can affect your heart and lungs. Chronic use of alcohol puts you at higher risk for heart related issues including: high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, stroke, heart attack and heart disease.

SKELETAL AND MUSCLE SYSTEMS

Long-term alcohol use may prevent your body from keeping your bones strong. Thinner bones may increase your risk for fractures if you fall and these fractures may heal more slowly.

Drinking alcohol may also lead to muscle weakness and cramping.

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Slurred speech is one of the first signs you’ve had too much to drink. Alcohol can reduce communication between your body and your brain, impairing coordination.

THE GOOD NEWS: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Your liver is very resilient and capable of regenerating itself. It can develop new cells, but prolonged alcohol use over many years can reduce your liver’s ability to regenerate. Be kind to your body and support it in the best ways you can.

Empowered with this knowledge you can make your choices. “How much is too much?” is ultimately up to you.

DETOX STEP 1 – Am I healthy?

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I was joking with a patient the other day, when asked about health and nutrition. She was asking for advice but maintaining that she always eats healthy. It came to me in a flash that we all believe that we eat healthy. Why would we purposely do anything to harm our body? I shared with her, that so did I, ever since I can remember having the freedom to choose my own food in 7th grade.

My “healthy” diet was Diet Coke for breakfast and a slice of pizza at the local pizza place for lunch. Of course, I had a mom who packed me a lunch everyday (THANKFULLY!!) that contained fruits and vegetables. But when left to my own choosing it was Diet Coke and Pizza. I lost almost 20 pounds from 6th Grade to 8th Grade. Retrospectively, I was going thru puberty and my hormones and my growth shed the extra pounds naturally, as it often does for teenage girls; but I attributed this to my new “healthy” diet.

This continued into High School where pizza was exchanged for McDonald’s or Hardee’s and still the Diet Coke remained a staple. No one was teaching us about nutrition; well, except for the one week unit in health class that reminded us to eat mostly grains and to add some fruits and vegetables for good measure. This is where I added in Ramen noodles with canned peas or corn for a “well rounded” meal.

Once I graduated and went off to college, I really had a handle on healthy eating. I followed the latest food “guidelines”. Any of you who experienced the 90’s as a young adult know what I am talking about: avoid fat at all costs, eat carbs, eat less and exercise more. I thankfully still enjoyed fruits and vegetables because this is what I was raised on (when my mom was in charged of feeding me). I followed this to the letter: pasta, canned corn, canned beans, meat of any kind on occasion (when I felt the need) and don’t forget the Snack Well Cookies – no fat and only 100 calories. Diet Coke still prevailed and now that I was “grown up”, add a splash of booze when needed! I ran and worked out all the time!! By my last year in school, I was down to an “acceptable” weight, after gaining the obligatory 15 pounds at the beginning of college. Again, thanks to my “healthy” lifestyle.

Out into the real world I went! A job, an apartment, a car, a new stereo and money I hadn’t had in college. Now I could go out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This started to catch up to me and I naturally migrated back to cooking and adding in more whole food (thankfully) but still unconsciously.

It wasn’t until I was planning to get pregnant with my first child that I really started researching healthy eating. Not for me necessarily, but to give my baby the best start possible in life. I quit coffee cold turkey (what a miserable couple of weeks of headaches and nausea), I gave up Diet Coke and switched to the occasional “Real” Coke. I added more fruits and vegetables at every meal and started taking a multivitamin. This is were my journey really started, with my concern for the health of my daughters at the forefront and eventually for my own health.

Again, in retrospect, I am amazed that I emerged from that experience unaffected, or so I thought! It was just a few extra pounds, a little fatigue, and sprinkled with a bit (or a lot) of postpartum depression.

Then, over time, the real effects started to show up. The fatigue got worse; I didn’t have the energy to exercise so the weight remained a bit elevated. Then the sluggish thyroid turned into Hashimoto’s and finally the rheumatoid arthritis was revealed!!

I no longer focus on why this happened, other than to move me toward a healthier place. There is a whole world of epigenetics to explore. In a nutshell, this is looking at what external factors trigger modification of your gene expression. I just began to focus on what external factors I could control to modify this again.

The point of this story is that we need to reflect on what we believe to be healthy and what we could do to improve upon this. We are only able to welcome change if we first change our mindset. Once we allow this paradigm shift, change will begin.

The good news is that our bodies are amazingly designed to detoxify and excrete toxins.

“Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.” 
― Jim Rohn. 

The bad news is that our bodies are not equipped to handle the sheer volume of modern environmental and other toxins we are exposed to today; and some of us are less equipped than others.

We have so many toxin exposures every single day!

COMMON TOXINS: Food toxins, air pollutants, water pollutants: pesticide residue, pharmaceuticals residue, hormone disruptors, nitrates from fertilizers, heavy metals (mercury from fish), GMOs from factory farmed animals, PCBs, dioxin from paper products and tampons, pesticides on non-organic produce, cleaning supplies, cosmetics and grooming products, plastics, detergents and soaps, carpet.

We should incorporate detox regularly, not just ONE AND DONE.

I have started looking at it like cleaning my house. I like to keep up on the mess and the laundry to prevent it from building up, but every month or two I need to do a cleanse and clean up and clear out the things that are cluttering up and interfering with my space. Sometimes this gets away from me and it will be 6 months or a year before I address some of these things. This is a direct parallel to our bodies. We will do ourselves a wonderful service by cleaning up our diet and eliminating as many toxins as possible, but we still need to neutralize and clear out the toxins that have gotten in. The program 66 Day Health Mastery Program has been my best tool ever for cleaning up my diet and clearing out the toxins.

Questions to Ponder:

  • Where am I at today?
  • What can I do right now?
  • Will I allow myself to be paralyzed by fear?
  • Will I allow this to empower me to seek solutions?

Where do I start?

  • Food is always a good place to start
  • Choosing organic when possible and especially when necessary
  • The EWG (Environmental Working Group) is a fantastic group that makes this process a little easier!
  • The Clean Fifteen & The Dirty Dozen