The Truth About Alcohol

Alcohol is never short in abundance when it comes to socializing or relaxing. That glass of wine at the end of the day might provide some instant gratification, but the truth is, you might be paying a higher price than you might think when sipping on an alcoholic drink.

Let’s talk about detoxing alcohol.

Your body is naturally detoxing 24/7. Your liver handles the brunt of this process. The liver processes toxins and alcohol and breaks them down to eliminate them from the body via sweat, urination, or elimination. Alcohol takes quite a journey in the breakdown process.

• STEP 1: The alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme breaks down alcohol/ethanol
• STEP 2: It then converts into acetaldehyde - a known carcinogen that can cause:
• behavioral changes
• sleepiness
• an increased risk for cancer
• Increased inflammation
• impaired energy production
• tissue damage
• impaired gene expression
• STEP 3: The acetaldehyde becomes acetate
• STEP 4: Finally, the acetate is broken down into water and carbon dioxide to leave the body

When you are consuming alcohol, your liver can’t focus on anything else. Chronic alcohol intake will cause the liver to be less efficient in detoxifying because it’s working overtime to break down the alcohol.

Alcohol severely impacts the brain.

Heavy alcohol consumption can actually shrink the size of your neurons and alter their structure. Neurons are directly responsible for how different parts of your brain communicate. Your neurons also allow memories to form and manage everyday behavior.

Excessive drinking can lead to:

• Memory loss
• Structural changes in the brain
• Increased levels of impulsive behavior
• Decrease in inhibitions
• Negative changes in neurons that trigger serotonin releases
• Impaired sleep/poor quality of sleep
• An overall increase in cortisol that will leave you feeling anxious

Our goal at SWW™ is to educate you to make more informed and empowered choices that will eventually lead to positive changes and habits in your everyday life. By understanding what alcohol does in the body and the amount of stress it can put on your internal systems, you are more in control of your choice to drink or not because you know the consequences. The truth of the matter is that cocktail you pick up to unwind is, in fact, not helping you out at all.