What you really need to know about how alcohol impacts your gut and hormones

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Abby, a functional dietitian and gut health expert. Hi, I'm Jillian, a functional

[00:00:06] dietitian that specializes in women's health and hormones. And this is Your Body Has Your

[00:00:11] Back Podcast. Together we have over 20 years of experience supporting clients in healing

[00:00:17] their gut and hormone symptoms and guiding them from overwhelmed to ease in their body.

[00:00:22] We help clients reconnect with their body and transform their lives using targeted nutrition,

[00:00:27] lifestyle and supplement therapies. Finding optimal health in our modern chaotic world

[00:00:31] is more challenging than ever. And now, it's our mission to provide you with the tools

[00:00:36] you need to strengthen your relationship with your body, to resolve your gut and hormone

[00:00:40] symptoms and become your greatest health advocate. Join us for honest, inspiring and offbeat

[00:00:45] conversations on health that will lead you feeling empowered to take action so that

[00:00:49] you can trust your body has your back.

[00:01:05] Hello and a welcome today we are going to dive into all things alcohol, with particular

[00:01:11] focus on alcohol's impact on our gut and hormone health as well as exploring more concrete

[00:01:16] tools to support your body, if you're someone who chooses to utilize alcohol and big

[00:01:20] ideas to think and reflect on in our overall relationship with alcohol. Starting first

[00:01:26] with what happens when you consume alcohol. Alcohol can have some pretty diverse impacts

[00:01:31] on varying areas of health so we wanted to give you the quick and dirty on how alcohol

[00:01:35] impacts some of our most significant areas especially involving our gut and hormone health.

[00:01:42] And before we dive in for some context, we wanted to outline the difference between

[00:01:46] a social drinker and a heavy drinker as those are the two distinguishes that we tend

[00:01:50] to see in most of the research. So social drinking is defined as an average of two standard

[00:01:56] drinks such as 24 ounces of regular beer, 10 ounces of wine or two ounces of spirits whereas

[00:02:02] a heavy drinker is defined for a man as consuming five or more drinks on any day or 15 or

[00:02:08] more per week and for women consuming four or more on any day or eight drinks per week.

[00:02:13] So just a little context there. Alright, so we're going to start with gut and digestion.

[00:02:19] So the saying what happens in the gut doesn't stay in the gut is particularly true when

[00:02:24] it comes to alcohol. If consumed chronically and in larger amounts, alcohol induces a process

[00:02:29] initiated into the gut that disrupts the gut environment as well as promotes an inflammatory

[00:02:34] process throughout the greater body. Alcohol and its metabolites promote intestinal inflammation,

[00:02:42] including disrupting the gut microbiome, increasing the permeability of the intestinal lining or

[00:02:47] leaky gut and affect the intestinal immune system. So studies show that alcohol promotes

[00:02:53] imbalances in both the good and the bad bacteria known as dysbiosis and this impact can contribute

[00:03:00] to an increase in opportunistic bacteria or bacterial overgrowth which can play a big

[00:03:04] role in IVS-like conditions such as SIBO and drive symptoms like bloating, lose stools,

[00:03:10] constipation and other chronic digestive conditions. These imbalance bacterial populations can

[00:03:15] lead to an increase in the release of endotoxins which are inflammatory products produced from

[00:03:20] these opportunistic bacteria that trigger the gut immune system and can promote inflammation.

[00:03:26] These inflammatory endotoxins don't only stay in the gut. These can pass through the gut

[00:03:30] barrier especially in the presence of that gut permeability or leaky gut and contribute to many

[00:03:36] of the non GI symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, mood imbalances, hormone symptoms, sleep

[00:03:42] disruptions and general aches and pains and other fun alcohol-induced symptoms.

[00:03:47] Alcohol can also impact effective digestion by reducing GI motility and suppressing the digestive

[00:03:54] chemicals that are needed to effectively break down, absorb and regulate the gut environment

[00:03:59] as a whole. The liver and the gut have a really close relationship especially when it comes

[00:04:03] to bile which arguably is one of our favorite digestive substances and it's incredibly important

[00:04:09] digestive chemical needed for fat digestion, gut motility and it's a major self-cleaning

[00:04:14] mechanism of the gut that regulates the gut microbiome.

[00:04:17] Chronic alcohol intake can lead to a reduction in bile acid production which impairs optimal

[00:04:22] digestion and can lead to bacterial dysbiosis as well as impact effective digestion and motility

[00:04:29] contributing to loose stools, constipation, bloating gas and more on a more chronic basis.

[00:04:34] Chronic alcohol consumption can also trigger gut permeability or leaky gut which is when

[00:04:39] the protective barrier system of the gut is broken down increasing the passage of inflammatory

[00:04:43] mediators such as those endotoxins from the gut into the systemic body. This process

[00:04:49] of leaky gut has shown to increase the burden on the liver driving a greater increase in

[00:04:53] liver inflammation and when chronic can result in liver damage and damaged other systemic

[00:04:58] organs in the body such as the brain contributing to things like neuroinflammation.

[00:05:03] Alcohol is also directly inflammatory to the cells that make up the intestines causing cellular

[00:05:08] damage, ulcerations and overall oxidative stress all contributing to disruptions in

[00:05:12] the overall health of the gut environment.

[00:05:15] And lastly, alcohol affects the gut immune system so by decreasing the innate immune response

[00:05:21] in the gut mucosal cells and these cells are called paneth cells that their role is to

[00:05:26] secrete antibacterial compounds.

[00:05:28] So when we suppress the secretion of those antibacterial compounds we increase the susceptibility

[00:05:33] to intestinal pathogens such as bacterial overgrowth as well as outside pathogens such as parasites.

[00:05:40] Alcohol upregulates the inflammatory response in the gut immune system including a release

[00:05:44] of inflammatory immune cells such as leukocytes and mass cells which can further drive

[00:05:49] IVS-like symptoms as well as allergic-like symptoms such as hives, congestion and many other

[00:05:54] histamine-driven symptoms. So overall alcohol can be a major driver of gut and digestive

[00:06:01] symptoms to say it simply.

[00:06:03] And I think many people who drink alcohol to varying degrees and frequencies can relate to

[00:06:11] some of this in terms of digestive symptoms after alcohol or if there is an underlying gut

[00:06:16] condition or gut dynamics experiencing the amplification of those symptoms and we're getting deep

[00:06:23] into the weeds here to really explain the why more so. But I think on a basic level many people

[00:06:29] consume alcohol can relate. Oh definitely and I think it's kind of dependent upon the person like

[00:06:36] I will share personally like any symptom of my body if I'm going to have a symptom,

[00:06:40] it's going to be a digestive symptom that's my Achilles heel of the body. So if I

[00:06:46] maybe have an extra drink or two then my typical threshold it doesn't result necessarily in

[00:06:52] like a headache. It results in like my gut feeling like pretty uncomfortable kind of slow

[00:06:57] motility like all of these kind of very much the symptoms that we just kind of outlined in that

[00:07:02] experience. So I think those of us that know like oh I get hungover my stomach or I get hungover

[00:07:06] my head or whatever those is that's like a little bit of like where's your Achilles heel in the

[00:07:09] body and that's kind of where alcohol is like picking the most on those symptoms.

[00:07:14] And I think it's helpful for everyone to understand the why why a little bit more so.

[00:07:20] So let's talk a little bit about alcohol and hormones. As a very quick refresher since I feel

[00:07:26] like we haven't actually talked too much about hormones on here recently hormones are chemical

[00:07:31] messengers in the body that control and coordinate the function of essentially all tissues and organs.

[00:07:37] Our hormone system aka our endocrine system is our bodies internal communication network.

[00:07:44] So properly functioning hormones are responsible for controlling things like the production and use

[00:07:49] of energy. Our libido reproductive health metabolic function metabolism memory cognition hurt

[00:07:56] health and more so hormones really kind of run run the show in the body and are involved with

[00:08:02] you know kind of every organ system reaction essentially. We have over 50 different types of hormones

[00:08:08] in the body but for the purpose of talking about alcohol specifically today I really want to hone

[00:08:14] in on talking about sex hormones specifically our estrogen testosterone and our progesterone.

[00:08:21] Some of the big ways that alcohol impacts our sex hormones includes altering the function

[00:08:27] of hormone releasing glands like the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. The hypothalamus in the brain

[00:08:34] is responsible for producing hormones like your ganato tropin releasing hormone or your GNRH.

[00:08:41] GNRH is then going to stimulate the pituitary gland to release FSH and LH your follicle stimulating

[00:08:48] hormone and your luteinizing hormone. So both men and women you know have these hormones

[00:08:54] and in women FSH and LH stimulate the production of hormones like estrogen and progesterone

[00:09:00] in the ovaries. In men FSH and LH stimulate the testes to produce testosterone. So this is a

[00:09:07] really important process in terms of the communication between the hypothalamus the pituitary

[00:09:12] in the ovaries, the hypothalamus the pituitary and the testes in in terms of producing

[00:09:17] appropriate amounts of these really important sex hormones. Research suggests that alcohol

[00:09:23] consumption can interfere with the production and secretion of GNRH that you know hormone at the

[00:09:31] kind of top of the the cycle there that is released by the hypothalamus. So this can really have a

[00:09:37] ripple effect on the important hormones that you know one govern the menstrual cycle for women.

[00:09:43] I'm leading to hormone irregularities or imbalance and also menstrual cycle irregularities.

[00:09:50] In men chronic alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of testosterone over time.

[00:09:57] So you know alcohol is really impacting you know these glands in the brain and the hormones

[00:10:03] that these glands secrete that have sort of a trickle down effect on you know all of these sex

[00:10:08] hormones in the body. Alcohol and metabolites of alcohol have been found to increase both natural

[00:10:14] and synthetic estrogens in the body. When we consume alcohol this increases the aromatization

[00:10:21] of androgens to estrogen. So more androgens like testosterone for example are going to be converted

[00:10:29] into estrogens which can lead to higher circulating levels of estrogens in the body.

[00:10:36] So this is important because you know the aromatization of of androgens to estrogens you know

[00:10:42] speaking to kind of for women in particular in the ovaries that is how estrogens are built.

[00:10:48] So you know estrogen is built from androgens via aromatization. So that's an important process

[00:10:54] but what we're talking about here is actually alcohol increasing the aromatization of androgens

[00:10:59] to estrogen in the liver. So we're over aromatizing, we're creating too much estrogen and there's

[00:11:05] the accumulation of estrogen in the body to kind of drive this this high estrogen load.

[00:11:11] Estrogen metabolism or estrogen breakdown in the liver is also significantly impaired with alcohol

[00:11:17] consumption which can further contribute or you know drive elevated estrogen levels. So estrogen has

[00:11:25] to be broken down in the liver. We talked a lot about this in the detoxification and drainage episode

[00:11:31] in season one. If you want to dive a little bit deeper there but essentially the liver is

[00:11:37] predominantly responsible for breaking down hormones and hormone waste products as well as toxins,

[00:11:42] metabolic waste products. But when alcohol is present in the body the body is always going to

[00:11:47] prioritize breaking down this toxin first and foremost it wants it out and that is essentially

[00:11:53] going to put estrogen detox or clearance on the backburner so we can get the accumulation of

[00:11:58] estrogen in the body. So we have more androgens being converted into estrogens and now we have

[00:12:03] the impaired clearance of estrogen. And this can really drive an estrogen excess or estrogen dominance

[00:12:11] dynamic. In women of reproductive age and in practice I see this manifest often as like really

[00:12:18] gnarly PMS symptoms so a lot of like breast pain, tenderness swelling, headaches, mood-related

[00:12:24] shifts, you know, bloating skin issues. So all sorts of fun stuff and higher estrogen levels

[00:12:32] related to alcohol intake are also associated with a significant increase in the risk for estrogen

[00:12:38] sensitive cancers like breast cancer. So an important one for women to think about and pay attention

[00:12:44] to. Some small studies also suggest that moderate alcohol consumption is also linked to decreased

[00:12:51] progesterone levels in premenopausal women. I will be honest there is not a ton of research here.

[00:12:57] There's just not a ton of research on alcohol in cycling women in general when women were

[00:13:04] you know kind of mandated to be included in research more frequently like in the 90s which was not

[00:13:09] that long ago. There were some small studies that have come out, some interesting studies but there

[00:13:15] hasn't been a lot. So there's still a lot we don't know here but some research does suggest that

[00:13:21] the hormone progesterone is decreased with alcohol consumption. For anyone that's not familiar

[00:13:26] progesterone is the hormone that you only produce after you ovulate. It's a really important hormone

[00:13:32] in terms of it being our calming hormone, our progestation hormone meaning it's really important

[00:13:38] for fertility and conception. So some impacts there found in research. And alcohol also in general,

[00:13:45] I just want to mention is going to impact hormones like through a negatively impact hormone through

[00:13:52] like a number of indirect mechanisms. So I'm talking about some of these direct mechanisms that

[00:13:56] we're seeing but ultimately we'll talk more about some of these in a minute but you know alcohol

[00:14:01] is going to disrupt our sleep, our blood sugar, our nutrient absorption and metabolism all of which

[00:14:05] are going to further impact our sex hormones and other hormones as well. Lastly, alcohol is pro

[00:14:14] inflammatory. Abby just talked a little bit about this in terms of the impacts on the gut

[00:14:21] and the immune system inflammation but alcohol is pro inflammatory through its direct action on

[00:14:28] cells in the body as well as inflammatory actions in the liver when the liver is metabolizing alcohol

[00:14:34] and ultimately inflammation is an underlying or contributing factor to many, many hormonal conditions

[00:14:42] and dynamics. So I'm thinking about you know PMS being and you know having inflammatory components

[00:14:48] PMDD PCOS and Dormitriosis infertility and fertility challenges. So alcohol can have that direct

[00:14:56] mechanism in terms of negatively impacting hormones but it can also just be a big amplifier

[00:15:02] with worsening some of these conditions and symptoms which I think is just something to be aware of

[00:15:08] if these dynamics or conditions are relevant for you. When it comes to supporting gut health

[00:15:18] in hormones, balancing blood sugar is step number one. The foundations for supporting blood sugar

[00:15:23] balance that we discuss extensively on the podcast are an amazing place to start but everyone

[00:15:28] is unique and really responds differently to nutrition and lifestyle changes. To get a clear

[00:15:33] sense of what's going on with your blood sugar and for understanding your unique response to nutrition

[00:15:38] lifestyle strategies, we really love using varies continuous glucose monitor. Very pairs as CGM

[00:15:44] with an easy-to-use app that gives you the ability to understand how your nutrition and lifestyle

[00:15:49] habits are impacting your blood sugar. These insights can help you improve your digestion,

[00:15:54] hormone health and metabolic health in a much more targeted way. If you're interested in

[00:15:58] testing out very CGM and app to guide you with establishing supportive habits that improve your

[00:16:04] health, you can use code VSM-YBHYB or use the link in the show notes to enjoy $30 off your order.

[00:16:16] And as you know now transitioning to talk about alcohol and blood sugar,

[00:16:20] you know from past episodes how impactful blood sugar is to just to Jillian's point of

[00:16:27] to so many systems including our hormones and our gut. So alcohol impacts blood sugar and insulin.

[00:16:32] And during and for several hours after drinking alcohol, your liver needs to break down the alcohol.

[00:16:38] While your liver is processing alcohol it stops releasing glucose. So as a result your blood

[00:16:43] sugar level can stay low or even drop quickly putting you at risk for low blood sugar or hypoglycemia

[00:16:50] which can feel like shakiness, headaches, sweatiness, nausea, regular heartbeat, anxiety and fatigue.

[00:16:58] And this is where drinking without eating food puts you at a bigger risk for that low blood sugar

[00:17:03] impact. And the risk for the low blood sugar impact actually remains for several hours after

[00:17:09] you take your last drink. And the more drinks you have at one time, the higher risk. So that's the

[00:17:13] short term what we can feel during kind of immediately upon drinking and several hours to even like

[00:17:18] the day after drinking. Overall though chronically consuming alcohol leads to insulin resistance

[00:17:25] and elevated blood sugar in the long term. So chronic alcohol consumption is a risk factor for

[00:17:31] the development of type 2 diabetes and dysregulated metabolic function which is another angle of how

[00:17:37] we can see this impact on our gut and our hormones through this dysregulated insulin and blood sugar

[00:17:43] dynamic. Yeah I think the blood sugar piece is really important because there are those immediate

[00:17:51] impacts as well as prolonged impacts or longer term impacts. And you know how much we love talking

[00:17:56] about blood sugar here, especially when it comes to blood sugar imbalance being a root cause driver

[00:18:02] of gut and balances hormone and balances. So anything that is disrupting blood sugar you know is on

[00:18:08] Abbey and My Radar. We're sniffing out the blood sugar disruptors. Absolutely and we can I mean

[00:18:13] definitely I think anyone that feels those sleep disruptions after drinking alcohol. A big driver

[00:18:19] of those sleep disruptions is actually kind of experiences of like low blood sugar. And then when

[00:18:24] blood sugar is low, we get a stress response in cortisol to mobilize more blood sugar from the liver

[00:18:29] and then we get a blood sugar high. And all of a sudden we're alert and awake at 3am in the morning

[00:18:33] and the liver is overwhelmed. So it's a whole cascade of you know all of these dynamics are kind of

[00:18:37] happening at once. And certainly we can see that a little bit more acutely when we're wearing like

[00:18:42] a continuous blood glucose monitor like something like very provides where you can actually watch

[00:18:48] what happens when you drink alcohol to your blood sugar which is equally horrifying and fascinating.

[00:18:54] It's so true. And it makes sense when you think about it and you know I think we sometimes forget

[00:19:00] the role the liver plays in terms of regulating you know blood sugar and glucose homeostasis but

[00:19:06] you know it's it makes sense that it would be disrupted. And I think a lot of us again can like feel

[00:19:11] that physically, you know when we when we do consume alcohol. And to dive into sleep a little bit more

[00:19:17] alcohol definitely definitely impacts sleep and sleep quality in a variety of ways.

[00:19:23] Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant so it slows down brain activity

[00:19:29] and it actually does act as a as a sedative which in an immediate sense can actually make us feel

[00:19:36] you know more tired. So you might hear about people having like you know a nightcap to help

[00:19:41] them like you know rest or fall asleep so that's not wrong in that it does decrease sleep

[00:19:47] onset and can make us feel like fatigue didn't sleep in an immediate sense but research strongly strongly

[00:19:54] suggests that when alcohol is present in the body essentially every phase of sleep is disrupted

[00:20:02] significantly. You're REM sleep, you're deep sleep all of it so the quality of sleep is just

[00:20:08] really significantly impacted with the the presence of alcohol. And you know ultimately again I think

[00:20:16] you know just thinking about people's like real life experiences here you know if you've you know

[00:20:21] had a few drinks and you sleep for you know eight or nine hours you probably still wake up feeling

[00:20:28] pretty exhausted and and foggy because we're not getting actual you know good good quality

[00:20:35] restful sleep and kind of going throughout all of the phases of the the sleep cycle. With the

[00:20:39] presence of alcohol our heart rate and body temperature are increased when they remain elevated

[00:20:45] throughout the night so that's going to disrupt our sleep in our recovery. Melatonin levels are

[00:20:50] decreased and disrupted interestingly with the consumption of alcohol so that's melatonins and

[00:20:55] important hormone and antioxidant plays an important role in our sleep wake cycle. And ultimately

[00:21:03] with alcohol present we just tend to be more restless throughout the night waking up a lot more

[00:21:08] frequently if anyone has like an aura ring or something that tracks their sleep in debt you'll

[00:21:12] probably see this even if you don't remember like actually waking up at those times you'll probably

[00:21:17] see a lot more kind of like waking points throughout the night. And in research these impacts are

[00:21:22] seen I'm sorry to say even with just one alcoholic beverage which is crazy but it really just speaks

[00:21:31] to the disturbances that we've been talking about and you know the ripple effect that that has on

[00:21:37] sleep. And it's just interesting to point out too because we're again we're talking about some of the

[00:21:42] direct mechanisms in terms of how alcohol can impact the gut and hormones but we always talk about

[00:21:47] how sleep is the cornerstone of good health. And if sleep is disrupted that is going to further

[00:21:53] disrupt digestion and hormone so again it's sort of like this vicious vicious cycle here.

[00:21:58] So you know definitely some big impacts with alcohol and sleep I also want to mention we have a

[00:22:05] couple more you know kind of connections that we want to make for you because we feel so strongly

[00:22:09] it's important to understand the why and to feel really educated but we're also going to give you

[00:22:14] some tips and you know tools and all the things that we found helpful working you know with clients

[00:22:21] and with ourselves over the years you know to support yourself if you do consume alcohol so know

[00:22:25] that it's not all doom and gloom and we're gonna get to some practical you know take tips and tools

[00:22:30] here as well. I think we've got one more doom and gloom about cortisol. Now we're going to tips and

[00:22:35] tricks. But alcohol's impact on cortisol so this is our stress hormone to say it simply

[00:22:42] but chronic alcohol consumption leads to an overactive HPA axis and results in elevated glucose

[00:22:48] corticoid levels such as cortisol which is our that again that stress hormone. So these results

[00:22:53] are not necessarily due to alcohol consumption on the day but more suggesting chronic changes

[00:23:00] of that HPA axis kind of our our brain nervous system kind of communication to the body in heavy

[00:23:06] drinking groups over time. So this is more of a chronic dynamic. Overall the slope of cortisol

[00:23:12] decline has a flatter slower decline in heavy drinker so cortisol stays elevated and this indicates a

[00:23:19] reduced inhibitory control of this HPA axis leading to more stimulated experience stimulated

[00:23:26] and can lead to those lower melatonin levels that jilly was just talking about. So as melatonin

[00:23:31] can only rise when cortisol levels are low so in general chronic alcohol consumption leads to a

[00:23:36] disruption in that circadian rhythm that we love talking about so much and we know that the body

[00:23:43] circadian rhythm has such a far reaching impact on our health that this could be another major

[00:23:49] player for alcohol's impact on inflammation sleep quality hormone health got health and just

[00:23:53] overall quality of life. And with that really thinking about okay now we've at least got

[00:24:00] the lay of the land of what's the truth to what is alcohol actually doing because we've heard

[00:24:04] that it's medicine when we think about it from a Mediterranean diet or we heard that it's poison

[00:24:08] when we think about it from TikTok or whoever else is on there and we want to recognize that if

[00:24:14] we look no alcohol is the healthiest route let's be just to say it bluntly here that's the route.

[00:24:22] Now Jill and I will just share personally we both do consume alcohol. We have a continuous

[00:24:28] development with our relationship with alcohol and that's kind of you know something that we talk

[00:24:33] about certainly focused a lot on our episode with Meg Gerber about two episodes ago

[00:24:38] and that kind of curiosity around alcohol but we do work a lot with okay if we you know have

[00:24:43] these areas of joy and they might involve alcohol like what can we do for you know support in our

[00:24:49] body through our routines through our habits through supplements and that's what we're going to

[00:24:54] dive into a little bit more given you some actual concrete tools to kind of explore softening

[00:25:01] the collateral damage that alcohol might be doing to us. I love it being put that way and

[00:25:08] you know to kind of dive in and build a little bit on what Abby was just saying you know first let's

[00:25:13] let's talk about you know quantity and frequency recommended quantity and frequency so to

[00:25:19] to you know yeah kind of piggyback on what Abby said ultimately research indicates that no

[00:25:24] no amount of alcohol is considered safe or beneficial alcohol is the toxin at the end of the day

[00:25:30] when we talk about you know when people talk about red you know red wine and you know any

[00:25:37] oxidants and things from wood wine there's a lot of other places in our you know our diet

[00:25:44] in foods that we can really amp up antioxidants that's not also going to come you know along with

[00:25:50] a toxin so in my mind I'm not encouraging clients to consume red wine to boost their

[00:25:57] their antioxidant intake if they enjoy red wine and they enjoy alcohol beverages and and we can

[00:26:03] make that happen within the context of you know really optimal health and achieving their goals

[00:26:09] and giving them the tools and tips amazing so you know so just wanted to kind of yeah build on that

[00:26:14] piece in terms of what the CDC defines for moderate alcohol consumption so for women and that's

[00:26:21] going to be no more than one drink per sitting or five drinks per week and for men as no more than

[00:26:26] two drinks per sitting or ten drinks per week. Again this is a CDC the Center Center for Disease

[00:26:31] Control kind of benchmarks there's a lot of different guidelines and classifications you might see

[00:26:36] out there different things that you see in research and ultimately you know I don't feel that Abby and

[00:26:42] I are here to give you a recommendation around quantity or frequency because that is incredibly

[00:26:48] personalized whether or not you decide to enjoy alcohol it's a personal decision it's going to

[00:26:53] you know depend on a variety of factors including your current the current state of your health where

[00:26:58] you want your health to go your health history your relationship with and history with alcohol your

[00:27:04] family history with alcohol so you know I think there's a lot of nuance there you know we just

[00:27:09] want to call that out but you know what will dive into now really is ultimately for people that

[00:27:15] do choose to enjoy alcohol in you know whatever frequency feels best for them but yeah just calling

[00:27:23] out that there's a lot of a lot of nuance there in terms of kind of quantity frequency and decisions

[00:27:28] around you know drinking alcohol or not so in terms of the types of drinks we recommend so in

[00:27:34] general we recommend opting for higher quality alcohols and liquors and alcoholic beverages that are

[00:27:43] lower in sugar some of our top choices include hard alcohol like tequila and vodka which can be great

[00:27:50] choices if you are buying tequila for example when I say quality or you're ordering a tequila drink

[00:27:57] out at a restaurant always ask for tequila that is 100% agave if it's not 100% agave the tequila can

[00:28:05] come from mixed sugars and mixed grains which can lead to not feeling so good the next day and really

[00:28:12] amplifying that hangover so hard alcohol can be a great choice but really just the emphasis is on

[00:28:20] you know quality and maybe you know paying a little bit extra to get a better better quality hard

[00:28:25] alcohol for cocktails we typically recommend avoiding like premixed drinks and premixed syrups

[00:28:33] as well as sodas for you know the the mixy in the cocktail um we already know like Abby just

[00:28:40] described that alcohol disrupts blood sugar in a really significant way and if we are also adding

[00:28:45] liquid sugar into the mix in the form of the sodas or the um sugary you know kind of um

[00:28:52] syrups this can really amplify blood sugar dysregulation and not feeling so great and sort of the

[00:28:59] prolonged effects that drinking alcohol can can have on the body in terms of what to drink your hard

[00:29:04] alcohol with we recommend opting for things like soda water, cell tours as a base and thinking about

[00:29:10] adding things like citrus, fresh herbs or a splash of juice for flavor versus using you know juices as

[00:29:18] kind of the base of the mix and again this is something to I think most people probably have

[00:29:23] experienced in terms of you're gonna feel a lot better if you have a you know tequila soda with

[00:29:29] a splash of grapefruit in lime versus a peanut kulata that came out of like the mixy machine um

[00:29:36] you know I think everyone's experienced you know the alcohol combined with lots of sugar and how

[00:29:41] that does not make the body feel very good. Some other great options can be hard ciders and hard

[00:29:46] can butchers in that case we always recommend looking for options that are dry or extra dry um which

[00:29:53] are going to be lower in sugar also just read the you know ingredients you know on any of these

[00:29:58] like canned and bottled beverages look at the sugar content you know look for things that

[00:30:04] are super low sugar simple ingredients you know that's always going to be a safe bet.

[00:30:09] Also low sugar wine and champagne can be great again there's like such a spectrum with

[00:30:13] with quality and processing and additives when it comes to things like wine and champagne as a go

[00:30:19] to trusted recommendation we really like dry farms wine which is accompany that sources

[00:30:25] organically farmed wines that are low sugar low sulfite free of additives and also third party

[00:30:31] tested for things like you know mold and contaminants so um if you are wine drinker that can be

[00:30:36] a great option for kind of a healthier alcoholic beverage. I think choosing you know ultimately

[00:30:46] what it is whatever it is that you drink I feel like there's always the question of like well

[00:30:49] what's the best like do I drink like vodka do I drink like rum do I drink you know do whatever

[00:30:54] like if you're gonna have alcohol like ensure that you really enjoy it and then it's like you know

[00:31:00] it's a drink that like hits the whatever you're looking for in terms of like the taste the experience

[00:31:06] you like slow down you sip it like allow that to be part of the experience and tuning into like oh

[00:31:13] because this is when I get to then I'm like seeing my friends or I'm like what is it that it's

[00:31:18] around it to like allow that entire environment I feel like that was something I guess when I

[00:31:22] started to like grow up with my relationship with alcohol that I like pretty much was like I will

[00:31:26] no longer drink something that I don't find like it tastes amazing it's the exact way that I want

[00:31:32] it to be like happy to you know ask someone to remake me a drink even I'm like I'll pay for that

[00:31:37] when I don't care even though they you know mark up alcohol so much that nobody's losing money off

[00:31:42] of it but I think that was like you know what my first step personally as to like this like

[00:31:48] you know if I'm gonna drink something that's actually toxic to me I'm gonna make sure that like

[00:31:51] every sip is like oh that was so yummy yes yeah drink what you enjoy don't force yourself to

[00:31:57] drink something that you know you hate if you're you're and I for some reason I always go back to

[00:32:03] thinking about like like sweets as an analogy here where you know if you enjoy like dessert and

[00:32:09] sweets you know if you're gonna enjoy something that has a little bit more sugar in it enjoy the

[00:32:14] thing that gives you 100% satisfaction enjoy everybody to it move on you know don't don't force

[00:32:21] yourself to have like the like low sugar low cow like the halo top ice cream that isn't even real ice

[00:32:28] cream and is like absolutely vile just because it's like lower sugar lower cow and just takes all the

[00:32:34] joy out of it right so you know choose same thing with alcohol choose what you enjoy enjoy the

[00:32:41] most and and save it perfect analogy yeah some foundational tips or foundational support here

[00:32:49] aim to go one to one or one for one with alcoholic to non alcoholic beverages this might sound like

[00:32:56] a little bit of a pain if you've never tried this before but I promise you it will change your life

[00:33:01] if you're not already doing this alcohol is a diuretic it causes fluid and electrolyte losses so we

[00:33:08] are very dehydrated when we drink alcohol when we are just drinking alcoholic beverages and nothing

[00:33:13] else we also tend to consume a lot more alcohol often like mindlessly so going one for one with

[00:33:19] alcoholic to non alcoholic beverages one helps us to rehydrate as well as slow down the pace of

[00:33:26] alcohol consumption and it's pretty amazing Abbie and I were talking a lot about this when she was

[00:33:32] down here visiting me in Charleston where we were ordering like bitters and soda at dinner I think

[00:33:38] we went like one alcoholic drink and then three bitters and soda we really enjoyed them but sometimes

[00:33:44] you realize too that you know you keep refilling the drink because it's you know you want to have

[00:33:49] something you're drinking or it's the ritual right you want to have something in your hand

[00:33:53] and it sometimes it doesn't really even matter if it's the the alcoholic beverage we'll actually

[00:33:59] talk about this more in a minute but sometimes you just want something fun right so that isn't

[00:34:05] plain water so you know maybe you enjoy your glass you know glass of wine or your fun cocktail

[00:34:10] but then you have some you know soda water with lemon or in lime or bitters or whatever

[00:34:15] you're non alcoholic beverage of choice is. That's my favorite tool ever because a glass of water

[00:34:23] just once I have a one drink I'm like oh gross like water even though like I love water it's

[00:34:28] like one of my favorite beverages but it just doesn't hold any like it doesn't even have like a

[00:34:34] mouth feel so it's like soda water with bitters or soda water with like lemon or even soda water

[00:34:38] with like a splash of cranberry juice or a splash of grapefruit juice or something that like

[00:34:43] for all purposes looks like you're having a cocktail no one asks you otherwise if that's like any

[00:34:47] concern for anyone but it's like a little bit more interesting and like can hold your attention

[00:34:52] and you know and then kind of slows down that rate it may I think it makes such a big difference

[00:34:57] and we get a bonus too if we got some good quality bitters in there then we've got some blood sugar

[00:35:01] balancing and some like digestive support so you know best of all worlds there. Yes love it

[00:35:08] and to kind of build on the hydration piece if you know you are say going out for drinks with

[00:35:14] friends one night going out for dinner where you're gonna have a drink make sure to maintain

[00:35:19] adequate hydration and to incorporate electrolytes throughout the day leading up to drinking alcohol

[00:35:24] you will feel significantly better for doing that. I find that on weekends oftentimes you know with

[00:35:30] they're being less routine often then there is during the work week and you know sometimes clients

[00:35:36] will report that you know their fluid intake was lower or you know meal time goes a little bit more

[00:35:40] erratic so sometimes it's helpful to kind of bring in intention to some of those anchors on the

[00:35:45] weekends specifically things like hydration and incorporating electrolytes or minerals you

[00:35:51] know leading up to having alcohol so you're already hydrated you've really repeated minerals

[00:35:56] and then when you get home after dinner plan to have a big glass of water with some electrolytes

[00:36:00] a magnesium as well afterwards again you know bringing in those minerals or electrolytes to really

[00:36:06] support actually that cellular hydration when there's a diuretic present like alcohol that's

[00:36:11] you know depleting those. Another tip here foundational tip eat consistently again this might sound

[00:36:18] really basic but this comes up a lot with clients. When you are drinking alcohol one of the most

[00:36:23] fundamental things you can do to support your body is to make sure that you are eating regularly

[00:36:28] and that you're keeping your blood sugar stable throughout the day and night have a meal with your

[00:36:33] glass of wine at dinner or make sure to bring a snack with you like a salted nut mix to enjoy if

[00:36:39] you're out having a drink and you know there's no food available or you're not planning to get

[00:36:43] any food maybe you're just meeting a friend for a drink. Bring a snack with you or have a snack

[00:36:48] before you head out food really acts as a buffer it's going to help to slow down the absorption of

[00:36:53] alcohol into the bloodstream and it's gonna keep blood sugar more stable and mitigate some of those

[00:36:58] you know negative side effects that you know we talked about a couple minutes ago.

[00:37:06] You know we are serious about high quality supplements and that includes probiotics

[00:37:11] that's why we trust in bio cult every day an expert developed research back probiotic supplement

[00:37:16] that contains 14 probiotic strains to support the diversity and abundance of the microbiome for

[00:37:21] overall health every day. Probiotics are especially a great everyday tool during cold and flu season

[00:37:26] as our gut houses about 80% of our immune system so it nourishes the gut nourishes our immune system

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[00:37:41] That like having something just even as a good routine of like if you know you're gonna go

[00:37:48] meet friends and you're like oh maybe we'll get a half so maybe we won't it's like just have

[00:37:51] something to eat before you go it doesn't need to be huge but something that's like a protein

[00:37:56] carb pairing you will be no matter if you eat or not eat you're going to be just like so much

[00:38:01] happier with your decision and like you'll get there and you're like oh I'm not like grumpy because

[00:38:04] I'm hungry and I can go right into being social and like a little of that like need for the alcohol is

[00:38:10] probably like softened because we've also supported our blood sugar too. Yeah and you know if we

[00:38:17] end up drinking alcohol again which is a blood sugar disruptor and there's you know some unexpected

[00:38:23] like big long stretches of time between between eating you know that's also contributing to

[00:38:28] blood sugar crashes and wonkiness and that's never gonna feel good and we usually again feel it

[00:38:34] feel it later we feel it the next day we feel it in our sleep so any anyways that we can mitigate

[00:38:38] you know some of the blood sugar disruption and make sure that you know we're really nourishing

[00:38:42] adequately can you know make a big difference. Last couple foundational tips here aim to leave at least

[00:38:50] two hours between your last drink and bedtime this gives your body more time to process alcohol before

[00:38:57] sleep unfortunately it will not negate sleep disruption like we talked about but it can definitely

[00:39:03] help to minimize some of the disruption if we're drinking right up until the time that we are

[00:39:08] you know drinking alcohol right up until the time that we are going to sleep you know we are

[00:39:12] going to feel far worse than next day our sleep is gonna be significantly more disrupted while the

[00:39:16] body is you know kind of heavily going through processing alcohol while we're asleep so give yourself

[00:39:21] at least two hours after your last drink and your future self will thank you for it. And then

[00:39:27] lastly aim to keep your sleep schedule fairly similar in terms of your bedtime and wake up time

[00:39:34] the bedtime I know is a can be a trickier one especially if you have social plans you know we don't

[00:39:38] expect clients are gonna like run home and you know skip out on having fun with their friends or

[00:39:43] their their family to like maintain their bedtime that they do during the week ideally a consistent

[00:39:48] schedule is going to be most ideal but the big thing we would recommend focusing on is just maintaining

[00:39:53] that consistent wake up time. That is really going to help with minimizing disruptions to circadian

[00:39:59] rhythms and specifically that cortisol awakening response that we talked about in the car episode

[00:40:04] this season so keep your wake up time consistent if you need to take an app a little bit later in

[00:40:09] the day um we encourage that but the consistency with the wake up time can really provide a lot of

[00:40:14] stability for the body. It's always just uh when you're like out in your or rings like your bedtime

[00:40:20] is approaching you're like I just sat down to dinner. It's like oh my. Yeah I'm like I'm really

[00:40:28] really out of sync on these evening nights but yeah the waking up at the same time is it is a big

[00:40:33] difference and then kind of like gentle morning and then yeah like take a little cat nap like later

[00:40:39] in the day or even just kind of do some like reading or something like low like a little like

[00:40:44] rest moment and it can make a world of difference. All right so to dive into some bonus tools that we

[00:40:51] like to use both personally and professionally with clients to help soften the impacts of alcohol

[00:40:56] on the body. Again that being said these tools won't make it like you never drink in the first place

[00:41:01] but they can help to the body to process with that kind of less collateral damage and mitigate some

[00:41:08] of severity in like hangover symptoms. So the first category of support are detox support

[00:41:15] products so the goal is to help better support the process of alcohol detoxification predominantly

[00:41:21] through our kind of phase two detoxification process in the liver. So some of our favorite products

[00:41:27] for that are one called amino detox by designs for health and it's a blend of amino acids that help

[00:41:33] to promote that phase two detoxification. Liver GI detox by pure encapsulations these are some

[00:41:39] specific supplements that kind of we use with clients and that's a blend of amino acids anti-inflammatories

[00:41:45] and some key nutrients to support those detox pathways in both the gut and the liver as a way to

[00:41:50] because well as kind of reducing inflammation overall. Castor oil packs are very helpful a great

[00:41:57] gentle way to support detoxification as well as reduce inflammation and we've talked about these

[00:42:02] in past episodes our favorite company to recommend for castor oil packs are queen of thrones

[00:42:07] castor oil packs that are kind of a one and done system and then another category kind of in

[00:42:13] that same detox but this idea of binders which help to kind of mop up inflammatory byproducts and

[00:42:18] irritants from the processing of alcohol and the existence of alcohol in the body. There's a

[00:42:24] specific one called GID tox from bio-siden and it's a blend of activated charcoal, benignite clay and

[00:42:29] other mineral binders that can be taken at bedtime in order to kind of bind up those waste products

[00:42:35] overnight and then another is biotoxin binder by cell core which is a carbon based binder that helps

[00:42:41] to bind inflammatory irritants so some specific products many of these are available through

[00:42:47] practitioner kind of ordering through supplement from practitioners both Jillian I have access to

[00:42:53] those through some of our kind of supplement guides and things you can access through our websites

[00:42:58] or through Instagram if you're interested in kind of acquiring those specific products through

[00:43:02] some like trusted retailers. The second category that we want to think about supporting especially

[00:43:08] for anyone who experiences more of those digestive and gut symptoms as part of having alcohol

[00:43:13] is supporting the gut lining so we've got some of our favorite products here kind of initially

[00:43:18] GI resolve or GI response to similar products just slightly different both of them contain

[00:43:24] key amino acids particularly glutamine as well as soothing musilogen so those help with our

[00:43:30] barrier system in the gut the kind of comfy cozy soothing barrier system as well as anti-inflammatories

[00:43:36] that all help to rebuild strengthen and soothe the gut barrier reducing that gut permeability and

[00:43:42] leaky gut that we talked about kind of alcohol increasing the potential for. Another type of supplement

[00:43:48] is called immunoglobulins specifically we love a product called mega IGG 2000 by microbiome labs

[00:43:55] more popular now on like Instagrams like armura same category that's kind of a colostrum which has

[00:44:01] immunoglobulins built into it so that one's a little bit familiar of like a trending product I guess

[00:44:07] little expensive but you know yeah a little price for all of your price yeah just FYI everybody

[00:44:13] but essentially what those do is they help to support the immune system in the gut as well as play

[00:44:18] a role in strengthening the gut barrier and reducing and helping to repair any of that kind of

[00:44:23] broken gut barrier leaky gut dynamic and they're very soothing for the gut and even can help mitigate

[00:44:27] some of like kind of more acute like loose stools and discomfort in the GI system. More food-based

[00:44:33] bone broth is a wonderful whole food that's rich in minerals and amino acids that helps to

[00:44:38] soothe and rebuild that gut barrier can just be like very like cozy and comforting. Allo Vera

[00:44:43] is a potent anti-inflammatory and soothe irritated mucosal membrane so from that kind of exposure

[00:44:48] to alcohol and it's really great especially if someone's experiencing like a heartburn or just

[00:44:53] irritation in the GI system burning symptoms kind of post drinking the following day that would be

[00:44:58] a great thing to mix into water. George's Allo is one of my kind of Jillian one of our favorites

[00:45:03] that has no taste or texture or anything and nice and mixes into water very easily. Another

[00:45:09] category of food-based are prebiotics and probiotics to help to prevent the shift of any microbiome

[00:45:15] disruptions and kind of maintain our healthy intestinal bacteria that really actually can independently

[00:45:21] metabolize alcohol reducing some of the level of inflammatory byproducts for kind of from that

[00:45:26] exposure of alcohol. So a diet rich, infarmented foods so those are sour, crowd, or kimchi as well

[00:45:32] as prebiotic fibers so we can think about all kind of categories of fruits and vegetables specific

[00:45:37] emphasis on maybe resistant starches like cooked and cruel rice or potatoes and things like

[00:45:42] asparagus, sun chokes, leeks, oats, tyronut flour as well as we can use some more functional

[00:45:48] fibers like sun fiber or acacia fiber that can be added to things like water or smoothies or

[00:45:52] coffee or matcha to increase the food sources for those beneficial bacteria. And then our last

[00:45:58] little kind of food-based category here of like as needed are tools like ginger which really in any

[00:46:05] form from like a tea to a little ginger shot, to ginger chews, to the ginger people's like liquid

[00:46:12] ginger can help to reduce symptoms of like nausea, upset stomach, heartburn just kind of

[00:46:18] indigestion in general as well as bitters which again you know how much we love but those can

[00:46:24] help again kind of soothing any of that like indigestion symptoms or sometimes if you're like I

[00:46:28] can't tell whether I'm like hungry or overly full, those can be really helpful to help to in a way

[00:46:33] like regulate appetite a little bit or kind of create more effective digestion and then support some

[00:46:39] blood sugar post digestion too. Amazing such great tools in all honesty, Abbie and I utilize

[00:46:49] most of these you know personally but also recommend a lot of these you know wholeheartedly

[00:46:54] declines of course you're always going to want to check with your practitioner provider before

[00:46:58] starting any you know supplements binders things like that but these are things that we truly use

[00:47:03] you know day in and day out in our own lives for various reasons but can provide support you know

[00:47:07] if we are drinking alcohol but you know also recommend to clients and you know build out in their

[00:47:14] toolkits as well. Yeah and we definitely utilize personally like a combination between both the

[00:47:20] food and the supplements you know when we think about like we're in biving a toxin in a higher level

[00:47:26] that's where like a supplement really does kind of like come onto the forefront of like we just put

[00:47:31] a burden an elevated burden into the body let's put an elevated concentration of something that's

[00:47:35] going to help to rebalance it which you know food sources can be wonderful tools at but that's also

[00:47:40] kind of the method of supplements to be able to put like a very concentrated amount of something

[00:47:45] that's matching you know whatever's being kind of done or trying to neutralize I guess would be

[00:47:50] a better a better perspective so just a little bit of where you know where those tools come from

[00:47:55] a both like supplement and food. That's a great point I love I love the emphasis on the combination

[00:47:59] of both of these things so to you know kind of wrap up today now we have a much deeper understanding

[00:48:07] of the science behind how alcohol impacts our body our gut our hormones we have some really

[00:48:14] incredible like foundational tips and tools as well as you know supplements micro strategies with

[00:48:21] foods all sorts of really wonderful things we can utilize to support the body give it some

[00:48:26] extra TLC if we are enjoying any alcohol in terms of diving deeper into the relationship with

[00:48:34] alcohol and you know some of the nuance there we would definitely encourage you to check out

[00:48:39] episode 33 that we did with the wonderful Meg Gerber who shared all about her sober curious

[00:48:45] journey. In general I think what we would like to leave you with is to to just get curious

[00:48:52] really to encourage that to assess your relationship with alcohol you know how it's serving you

[00:48:58] how it isn't serving you and to approach that process without judgment we talk a lot about

[00:49:04] that in the episode with Meg you know if that's of interest to you but do you have any parting

[00:49:10] parting words Abby in this alcohol episode. Yeah I think the curiosity around it and just

[00:49:16] recognizing you know at any point if you know alcohol takes away from your like your day the next

[00:49:24] day if it starts to impede on the quality of life that you live the ways that you show up like that's

[00:49:29] really where we want to get curious and getting curious about our finding our sweet spot so where

[00:49:35] you know all or nothing like dry January or like you know soaking wet February it's kind of like is

[00:49:40] there a middle ground between both of those where I don't have to be zero but I also don't have to

[00:49:46] be you know just kind of allowing alcohol to like run my life that's a little bit more of a

[00:49:51] personalized question and kind of for some people complicated answer but I think it's always worth

[00:49:57] to just like reflect and to just never stop that curiosity as Jilly said because it's definitely

[00:50:03] you know it's a substance and having a big history in like my family with alcohol I'm kind of

[00:50:08] constantly in that like reflection and took a long time I think in my own personal relationship

[00:50:13] to get to like where I am and it's my relationship with alcohol perfect absolutely not but it's

[00:50:17] certainly kind of the best place it's been probably for my whole life and that took you know a lot

[00:50:22] of self-reflection and definitely utilizing these tools and all those things so just a good thing

[00:50:28] to know that you're not alone because you know we're all kind of thinking about it probably if that's

[00:50:33] so I drive you anywhere is a thing

[00:50:44] thank you for listening to The Your Body Has Your Back Podcast. If you enjoyed today's podcast

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[00:51:10] connect with Abby and I over on Instagram you can follow Abby at above health and yet you can

[00:51:15] follow me Jillian at Jillian Greaves Rd thank you and see you in the next episode