Alcohol’s Balancing Act and moderation in use
Alcohols balancing act and moderation in use
For as long as alcohol has been a part of human culture and life style (at least 10,000 years), there has been debate as to whether its good or bad for us and to this day the debate goes on. Medical peer reviewed research should help us get to some of the answers. Alcohol’s balancing act: Alcohol is both a tonic and a poison and the difference lies in the dose!
Alcohol’s two-faced nature shouldn’t come as a surprise. The active ingredient in alcoholic beverages, a simple molecule called ethanol, affects the body in many different ways. Alcohol directly influences the stomach, brain, heart, gallbladder, and liver. Alcohol affects levels of lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and insulin in the blood, as well as inflammation and coagulation. It also alters mood, concentration, and coordination.
- Mood & Relaxation: Alcohol increases the effect of GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and decreases Glutamate (an excitatory neurotransmitter). This causes initial feelings of relaxation and lowered inhibitions. [1]
- Reward: It triggers the brain’s reward center to release dopamine, which creates feelings of pleasure. [2]
- Memory Loss: In the hippocampus, alcohol blocks the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory, which causes blackouts. [3]
- Coordination: By affecting the cerebellum, it causes clumsiness, slurred speech, and delayed reaction times. [4]
- Brain Shrinkage: Long-term misuse physically shrinks brain tissue (especially the cerebral cortex) and can lead to alcohol-related cognitive impairment or dementia. [ 5]
- Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome: Severe thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, common in chronic alcohol use disorder, causes profound confusion and irreversible memory loss. [6]
- Dependence & Withdrawal: The brain tries to adapt to the constant depressant effects by overproducing glutamate. When alcohol is removed, the brain becomes hyperactive, causing withdrawal symptoms like severe anxiety, shaking, and seizures. [7]
Alcohol consumption in moderation actually helps to keep the arteries, specially the coronaries, the most important arteries and usually the first ones to narrow, clear. Light alcohol consumption is beneficial in terms of what the researchers call all cause mortality in that it reduces mortality due to all causes. Yet heavy drinkers or binge drinkers have a much higher rate of health problems, including death. On a graph this becomes a J shaped curve. Little alcohol is good and protective, heavy alcohol use leads to much higher mortality and morbidity (the right part of the curve (J).
In subgroup analyses, light and moderate alcohol intake predicted reduced all-cause cardiovascular, and cancer mortalities in both men and women, thou higher in women. The highest levels of alcohol intake were associated with increased all-cause and cancer mortality.
Acupuncture is all about balancing the bodies energetics for optimal health. With this article we see another important example of how getting the balance right is beneficial.
Alcohol consumption, dietary intake, yin and yang in Oriental medicine, its all about balance.
Find out how acupuncture can help to balance your health and different aspects of your being, including ending addictions. Contact me with questions to see if acupuncture and herbal medicine will help you regain the balance
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