On the Cleanse & Reboot we AIM to avoid alcohol. Some people may struggle with this part and may need to examine the “why” and consider your relationship with alcohol. If you can´t avoid, try to limit to a glass for no more than two nights.
Alcohol is a TOXIN to the body.
More than 90% of alcohol is eliminated by the liver; 2-5% is excreted unchanged in urine, sweat, or breath.
Men and women metabolise alcohol differently, women have higher blood alcohol concentrations for the same serving and higher levels persist longer. This means women are more prone to neurotoxicity, liver damage, heat disease and cancer at lower alcohol levels than men.
The first stop for alcohol is the stomach. Some people have enzymes in their stomachs which help to break down alcohol and divert some of it from the bloodstream. These enzymes are known as alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and women tend to have lower levels of ADH than men. Also people who drink regularly have lower ADH levels than people who rarely or never drink. If you don’t have enough ADH or ALDH, your stomach will send the alcohol directly to the small intestine. From there, it hits your bloodstream and the brain and you start feeling its effects.
The liver does the hard work in processing alcohol. Once it has passed through the stomach it reaches the small intestine and bloodstream, where your liver starts its cleanup. It removes about 90% of the alcohol from your blood. The rest comes out through your kidneys, lungs and skin.
To detoxify alcohol the liver uses up the essential master antioxidant called GLUTATHIONE – the key nutrient required to help break down most chemical toxins through the liver.
It’s suggested that you avoid alcohol for at least the first weekend of your cleanse to fully support your liver (intestines and kidneys too)!
Short-term effects of alcohol on your excretory system include:
- More frequent urination.
- Heightened blood pressure.
- Bladder irritation
Women’s bodies process alcohol at a slower rate than men, so the effects of alcohol are about twice that of one drink for men.
So why are women more sensitive to the effects of alcohol?
- Body Fat In general, women tend to weigh less than men and their bodies are composed of more fatty tissue and often, less water. Naturally, water dilutes alcohol, but fat retains it, concentrating the effects of alcohol in a woman’s system for a longer period of time.
- Metabolism – Women have lower levels of the enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, which break down alcohol in the stomach and liver. Hormonal changes and levels during a woman’s menstrual cycle also have effects on the way alcohol is metabolised.
Here are some of the ways alcohol negatively impacts women’s health:
- Weight Gain and Increased Appetite By suppressing the hunger regulating hormone leptin, alcohol can make you hungrier, and more likely to binge eat due to lowered inhibitions and increasing the hunger hormone, Ghrelin. It causes cortisol to rise which affects your blood sugar levels. Alcohol also impacts growth hormone levels meaning you become less lean and store more fat.
- Alcohol affects oestrogen balance at all stages of life. It raises oestrogen levels and SLOWS fat burning. Pre menopause it can lead to too much oestrogen relative to progesterone and then encourage heavy bleeding, PMS, night sweats and hot flushes. In menopausal women, drinking 1-2 units /day raises oestrone and DHEAS, another hormone that can be converted into oestrogen. Excess may increase risk of breast cancer. In a vicious cycle, excess fat after menopause is more likely to produce oestrogen out of testosterone, a process called aromatisation.
- Losing Focus Alcohol affects the body’s ability to regenerate. When alcohol is broken down and releases acetaldehyde, brain cells are destroyed. On average, the consumption of alcohol decreases the production of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent, meaning the useful cells in your body are killed while the damaged ones are inhibited from repair. Women are more likely to have loss of brain volume. The more alcohol consumed the greater the shrinkage.
- Alcohol is a neurotoxin and after the age of 40 the blood brain barrier (BBB) gets thinner, so alcohol attacks cells more easily. Alcohol also causes this BBB to become leaky which is linked to multiple brain/body problems including MS, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Blood Pressure Spikes It may already be self-evident that alcohol causes your blood pressure to rise, but women are especially at a higher risk here. Research has shown that women who drank more than 10 units a week had a blood pressure level of 12 points higher than normal, twice as high as levels seen in men.
Alcohol acts as a disinfectant in the gut.
It kills many of the beneficial bacteria that live in the intestines and this will reduce your immune resilience since 70-80% of your immune cells reside in the gut membrane. Our body needs these bacteria as they support a healthy gut microbiome and many additional critical processes.
When we drink alcohol it affects the permeability of the gut- making it leaky, enabling anything to pass through the protective layers of the intestines into the bloodstream.
Alternative drinks to enjoy:
Incorporating herbal teas such as dandelion root, nettle, or green tea into your meal plan is a great way to support liver and kidney function.
Iced tea: Brew some of your favourite herbal tea, I like 3 ginger or a strong mint. Use either loose leaf or a few teabags for extra flavour in a litre of boiling water poured into a large glass bottle/jug. When cooled, remove the teabags, loose leaves and add freshly squeezed lemon juice (if desired) then refrigerate and serve with ice cube/sparking water or even neat. I add mint leaves and lime to my peppermint mix.
A really interesting podcast to listen to about alcohol is this one by a renowned neuroscientist – Have a listen and let me know what you think
Keep it real and make the programme work for you.
For more information listen to my Instagram Live recording on my account (@christinekjeldbjerg) with Lindsey Beveridge on the 19th September 2022 or with Kate Adams on her abstinence from alcohol within the library of presentations.