Issue #422: Am I Missing Out?
Good morning.
In today’s email:
Learn: A New Alcohol Warning
Cook: Turkey Meatballs
In the News: 7 Minutes to Serenity
Stat of the Day
The percentage of people participating in Dry January this year. (Pew Research)
Learn
A New Alcohol Warning
I’ve really cut back on drinking. It used to be a big part of social life.
My schedule was pretty consistent - a drink after work on Thursday + more than a couple of drinks on Friday or Saturday night. Then throw in a work happy hour or dinner out during the week for a few more drinks.
But after being sleep deprived from kid #2 and not feeling great the next day after drinking I really cut back in 2024. I didn’t stop - but I probably had 10-15 drinks all year. I guess what some people are calling soberish.
It was pretty great - never waking up with a hangover. But I worried if I was missing out.
As an introvert, drinking was one of the ways I opened up - it led to more conversations, more smiles, more laughs.
I’d say that at first I definitely wasn’t feeling those same euphoric nights of just letting loose. I’m not talking about drinking like I was back in my 20’s - but just letting down my guard a bit.
But after a while - I found that new normal and began to more naturally have fun without the booze.
I’m not the only one going on this journey.
We just hosted a Gasparilla party in Tampa and didn’t have any alcohol…and nobody seemed to mind - or least least they didn’t say it directly 😄 .
So why are some people drinking less?
It seems like we’re at the early stages of what happened with tobacco 30 years ago with the Surgeon General now recommending more direct warnings - now about the association of alcohol and cancer.
They call out 7 types of cancer associated with alcohol consumption.
The data suggests that for women just 1 drink per day increases the absolute risk of cancer by about 2.5% and 2+ drinks per day by over 5%. It’s a smaller effect for men.
In other words - if a woman has a 16% chance of developing cancer, having 2+ drinks per day increases this risk to 21%. This is especially pronounced with breast cancer due to altered estrogen levels.
This isn’t insignificant - we should avoid cancer as much as possible.
But what might be even more concerning is what alcohol does to our metabolism and liver.
Here’s what happens when we drink:
When alcohol enters your system, our body stops everything else it’s doing. Unlike carbs, fat, or protein, our body can't store alcohol. It has to do everything it can to process it out.
Our liver can only process about 1 standard drink per hour - it converts it to acetaldehyde (a toxin that damages DNA) and then to acetate (less toxic).
While it’s doing that, our fat burning drops by up to 73% - because the liver stops glucose production) and then 2-3 hours later our glucose spikes as the liver releases emergency glucose into our blood.
In all. our blood sugar is thrown off by up to 35% for the next 12 hours after drinking.
All of this whiplash decreases our insulin sensitivity (sign of diabetes) by up to 30%.
That’s why we’re hungry when we drink (blood sugar drop) and why we crave carbs to cure our hangover (insulin resistance).
For all that work the liver does - for two-thirds of people, just 1 drink per day is enough to raise ALT (biomarker measuring fatty liver) above the optimal level (<20 IU/L).
It takes 2-3 days for all liver enzymes to get back to normal after a night of heavy drinking. That’s why everyone should definitely get a panel of key biomarkers to check out the health of your liver:
All of that seems pretty scary - but fortunately our liver is pretty resilient and can regenerate back to health - if we give it some love.
Every drinking decision is a personal one - the science doesn’t say that a glass of wine once in a while is going to significantly shorten your healthspan or lifespan. And it’s key to figure out how you can most enjoy life.
Just give your body time to recover after - it’s working overtime for you to process out those drinks.
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H&L in the News
7 Minutes to Serenity: Discover the 7-minute stress workout designed to calm your mind and body. These easy, mindful movements boost resilience, release tension, and help you feel grounded anytime, anywhere. (NYTimes)
Rebuilding Tomorrow, Sustainably Today: Transforming buildings into energy-efficient havens with deep retrofits and biomaterials could slash emissions, cut costs, and improve lives. Discover the innovative solutions reshaping our spaces and future. (Knowable)
Smartphone Bans - Fix or Fad?: Are school smartphone bans effective or just another moral panic? Evidence shows minimal benefits, suggesting education on responsible phone use may be the smarter, longer-lasting solution. (Big Think)
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