Is alcohol toxic – even in small amounts?
I find alcohol to be pleasant to drink, but it rapidly makes me tired, then disturbs my sleep and makes me feel fuzzy the next day, even in small amounts.
Perhaps I’ve been poisoning myself.
So, is alcohol toxic? This is an interesting presentation:
I don’t know anything about this presenter, but he has a good jaw line. And he has done his research.
I have been a moderate drinker since I was 21. As I’ve gotten older, alcohol has agreed with me less and less.
I had my last drink on the 7th, and will see what happens over the month as I continue to abstain.
We’ll see if it has any effect on my energy levels and health. Apparently alcohol still interferes with the brain for days after having a drink. Since I’m no longer smoking (as of the 1st), I’m already in “quitting” mode.
I should quit caffeine as well and make it a trifecta.
No. That’s too much.
In the podcast, there is a ton of information on the toxic effects of drinking. It may not be a “healthy in moderation” practice, despite the news articles we grew up with linking red wine to heart health, etc.
Why not experiment and see what it feels like to be a boring teetotaler?
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I think your experience of getting along worse with alcohol as you get older is pretty common. It’s certainly my experience, and I have heard similar sentiments from others.
I haven’t become a permanent teetotaler yet, but I do go up to several months without drinking anything at all. Even when I do drink, I drink less than before.
As I get older, the margin between drinking enough to feel any pleasant effects all and drinking enough that I feel bad the next day gets narrower and narrower. And alcohol does interfere with my sleep more and more as the years go by. So I don’t know whether I’ll ever formally decide to become a teetotaler. But I am gravitating in that direction.
Yes, it is interesting. I used to be able to drink a large gin martini and go to bed, then wake up fine in the morning. Not anymore. Now it makes me feel like my head is full of cobwebs.
“the margin between drinking enough to feel any pleasant effects all and drinking enough that I feel bad the next day gets narrower and narrower”
Totally.
Apparently, going without alcohol also increases your brain function after a few weeks. I did notice that when I quit smoking and drinking and ate mostly carnivore for a time, my mind was working so fast it was almost annoying. I felt like I could see the future.
I’ve never had a drop of alcohol in my entire life (minus incidental from kefir, extracts or meat cooked in wine, etc), so I have no reference point for how it feels, but I know how it looks from the outside and the effects of even smaller amounts is real. I applaud you for trying to join us ridiculously boring folk. It really is just fine over here, I promise. There are tons of ways to enjoy yourself and relax without the use of alcohol, and there are better ways of getting antioxidants and polyphenols or whatever than wine. You’ll find creative ways to make really good food that will fill the void, but just don’t do it with sugar too much or you’ll be sober and fat! Alcohol is expensive, too, it’s nice to not have that particular pressure on the budget.
I will say one thing: at conventions and parties where people are drinking I manage to get lots of interesting insider information from them. I always tell them that’s what I’m doing and that I remember *everything* they say, and they laugh and acknowledge that their drinking is making them more “honest”, and tell me things anyway. Alcohol has been a useful tool. (wink, wink)
Yes, it’s okay being “boring.” I met my wife and married her without experimenting with other women as well – that was a big blessing. We married as virgins, and have now been married twenty years.
I don’t much like sugar and haven’t eaten much of it for years, so cooking is okay. We had rice, smoked pork roast and steamed mustard greens with oil and vinegar for dinner last night. Today I’m headed to a friend’s house to make hard cheese from raw milk.
I bet you did get good info at conventions…
I have not had a drink in 45 years unless you count Nyquil for a cold.
I use an oura ring to track my sleep. I can 100% prove that 1 drink within 3 hours of bedtime ABSOLUTELY has a strong negative effect on my sleep.
That is utterly fascinating. Both the ring tracking, and the data.
It’s been three days now, and I think my mind is running faster, even though I wasn’t much of a drinker.
We have a drink once in awhile but aren’t heavy drinkers by any means. We keep organic vodka around for tinctures mostly but may have a screwdriver or whatever when we pick fresh oranges. Need to go pick some now before this hard freeze comes along. A buddy of mine has dozens of seed grown oranges, grapefruit, and kumquat on his lands. Several generations of trees from seedlings to 20ft plus trees. His father dug the original oranges up on Gaskin Island in the Chipola River as a young man and my buddy is in his later 60s. Roughly 8 years from seeds to produce. All grow fairly true from seed and are some of the best oranges we’ve ever had. His Duncan white grapefruit are very good too but are very seedy. Seedy is no problem for me though. For a white grapefruit they are equally as good and sweet as any store bought pink grapefruit. If you ever want seeds let me know. Gotta get some this week before they get ruined.
Hopefully the Glycomis and Texas persimmon seeds are not moldy by the time you open the package. The Glycomis pentaphylla seedlings like mostly shade. They really don’t like much sun. If they get yellowy they often are just in too much sun. Cool citrus relative. Orange berries around the size of a blueberry. Let me know if everything arrived all good.
I got the package yesterday – thank you
It all looks good
Great podcast. I’ll join you in abstaining.
I’ve been a moderate drinker since age 18, drinking beer or wine in later years. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve shifted back and forth from one beer a day to abstinence, mostly for healthy living and weight loss. I wasn’t aware that alcohol would kill the good microbiome in my gut. I’ve been reading about a healthy gut microbiome, and started making milk kefir at home.
Dr. Huberman confirms some anecdotal information I have. I listen to a podcast about health and healthy living. The medical doctor is a proponent of fermented foods to promote a healthy gut microbiome. In passing, he mentioned he didn’t drink alcohol. He noted that the medical community has reduced the recommended amount of alcohol consumption over time. The doctor’s personal forecast is the recommended safe level of alcohol consumption will be zero.
I seem to have more energy now, and it’s not been that long.