Why Alcohol Is Tougher On Women’s Health

Transcript:

Britni: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Today we're diving into how alcohol impacts women's health and the surprising reality of why drinking alcohol could be way more damaging to a woman's health than it is to a man's.

And this information, I think it's all over the media right now. So you may have seen some blurbs about it, but we're going to dive into the science here. And you might be questioning yourself. What is your relationship with alcohol and wondering if it's worth keeping in your life.

You may be noticing that drinking alcohol has bigger consequences to how you feel than it used to. If this sounds like you, you are not alone. We will be going more in depth about why alcohol is especially harmful to women and some things you can do to support your health if alcohol has been part of your life.

Before we dive into that, let's quickly introduce ourselves. My name is Britni Vincent. I'm a registered and licensed dietitian, and I am here with:

Melanie: Melanie Beasley, a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. You know, up until recent history, the focus on studying alcoholism has been on men. Big surprise. So from the studies on health effects of drinking alcohol to the most effective recovery treatments, the focus has always been on men.

So we're going to break through and have a little conversation about women today because women are catching up to consume more alcohol than generations before, and it's catching up to our health as well. Wouldn't you say Britni?

Britni: I think so, yeah. Yeah.

Melanie: So, it's become much more acceptable for women to drink. Whereas it used to be back in the fifties men would have a cocktail after work.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: You know, I can remember my folks always having, well, it's happy hour.

Britni: Yeah, for sure.

Melanie: You know, at home and they would have a cocktail and so, especially my father. And then my mother would join him, maybe, you know, on a weekend or something. But I think it's becoming more and more common for women, it's changed. You know, women are doing a lot more things, but this is not one that we necessarily encourage.

Britni: It's true.

Statistics related to alcohol consumption & health detriments

Melanie: So women are catching up to consume more alcohol than generations before, and it's catching up to their health as well. So for today's podcast, we took a deep dive into an article from May of this year published by Yale School of Medicine, and it's titled: Women's Brains On Alcohol: Insight Into the Science of Sex-Based Risks. So here's an alarming statistic. The CDC reported that between 2016 and 2021, rates of alcohol related deaths increased in women by 35%.

Britni: I was shocked to learn these statistics.

Melanie: Deaths. We're not talking complications. We're talking deaths. In men, it was up 27% and that's in just five years time to have that big of a jump. But five years.

Britni: Yeah. Not that much time.

Melanie: And between 2006 and 2014, emergency room visits related to alcohol use increased by 70% in women versus 58% in men in just eight years. So 70% increase in emergency room visits due to alcohol. That's crazy.

Alcohol & social gatherings frequently go hand-in-hand

So think about this. How did this come to be? Have you noticed how the wine culture is a norm for a lot of women? I call it Vitamin W. So for many women's social events, alcohol is the focus. You know I think it, what really started, and this is, this is Melanie's opinion, is that we started becoming sort of wine connoisseurs.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And that sort of began, I would say, early two thousands. Wine became a thing, and then following the wine being such, I mean, people were buying wine glasses and wine paraphernalia and wine decor, and they were getting together having wine, and there were jokes about wine. And you would see it in sitcoms?

Britni: Yes. Yeah.

Melanie: It would be all about the wine. And then wine sort of lost some of its momentum, not all. And breweries.

Britni: Yes, they've popped up everywhere.

Melanie: They're everywhere. And so alcohol has become a very strong part of social gatherings.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So you'll see alcohol companies marketing, “mommy juice” or “mom water” to sell more of their product or water bottles that advertise. It fits a whole bottle of wine. I mean, they'll advertise this.

Britni: That's crazy.

Melanie: So I think this is a huge marketing; I see wine T-shirts. And we've all seen it. Wine candles. So it's all of this plays a role into the wine culture. And unfortunately alcohol has become so commonplace, it's the norm to be offered a drink at social events.

And we're given the message that drinking is just a normal part of life. And I have clients that on the regular, I'm talking nightly, that's part of their routine. And they don't think of it as anything other than making a cup of tea at night or a cup of coffee is a glass of wine.

Britni: Yeah. It becomes so habitual or people crave it. People are wanting that relaxation.

Melanie: And unfortunately, the more you drink, whether you're an alcoholic or not, the more you crave.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Because there's a dopamine hit that is very addictive, very similar to sugar.

Britni: Yeah. I mean these statistics are pre-pandemic, but I think there's been even more alcohol consumption since the pandemic. I don't know about you, but I've had a lot of clients say that they drank more 'cause it was just kind of something to do.

Melanie: Yeah. And I think, you know, during the pandemic it was a stress reliever.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: It felt like the weekend. When you're home all day, it feels like it's a weekend.

Britni: Yeah, that's true.

Melanie: So, you know, I think that played into it. And then it got to be you would Zoom groups of friends and have a cocktail. And so it, we're not in a pandemic anymore.

Britni: Thank goodness.

Melanie: But those habits have held on.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So I think it's really, really important that we take a look at how is this impacting.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Women are really impacted, but I think the emergency room and deaths, startling.

Britni: It's scary.

Melanie: Startling what's going on there.

Why is alcohol harder on women than men? 

Britni: Yeah. It's probably time to think about is it actually worth it? And you know, the, all this data showing the effects it is having on our health and leading women to preventable disease and even premature death. So let's get into why alcohol is harder on women than it is on men. The hard truth is that women face greater drinking related health risks at lower amounts of alcohol than men.

Melanie: I don't think that's a surprise, do you?

Britni: No.

Melanie: We’re smaller humans.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: So our organs are smaller.

Britni: Well, and if you're at a bar, you can just look around and, you know, tell the difference. One cocktail that a woman drinks affects them differently than one cocktail from a man.

Melanie: Yeah, something's going on there.

Britni: Yeah. So men need to drink at least 3.2 drinks per day to be at increased risk of premature death, whereas women only need to consume 1.8. So less than two drinks per day puts a woman at greater risk of alcohol related death.

Melanie: Now, you know, there's some woman out there who's thinking what's 0.8? Like how does that transfer in my glass? So, these are just statistics from studies? And that's deaths. It's 3.2 per day for deaths, premature deaths. That's not that much really. 3.2 drinks per day to be at an increased risk of premature death.

Biologically, women metabolize alcohol differently than men

Britni: Biologically, women metabolize alcohol differently than men. Alcohol is water soluble. This means that alcohol is metabolized in our tissues that contain water.

Melanie: That’s all tissues.

Britni: And women tend to have less percentage of water tissue to fat tissue than men, because biologically women, we need more fat on our bodies than men do. So because of the differences in distribution of water versus fat tissue, women can't break down alcohol as rapidly, and alcohol in general is metabolized very slowly. And the components that alcohol are broken down to are just wreaking havoc on your body for hours as the alcohol is being broken down.

Melanie: Yeah. And I must be a terrible alcohol processor because I will feel lousy for two days if I have one cocktail. So I, I don't drink because I don't want to lose two days of feeling lousy.

Britni: It’s not worth it. Yeah, not worth it.

Women don’t break down alcohol as quickly as men

Melanie: So in addition to that, we women, we have as much as 40% less of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which breaks alcohol down in the stomach. That means alcohol enters the bloodstream faster in women because it's not as quickly broken down as it is in men. So even if a man and a woman the same age and weight consume the same amount of alcohol, the women's blood alcohol levels will likely be higher.

Possible health risks/consequences associated

Britni: It makes sense after everything we're talking about and, and all that difference leads to greater health risks. We see liver disease progressing faster in women, even at lower levels of consumption. There's also an increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and mental health consequences like anxiety and depression. You know, keep in mind, alcohol is a depressant. I think people forget that.

Melanie: You know, and I think my daughters coined a phrase, post party depression.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Here's the science behind that is if they drank, you know, two to three times on a weekend, they'd have, you know, we've talked about this, the Monday scaries or the Sunday Blues, and really what's happening is that alcohol prevents your digestive system from creating the feel-good chemicals, dopamine, and serotonin in the gut.

So if you have two or three days of that, you're going to feel rather depressed. When you feel depressed or anxious, anxiety is another symptom of that. People will then use alcohol to quell that anxiety, but it's this perpetuating cycle that is really damaging.

Britni: I think a lot of people can probably relate to that.

Melanie: Yeah. Yeah. It's not just that you don't want to go back to work on Monday.

Britni: It's more than that.

Melanie: It's, there's a lot more going on there.

Britni: And I mean, I think a lot of people tend to think of alcohol as a mood lifter, but like Melanie said, it's really depleting our brain of feel good neurotransmitters, so we're left just not feeling very well.

Melanie: Yeah, I think the initial dopamine hit is why people think it raises their mood.

The liver prioritizes ridding toxins like alcohol

Britni: Yep. And then that just leads to lower dopamine the next day. And possibly even a couple days after. And also, alcohol is a toxin. Even though it's legal, it is a toxin to our body that is not meant to be ingested by humans. So our liver prioritizes getting rid of that harmful toxin above anything else. That leaves things like the excess estrogens that need to be excreted as a lesser priority.

So if you have excess estrogens floating around the body while the liver is prioritizing rid of the alcohol, then that estrogen overload can increase hormonal symptoms, whether you're menstruating or postmenopausal.

Melanie: So if you're a woman and you struggle with PMS symptoms, heavy, heavy periods, heavy blood clotting, breast tenderness, acne, PMS, mood issues, you probably aren't thinking, well, I need to look at my alcohol consumption. But what you just said, you can't get rid of the estrogen properly by the liver. 'cause the liver is saying, well first I got to get rid of these toxins.

Britni: Yeah. Or you know, even if you're eating food of course, and you're drinking alcohol, your body's prioritizing that alcohol. So that's going to mean more fat storage in our body.

Melanie: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, if you're on a weight loss, you're trying to lose weight and you're drinking alcohol, the liver is going to hold off on metabolizing that fat that you're breaking down because it's going to prioritize toxins.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So what happens is that liver will put the pause on the fat and the fat will literally be in a waiting line outside of the liver, which can lead to fatty liver.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: So all of that slows your metabolism and so your weight loss is stalled.

Breast cancer risk is increased with regular alcohol consumption

Britni: According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, women who consume two to three alcoholic beverages per day have a 20% higher risk of breast cancer compared to non-drinkers.

Melanie: That makes sense to me because of this whole estrogen piece.

Britni: Yes. Absolutely. And that risk only increases with each drink beyond that. So even if you think you are drinking moderately, but you are doing it on a regular basis, you are likely still putting yourself at risk for breast cancer.

Melanie: Scary.

Britni: Scary.

Osteoporosis risk is increased with alcohol consumption

Melanie: Another big risk factor for women that you mentioned is osteoporosis and alcohol really interrupts bone remodeling. It suppresses osteoblast activity. Those are your little brick layers that lay down new bone or the bone building process and enhances the osteoclast activity. That's the little Pacman that break down the bone.

Drinking alcohol also reduces calcium absorption and increases calcium excretion; not to mention the impairment of coordination and balance when you're under the influence. So if you are someone who already has those weak or fragile bones, even a minor fall can lead to a serious fracture or broken bones.

Britni: Nobody wants that.

Melanie: Nobody wants that. And you know, once I read that you have a broken bone from an osteoporotic break, you are more likely to have a cascade of more broken bones. There's a mechanism in the bones that makes you even at further wrist. So you really don't want to fall and break a bone. Nobody does. But if you have fragile bones, it's that much more important that your balance be on point.

Alcohol can lead to belly fat/weight gain

Britni: Yeah, absolutely. You know, a lot of women I work with in clinic notice they are getting more belly fat as they age. Which is very frustrating, but they have a hard time giving up their wine or cocktail. So we touched on this a bit ago, but alcohol, yes, it's extra empty calories, but it goes beyond that why it causes weight gain or prevents you from losing weight.

So like I mentioned, when you're drinking, your body is delaying metabolizing your food to deal with alcohol. This slows fat burning, promotes fat storage, especially in that abdominal area. Plus most people get the little munchies when they drink alcohol.

Melanie: So true.

Britni: And they're not grabbing the raw veggies and guacamole to snack on. They're grabbing something else.

Melanie: Well, it's just like, alcohol lowers your inhibition. Well, it also lowers your self-control about, well, is it a big deal if I eat these extra calories? And is it a big deal? And everybody else is, so I may as well join in the “party”.

Britni: Yeah. So it's easy to think, I'll eat better tomorrow. Well, I was working with a client who was trying to lose a few pounds for her upcoming wedding, and she was very frustrated because she would eat so well during the week, real food and balance, and felt great.

Then on the weekends, she would meet up with friends on Friday and Saturday nights and feel like she blew the results with eating more processed food and drinking alcohol. And this was a cycle for her every week. And I have a lot of clients like this.

Melanie: I do too.

Britni: They lose a pound or two during the week and then the weekends come, they gain it back and it's just this cycle.

Melanie: We see this pattern over and over of frustration where “I'm so good. I can't lose weight”. And you start investigating on the weekend, so you think it shouldn't matter if I'm six days good.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And then one day I relax. But it does. That's what we've seen in clinic. That one day really sets you back.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So I think we're ready for our first break.

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Britni: Well, welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Before the break I was sharing a client story, and I think this relates to a lot of our clients where they are consistent of eating real food in balance during the week. Then on the weekend they drink more alcohol, they have more processed food, and it's just a cycle that prevents them from seeing results.

Well, this particular client decided that she needed to take a look at her relationship with alcohol, so she decided to significantly reduce it, which led to better food choices on the weekend. She reduced, she would not drink; it used to be Friday, Saturday, maybe even Sunday. It might just be like one, one drink a weekend if that.

Melanie: Wow.

Britni: And by doing that she started to see the results she wanted.

Melanie: It's awesome.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So she started dropping the weight.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: More weight.

Britni: And reached her goal weight for her wedding.

Melanie: That's fantastic.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: I had a client and I worked with her for years. She ate super clean, very careful with her proteins, her carbs, her fat, sourced everything well, she didn't eat out a lot. She made her own food, brought it to work, but wine. She was very frustrated. Her weight over time started actually creeping up, even though she really wasn't changing anything. And this is a woman who had lost 80 pounds.

Britni: Oh, wow.

Melanie: So, you know, as it started creeping up, it was freaking her out. So I kept trying to, she loved wine 2, 3, 4 times a week after work. And so I tried and tried and tried and so she took our course, breaking up with sugar. And she learned all about how wine and sugar, very close friends.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: And so she dropped the wine and she dropped 10 pounds.

Britni: Oh wow.

Melanie: Yeah. She dropped 10 pounds that she had been, she had creeped up eight, but she dropped an additional 10 just by giving up the wine. And you know, she kept that habit up for quite a while. And then what she finds is that if she starts then it's one night. Well then the next, it's two different nights. Well then the bottle is open. So we don't want it to go bad. So it ends up being three nights and then the weight starts creeping back. But she has that tool in her toolbox from having giving it up. So she knows that really was the piece.

Britni: That's great.

Melanie: Sometimes we think it's not food. We're just having a cocktail is not food or it's not that many calories. It's only 80 calories for a shot. But it, it's so much more than that in how it affects our liver, our fat metabolism and, your body perceives it as toxic.

Britni: Yeah. So I think, you know, maybe you reflect on your own relationship with alcohol. Everything's relative. You don't know how you could feel without something, until you actually just eliminate it. So you could do a little experiment with yourself; pull it out for two weeks, a month, see if you feel better mentally, if you have more energy, if sleep better, maybe you see if weight loss is a goal, maybe you start to see weight loss.

And then at that point, like your client, you have that knowledge and you can decide. Or if that feels too drastic, but you find yourself drinking almost every day, could you at least start to just limit it to the weekends?

Alcohol alternatives

Melanie: Yeah, that's, it's a great start. It's a really great start, and I think the stumbling block is. It's so social. Well, what am I going to do when my friends are drinking?

Britni: Yeah.

Mel: Well, if they're good friends, they don't care what's in your glass. And so maybe you start with club soda, club soda and lime. You know, it looks like you have something in a cocktail glass, but you don't. Or maybe you have them put, you know, club soda and some cherries in a wine glass. But just starting out with an experiment, instead of saying, well, this is forever. Like you said, Britni, if you do it as an experiment, how am I going to do for two weeks?

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Reevaluate. How do I feel about this? How am I doing? What was my social life like? Did my friends actually care?

Britni: And nowadays, I feel like in most friend circles, there are more one person or more than one person that is just choosing not to drink nowadays. So it is becoming more the norm. Mm-hmm. And I think if you find an alternative, we have some great mocktail ideas on our website.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: Weightandwellness.com. So you feel like you're drinking something a little different. And then you're, you're still partaking,

Melanie: You're still partaking.

Britni: And socializing.

Melanie: And I've noticed more and more, because I don't drink that when you go out in a restaurant that they have non-alcoholic options. That might be a starting place for you. You got to watch. Some of those are pretty high in sugar.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But it's a starting place for you. And and now there are adaptogen drinks.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: That you can get, even I think at like liquor stores sell these adaptogens drinks, which don't have anything but adaptogens in them, and they've got some that are sweetened with stevia or monk fruit that aren't heavily ladened with sugar.

Britni: Yeah, I've tried those and you still kind of feel a little relaxed and it's drinking something different. And so if you are somebody that finds yourself coming home from work and grabbing the wine or the cocktail, maybe having some of these types of things on hand at your house, or even, like you said, just a flavored sparkling water.

Melanie: And you can take a 5-HTP. You can take an L-theanine. These will help if you're having anxiety. These will help if you're having, you know, mood issues when you come home. And that with the club soda in the wine glass or the cocktail glass is, it's an experiment to see how do I feel?

And I guarantee you, you're not going to have this cascading of the suppression of neurotransmitters being made, where now you feel depressed the next day and then the next day. So it's all for the benefit of your health because we know that there is great impact on your risk for disease and cancer with the amount of alcohol you're consuming.

Alcohol increases hunger & reduces self control

So think about the kinds of foods that you might crave while you're drinking. There's a reason for this. Alcohol affects the brain's appetite control centers, and it's often increasing hunger and reducing self-control. So you are more likely to crave those heavy, often fried foods while you're drinking, that you can more easily pass up when you're not under the influence.

It's also chemistry, and so it's not only are you more prone to making poor food choices when you're drinking, but also overeating those poor choices because of that appetite because that appetite control center is turned off, dialed down.

Nutritional strategies to avoid overconsumption of alcohol (#1: balance the blood sugar & stay hydrated)

Britni: Mm-hmm. Alright, so we talked about coming up with what's going to be your strategy. How are you going to approach alcohol if you feel like you need to make a change, but if you are choosing to still include it in your life, let's talk about some nutritional strategies to avoid over consumption of alcohol and help to support your health if you are someone who is going to still partake in it occasionally.

So if you are going into a situation where you expect to consume alcohol, make sure you go into it with balanced blood sugar, so eat like you normally would. That protein, fat, carbohydrate.

Melanie: Real food.

Britni: Real food. Eating every three to four hours, you know, you don't want to save up, save up your calories for the day. That does not end well in these situations.

Melanie: Never does.

Britni: No. And so set your day up and make sure you're drinking water throughout the day. You're hydrating yourself.

Melanie: You know, and that's the thing, when you go out to eat, what's the first thing they offer? What can I get you to drink? Wait until you've eaten before you have something to drink, because that's going to impact you dramatically less health wise than if you were to have that alcohol on an empty stomach, especially if you're someone that was not eating, saving up before you got out to eat. The impact of that alcohol, and we're not just talking about the buzz, we're talking about the impact on your health is much more severe.

Britni: And you're, if you skip that first drink, you're just going to end up drinking less too. So that's a win-win.

Liver support tips with food

Melanie: That's a win-win. You know, we talked about how alcohol is perceived by the liver as a toxins. So I like to focus on liver support with my clients who enjoy an occasional alcohol beverage. And the best foods to prioritize for liver support are cruciferous vegetables. And everywhere you go out to eat, they have broccoli.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: Broccoli.

Britni: Brussels sprouts.

Melanie: Brussel sprouts. A lot of times they have coleslaw.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: You know, something like that. So, sulfur rich foods like garlic and onions support glutathione production, which is a critical antioxidant for liver repair. But I find that sometimes extra supplemental support might be needed. So I recommend supplementing with N-acetyl-cysteine, which is NAC for that glutathione support before they even go out. That's one that I'll tell people just have it before you even go out. Because that helps the liver detoxify.

Prioritize a nutrient dense diet

Britni: Yeah, that's great. And it's also important to consider that alcohol depletes a lot of nutrients in your body. So prioritizing a nutrient dense diet is crucial for someone trying to support their body after alcohol consumption. So I especially focus on lots of good protein and those veggies, because alcohol depletes B vitamins, minerals, and compromises your immune system.

So you'll want that extra antioxidant support plus eating those animal proteins give you those amino acids that help make our feel good neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.

Melanie: So you're saying you just don't have chips and salsa and margaritas? Yeah, there's no protein.

Britni: Yes, exactly. And then the following day, being mindful of what you're having to help your body recover. And like I mentioned earlier, alcohol is a depressant, so it is going to deplete those healthy neurotransmitters.

You can’t out-supplement damage done from alcohol

So I want to point out there is no out supplementing the damage done from alcohol.

Melanie: Correct.

Britni: These are just…

Melanie: It's a good statement Britni.

Britni: …tips that if you are choosing to partake, here's some smarter ways to go about it. And then here's some supplements that can help replenish nutrients that are compromised from drinking alcohol.

How does alcohol affect sleep?

Melanie: I want to back up a little bit because we're talking about the day after, but what about the sleep?

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Because that definitely has an impact.

Britni: It sure does. So I mean, some people drink to help them fall asleep. Sure it does. It may help you.

Melanie: Makes you sleepy.

Britni: Yep. That kind of, that initial sedation. But then you're going to get disrupted sleep cycles. So alcohol reduces REM sleep. That's that deep dream stage, which is critical for emotional and memory processing.

Melanie: So that's that restorative sleep that the body needs to repair is the deep REM sleep.

Britni: Yes, you might get more, you might be waking up more frequently. Some people wake up earlier in the morning. I've heard that from a lot of people. You might be making more bathroom trips. Alcohol can affect your breathing, so increasing the risk of snoring and sleep apnea.

So it is not good for your sleep at all, and imagining those individuals that are drinking 4, 5, 6, 7 times a week, their sleep is not good quality most nights of the week.

Melanie: And long term sleep disruption, you know, you're thinking, well, I'm going to sleep well because I'll, I'll have this wine that'll make me sleepy, you do fall asleep.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But that long term sleep disruption puts you at risk for Alzheimer's.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: Cognitive function.

Britni: Negatively impacts your metabolism.

Melanie: Yeah. We sound like such party, Debbie Downers, do we not?

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But when you're advocating for health, that's what we're doing, advocating for your health, then you pick and choose.

Britni: Yep. Yeah. We are providing the information, and you get to decide what, what is worth changing for you, what is realistic for you and these changes as we talk about, can happen over time.

Melanie: And it could be with that information, you could say, well, you know what? I'm willing to take the hit at my, you know, my daughter's wedding, or I'm willing to take the hit. I've worked really hard in planning, you know, something that you've been working on in business and you're going out with everyone. That's not the regular.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: And we are talking about the impact that the regular alcohol is more impactful for women. It still impacts men.

Britni: Yes, it absolutely does.

Melanie: We don't want to discount that, but it definitely impacts women. And when you're looking at things like breast cancer, osteoporosis, cognitive function in Alzheimer's, if your why is to prevent one of those because it's in your family and you don't want to go down that road, this is information that can help you choose wisely.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: For your why.

Alcohol negatively impacts microbiome

Britni: And we didn't, we didn't mention this, but I want to mention this before we need to wrap up. Alcohol negatively impacts your microbiome, so it's going to negatively impact your intestinal health as well.

Melanie: If you are someone that's dealing with chronic diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, you already have a compromised microbiome in your digestive health, this alcohol will not serve you well. It will continue to exacerbate whatever problems that you are having. So you have to say, what's my body need? You are your body's best doctor. What am I trying to achieve here? And then pick and choose what's going to serve you.

Recap

Britni: Yep. So to wrap up, as we've talked about today, alcohol is incredibly damaging to the body and can have severe consequences over time. Like I mentioned, you will never be able to out supplement a regular drinking habit or out eat a regular drinking habit. That being said, it is never too late to start healing your body.

A real food nutrient dense diet rich in vegetables, quality animal proteins, healthy fats, and hydration is such a strong foundation for healing. And women also face unique hormonal and metabolic challenges, which put ourselves at risk for worse health outcomes than men. If you are ready to take the steps to reduce or remove alcohol from your life, we are always here to support your health along the way.

Give us a call at 651-699-3438 or visit our website, weightandwellness.com to learn about our classes and counseling. We hope to hear from you. Thanks for listening, and have a great day.

Check Out Our Class & Nutrition Counseling Options!

Melanie: Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for joining us today.