It seems like almost every week, new pieces arise about the conflicting evidence around alcohol’s impact on our health. One research group says it’s beneficial for cognition, then the next suggests that it couldincrease risk for cognitive decline. Then we hear thatbeer might bolster our gut health, only to quickly discover thatalcohol digestion might promote gut inflammation.
A few things we know for sure:Binge drinkingis never a great idea, and taking breaks fordampordry monthscan be a wise idea to reflect on your relationship to alcohol. And if you currentlydon’t drink, there’s never going to be a study strong enough to advocate for you to start.
All that said, the current scientific consensus is that there may be a fewhealth benefits to light to moderate drinking, and many Americans (andEatingWelldietitians) do love to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or sip on a cocktail while out celebrating with friends.
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What This Heart Health Study Found
“If we could find the mechanism, the goal would be to find other approaches that could replicate or induce alcohol’s protective cardiac effects without the adverse impacts of alcohol,” Tawakol says in apress releaseabout the results.
For this study, the scientists reviewed medical records and surveys about alcohol consumption from 53,064 individuals enrolled in theMass General Brigham Biobank(a large database of health data from more than 135,000 participants). They took note of which people had experienced a heart attack, stroke or were diagnosed with peripheral vascular disease or heart failure.
After analyzing this information, the researchers found that even after taking into account genetics, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors, light to moderate drinkers tended to have lower risk for these major cardiovascular events.
Can You Have More Drinks If They’re Low in Alcohol?
From there, the research team studied 754 of these people who had received brain scans prior to the study. They noticed that light to moderate drinkers had less activity in the amygdala (the part of the brain that plays a role in telling your body that it’s stressed) compared to their peers who drank little or no alcohol. Those with these lower-stressed brains also had fewer heart events. This correlation was even more substantial among those with a history of anxiety.
According to Dr. Tawakol’s interpretation, this means that “the brain changes in light to moderate drinkers explained a significant portion of the protective cardiac effects.”
Earlierresearchhints that alcohol might slash our brain’s stress response to threats, like an angry face. This seems to be the first study to link this brain activity adjustment to the heart health outcomes.
The scientists believe this is the case because “when the amygdala is too alert and vigilant, the sympathetic nervous system is heightened, which drives up blood pressure and increases heart rate, and triggers the release of inflammatory cells,” said Tawakol. “If the stress is chronic, the result is hypertension, increased inflammation, and a substantial risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Tawakol explains in the press release.
The results weren’t all rosy regarding drinking, though. Even though light or moderate drinkers had lower risk for heart disease, they seemed to have higher risk for certain types of cancers. Plus, drinking more than 14drinks(one drink is defined as 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1 ½ ounces of liquor) was associated with lower brain activity overall, which could be a sign that it might hamper brain health and cognition over time.
Taking into account all of these results—and earlier scientific findings—Dr. Tawakol adds, “we are not advocating the use of alcohol to reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes, because of other concerning effects of alcohol on health.”
Now that they know how the brain is involved in the heart health and alcohol conversation, Dr. Tawakol and team hope this information might inspire people to turn to healthier, lower-risk ways to score the same stress-relieving (and, in turn, heart health-supporting) advantages, such as eating awell-balanced diet,staying hydrated, carving out enough time for 7 to 9 hours of sleep, incorporating some physical activity and chilling out viameditationor other stress management techniques.
The Bottom Line
A new study found that the reported heart health benefits of alcohol might be related to alcohol’s impact on the way our brain responds to stress. While it might reduce risk for certain cardiovascular events, drinking beer, wine or cocktails frequently might spike your risk for certain cancers or cognitive decline, the authors say.
Since this is the case, they suggest taking the results of this study as a reminder to seek out alternative ways to take the edge off. We designed ourwalking plan to reduce stressto do exactly that.
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