Today, there are more reasons than ever to give up alcohol altogether. Not only will doing without alcohol benefit your liver, heart and brain, living an alcohol-free life slows down the ageing process. In short, any amount of alcohol takes a toll on your body, reports Hatty Willmoth for BBC Science.
With alcohol, the data increasingly shows that less is more, and forgoing alcohol altogether is best. Back seven years ago, less meant that you could drink up to five drinks a week and live longer. That might be true. But, when you stop drinking any wine or liquor, the data show even better health outcomes.
The goal is to keep your biological age down, even as your chronological age rises. For that, you don’t want to smoke, eat junk food, or drink alcohol. Research shows that compared to people who don’t drink alcohol, people who drink alcohol have a higher biological age.
How is biological age measured? Through telomeres and epigenetic clocks.
Telomeres: Every time our cells split, they duplicate their chromosomes. Telomeres are found at the ends of your chromosomes. As time passes, the telomeres on the chromosomes deteriorate, becoming smaller, until your cell dies. Scientists can look at the chromosomes’ telomeres to establish the number of times a person’s cells have divided and their biological age.
People who drink as many as ten glasses of wine a week have shorter telomeres than people who drink fewer than two glasses of wine a week.
Epigenetic clocks: Through methylation, chemical tags are added to your DNA. These tags change the genes your cells use. Epigenetic drift is a process through which the chemical tags change their patterns turning some genes on and other genes off. Scientists study these patterns–epigenetic clocks–to establish a person’s biological and chronological age.
Drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol also increases your risk of brain shrinkage, loss of brain function and dementia. Alcohol kills cells, damages DNA, shortens telomeres and increases your risk of cancer. Furthermore, it contributes to brain inflammation, which can lead to dementia.
What’s more, alcohol is inflammatory, which means it causes extra wear and tear in the body. Higher levels of inflammation in the brain are believed to be a major risk factor for dementia.
If you need yet another reason to forgo alcohol, know that when you drink, your body turns the alcohol into acetaldehyde, a close cousin of formaldehyde, which “pickles your brain, your liver and your heart.” It sticks your brain proteins together, which is not a good thing if you want to use those proteins.
If you’re struggling to stop drinking, Medicare covers alcohol screenings and counseling.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Ready to quit smoking? Medicare will help you
- John Oliver: Tobacco companies suing countries to push smoking
- Want to live longer? Genes and lifestyle matter
- Medicare covers alcohol screenings and counseling
- Alcohol abuse among older adults needs addressing
