Is alcohol wrecking my gut health?
As Memorial Day weekend is on the horizon, the Summer season can bring about more social outings, beach days, boat days and for some more booze. Let's get you started this season with some tools to help support your gut health!
We get this question often and the answer is, it depends.
Answering this question requires a little reflection on your unique relationship with alcohol and how it may impact your gut and digestive symptoms.
But I will start out by saying, we have successfully helped many clients without needing them to fully give up alcohol. We have also worked with clients where they have realized the frequency or volume of alcohol they drink plays a major role in their symptoms and helped them to develop healthier alcohol habits without fully quitting if they choose not to. I will also share personally that I healed from mold toxicity, chronic fatigue and chronic constipation without fully giving up alcohol but I will also share that my relationship with alcohol has changed significantly through that process and I have become a much more intentional drinker and my health benefited greatly.
So all that to say is there is not one size fits all approach to alcohol. But it does require a little self-reflection around your personal relationship with alcohol and how it impacts your gut. If your curious about reimagining your relationship with alcohol, check out our episode with Meg Gerber on Sober Curious
So let’s dive into alcohol and the gut a little more to answer a frequent question we get…do I have to quit alcohol to heal my gut?
Let's start with how alcohol impacts the gut.
When consumed, alcohol disrupts the gut microbiome and creates an inflammatory response in the gut and body. Studies show that alcohol promotes imbalances in both the good and bad bacteria known as dysbiosis. This impact can contribute to an increase in opportunistic bacteria or bacterial overgrowth which can play a part in IBS like conditions such as SIBO and drive bloating, loose stools, constipation and other chronic digestive conditions. These imbalanced bacteria populations can lead to an increase in the release of endotoxins, which are inflammatory products produced from opportunistic bacteria that trigger the gut immune system and promote inflammation. These inflammatory endotoxins don’t only stay in the gut - these can pass through the gut barrier especially in the present of gut permeability or leaky gut and contribute to many of the non-GI symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, mood imbalances, hormone symptoms, sleep disruptions and general aches and pains.
The liver and the gut also have a very close relationship, alcohol consumption can put an extra stress on the liver. Chronic alcohol consumption can suppress phase three detoxification which is the connection between the gut and liver where toxins physically make their way out of the body - this is known as the drainage pathway. A major substance in this drainage pathway is bile and it also serves as the self cleaning mechanism of the gut. If this drainage pathway is impaired, it can impact not only the gut but can be a big player in hormone balance as bile is a key pathway for hormones such as excess estrogen to be excreted.
If you’re looking for a deeper dive on how alcohol impacts the gut and hormones, we did a whole podcast episode on How Alcohol Impacts your Gut & Hormones
Let’s first start with the hangover
Yes, alcohol is a toxin that less is always more when it comes to health and none is better than some. We do know from research now that no level of alcohol provides health benefits.
But in a funny way, sometimes the way a client experiences a hangover is information from their body in its own right. Let me explain what I mean by that.
If you find that you are feeling hungover after 1 glass of wine or a drink, it might be a sign that your body's drainage and detoxification systems could use a little more support. If we imagine a bathtub as our theoretical capacity for waste or toxins and the drain in the tub is the drainage and detox system, a hangover is when the water that fills that bathtub fills too quickly and floods the bathroom rather than matching the speed at which the drain takes out the waste water. This often results in the headaches, fatigue, soreness, brain fog symptoms because the body couldn’t process the amount of alcohol through the detox pathways efficiently enough and more inflammatory products were created as a result.
This is often a symptom from a client that lets us know the tolerance for clearing out waste and toxins is low. Therefore we might get more curious as to how this might be impacting this client's clearance of normal waste materials like excess estrogen hormone and metabolic waste that can contribute to PMS symptoms, acne, energy and inflammation symptoms.
It is also noteworthy if you are someone who gets a hangover in your stomach or gut. You might experience as part of your hangover constipation or conversely loose stools or maybe you experience bloating, nausea, cramping or pain in your gut. These hangover symptoms can signify that the gut is an area we are going to want to look more deeply at and probably an area that needs more support in everyday life, not just around alcohol.
I can remember when I was in the peak of my healing journey, even one alcoholic drink would lead my gut to be so distended and exacerbate constipation and fatigue so significantly. Low and behold as I dug deeper with functional testing I uncovered mold exposure, high estrogen levels and GI infections all pointing to a major need for more targeted support. Now after having worked on those root causes I can enjoy some alcohol - we are talking 2 drinks max - totally symptom free.
More sharing this to gently plug thinking of all of our bodies symptoms as opportunities for curiosity - even hangovers!
If you experience fatigue, headaches, or GI symptoms after a night out, and usually feel hungover in your gut, like loose stools, nausea, indigestion, constipation, excess bloating, gas - giving your gut a little extra love can help to ease or maybe even prevent these symptoms.
Let’s dive into actionable tools that you can utilize starting this weekend to support your gut and hormones if you choose to imbibe.
Here are 4 ways to best support our bodies to better process alcohol and reduce the impacts it may have:
Hydration and minerals
Space out your alcoholic drinks with a water or seltzer. Our favorite move is having a bitters and soda between drinks, so it still has some flavor but get additional support for digestion and blood sugar from the bitters. If you are making these at home @Jujbitters is our favorite brand!
Aim for at least ½ of your body weight in oz of water each day, but especially the day before and after you are having drinks
Optimize minerals to maintain hydration and support stress by adding in mineral and electrolyte rich drinks. We love to aim to 2 per day, especially getting those on the days before and after you have drinks to replete your mineral levels that can be depleted by alcohol.
Our favorite electrolyte drink
1 tbsp Bumble Root
¼ tsp Redmond Real Salt
Juice from ½ a lemon
8-16 oz water
Fuel yourself throughout the day
Eat consistently throughout the day refueling with a meal every 3-4 hours to stabilize your blood sugar. Food acts as a buffer helping to slow down the absorption of alcohol into your system.
Focus on fueling yourself throughout the day versus a mindset that you are saving calories for drinking. We need the nutrients in food (especially plants) to be able to process the alcohol, reduce inflammation and optimally support detoxification pathways.
We also love a protein forward snack before going out to dinner or drinks which helps to take the edge off of hunger and better support blood sugar going into an event.
Pre-Drink Prep
We love to get ahead with support for digestion, inflammation and blood sugar and do a little pre-event prep with a couple tools that you could use 1, 2 or all 3
Bitters
Stimulates digestion, supports blood sugar and reduces bloating
Bitters into a drink or use straight into your mouth
Ginger Shots
Anti-inflammatory and helps promote GI motility to reduce bloating with dining out and alcohol
Make your own with a blender or juicer or we love the Trader Joes Ginger Shots
Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Balances blood sugar
This one isn’t fun, but add 1-2 oz ACV to 2-3 oz water and take it back like a little shot
Support detoxification to help the body process alcohol and lessen hangover symptoms
Ginger shots again here! We love adding these in before and after drinking, ginger helps to reduce inflammation and can ease nausea or sensitive stomachs post-alcohol. Stock up on your favorites from TJ’s or Whole Foods
Cruciferous veggies such as broccoli sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage - our favorite way to add these in is using frozen riced cauliflower in a smoothie the day after - see our recipe below
Detoxification support supplements:
These tools can be used the night of to better help process and bind alcohol
Amino-D-Tox or Liver GI Detox to support detoxification nutrients to better process alcohol
GI Detox take before bed to bind alcohol irritants in the GI system
Love up on the Gut & Microbiome
Increase the colorful fruits - the colorful plant pigments called polyphenols work as antioxidants to calm inflammation, feed the healthy microbiome and provide easy to digest soluble fiber that is gentler on the gut to bind up inflammatory agents
Gut support supplements:
These tools can be used both the day before and after or as long as needed for gut support
GI Resolve or GI Response to help heal up gut permeability or leaky gut that can be caused by the inflammatory nature of alcohol in the gut
MegaIgG2000 an immunoglobulin that helps to sooth inflammation and balance the immune system in the gut as well as works as a gentle binder
Our Go-To Post 🍸Smoothie
This smoothie applies all the tools and tastes delicious!
Recipe
1 cup frozen riced cauliflower
½ cup frozen raspberries
2 tbsp broccoli sprouts
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
2 scoop chocolate bone broth protein by Paleo Valley
1 cup water
Check out these supplements and more in our Hangover Protocol in the Above Health dispensary!
**Dispensary: Hangover Protocol**
At the end of the day, drinking less alcohol is always the better option for your health especially if you are on a healing journey. But if we choose to have drinks, the next best step is to do it in a way that is going to impact our health the least and enjoy every sip! Our greatest goal is to provide you the tools to create resilience and education in your unique body!
In good health,
Abby, Steph & the Above Health Team
