📣 America is Screwed If We Don't Fix This
The American Heart Association still thinks Alcohol is cool. It's not.
The American Heart Association…
…doesn’t seem to be up to speed on the harmful effects of alcohol.
News flash: Regular alcohol consumption can lead to heart disease, cancer, and a host of other issues.
However, the guidelines on their website tell us they are neglecting American health practices.
Newsletter Summary:
A client of mine recently reduced alcohol intake and lost 4 lbs in one week
She showed me the American Heart Association’s alcohol recommendations, and they BAFFLED me. Wait ‘til you see these numbers.
You’ll learn how alcohol’s effects on the liver mess up more than you might be aware of in your body.
You’ll have a chance to assess whether or not your weekly alcohol intake is helpful or harmful to you based on multiple client experiences of mine.
My Client’s Alcohol Story
For the five years I’ve trained one of my most consistent clients, she has never drastically changed her body composition.
She came to me after a rough ankle surgery feeling beaten up, but we got her back walking, and I was impressed with her commitment to training after that.
Otherwise, she would’ve never stuck with weight training, but we created an empowering environment where she learned to enjoy it.
Throughout that time, she had small fluctuations in her weight and muscle mass, but she never felt totally uncomfortable in her skin (which is all I want for anyone I coach).
Then, she moved states…
We continued to train, but her diet changed.
The change in some of her food quality caused her to break out, become inflamed, and gain weight.
Instead of changing her diet altogether, she assessed what was reasonably changeable with her current diet.
After a week of no alcohol, she’d dropped 4 lbs.
She might still be a ways from her ideal weight, but for just one week of fewer drinks, that’s a pretty remarkable change.
Why Our Country’s Guidelines Are F*cked
In her experimenting with dieting to get back to baseline, my client found out something shocking about one of America’s top health institutions.
Despite multiple 2023 findings that even moderate drinking is a net negative for our health and that alcohol has NO benefits, the American Heart Association still posits that a safe daily amount of alcohol is “no more than two drinks per day for men and no more than one drink per day for women.”
Even if that number SOUNDS tame…
…you might be surprised to know that the U.S. is one of the only major countries that doesn’t actively discourage drinking.
What’s slightly more embarrassing is that America’s weekly alcohol consumption guidelines say that 196g per week of alcohol is acceptable for men, whereas Ireland, known for its pubs and drinking culture, recommends just 170g per week for men.
Regardless of how often you personally drink, it’s critical to acknowledge that levels of drinking are culturally unhealthy — and that alcohol is practically thrust on us — in America.
Whether or not this changes your views on alcohol is not my concern, but just in case you’re curious about the other ways in which it can be deleterious, here’s a riff on its hormonal effects.
Alcohol, The Liver, and Your Hormones
Beyond cirrhosis, or a shrinking and hardening of the liver that leads to liver failure, regular alcohol consumption can take the crucial functions of the organ away and cause other side effects.
The liver acts as a filter for your bloodstream, prioritizing the most toxic substances and breaking them down. Alcohol is usually its priority, so someone consuming daily drinks will have a liver working overdrive.
The liver also produces bile, which helps break down fats and waste.
It also helps remove excess sugar from the bloodstream and store it as energy. When that’s not happening, those excess nutrients might be stored as fat in the best-case scenario.
This might be one of the reasons why my client was seeing a change in her body composition.
In women specifically, the hormonal imbalance caused by liver dysfunction manifests as an over-absorption of estrogen.
Excess estrogen levels in females can lead to more bloating, higher fatigue, heavier periods, and weight gain.
Where Does This Leave You?
Truthfully, I don’t want anyone to quit alcohol that isn’t experiencing some level of physiological unrest.
It’s entirely possible that you can drink irregularly (once every few weeks) and not see some of these scary side effects.
But the sad reality is that most Americans don’t drink that infrequently.
Is there a number of drinks we can safely drink without worrying about adverse downstream health outcomes?
It’s safe to say we don’t know, and we shouldn’t try to make up a number for ourselves either, however healthy we believe ourselves to be.
If you’re genuinely concerned about your levels of consumption, I’d invite you to try some mocktails or a sober meetup.
It’s not uncommon these days for younger people to host events where alcohol isn’t the centerpiece of everything.
Also, reflect on whether or not alcohol determines the amount of enjoyment you have in a given setting.
If you rely on these beverages to enjoy yourself, it might be time to reevaluate your relationship with it.