Thread by @stijnnoorman

The biggest scam in the world:

Alcohol.

It's destroying your brain and health.

Here's what alcohol does to you (backed by science):

Alcohol is the drug that causes the most harm.

Especially harm to others.

It causes even more harm than heroin and crack.

Yet alcohol is extremely normalized.

It's the only drug where people assume you have a problem if you don't take it.

Which is shocking if you look at the health problems it causes:

Alcohol causes a ton of health problems.

Both immediate and long-term.

So let's look at how it does this...

Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream.

It reaches the brain within minutes.

It crosses the blood-brain barrier and increases dopamine levels.

However, this dopamine increase is temporary.

And it lowers your baseline once the effect wears off.

But this isn't even the worst part, let me explain...

Alcohol is a poison.

Your body breaks it down into acetaldehyde—a toxic chemical.

The ‘buzz’ isn’t a benefit. It’s your brain reacting to poison.

Acetaldehyde is toxic and your damages cells.

Your liver breaks it down but this process harms the liver over time.

This is even true for 1-2 drinks per night.

Alcohol stays in your system longer than you think:

• Blood: 1-2h per drink
• Breath: 12–24h
• Urine: 12–24h

With moderate to heavy drinking, some alcohol will still be in your system when you wake up.

Frequent drinking leads to more cortisol at baseline.

This is the stress hormone.

This effect makes you more stressed and anxious when you're not drinking.

Alcohol also disrups sleep.

It may feel like you fall asleep quicker.

But science shows that it reduces your sleep quality.

Alcohol is also bad for your fitness results.

It increases the conversion of testosterone into estrogen.

This is bad for gaining muscles and it also increases health risks.

Alcohol also gives you empty calories.

There's no nutritive value of the calories it creates.

So if you drink a lot this can increase your weight.

But what about the benefits of drinking?

In terms of health, there aren't any.

It's a myth that red wine is good for you, here's why:

However, some drinks give you less of a hangover.

This is because of the congeners.

Congeners contribute to alcohol's flavor and effects.

But the biggest downside of alcohol might not even be your health.

It's the things you do while you drink that you regret the next day.

Luckily, you can reverse most damage by quitting.

The brain starts recovering in weeks but a full reset takes 2–6 months (or longer for heavy users).

Quitting gives you a ton of health benefits:

It's up to you what you want to do.

The most important thing is that it works well for you.

If you want to quit or reduce your alcohol intake, these strategies will help:

If you quit alcohol, what was your experience?

Let me know below, curious to hear it!

Writing online helped me to quit my bad habits & limit my alcohol intake.

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