Dr. Huberman – What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health

Introduction

In this insightful podcast, Dr. Andrew Huberman, a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine, discusses what alcohol does to your body, brain, and overall health. Over the course of two hours, Dr. Huberman provides a comprehensive and accessible discussion on how alcohol interacts with the body, offering both scientific insights and practical takeaways.

The conversation covers a range of critical topics, including:

1. The physiological effects of alcohol on the brain and body—how it alters bodily systems and the immediate consequences of consumption.
2. Genetic factors that predispose certain individuals to alcoholism, explaining how biology can play a significant role in addiction and risk factors.
3. Alcohol metabolism and why it acts as a poison to the body, exploring how the body processes alcohol and the toll it takes on liver function, as well as its overall toxic effects.
4. The impact of alcohol on neuronal functioning, and how it disrupts cognitive processes, behavior, and decision-making abilities.
5. The widespread consequences of alcohol on health, including its effects on inflammation, stress levels, neurodegeneration, the gut microbiome, brain thickness, mood regulation, and much more.

Dr. Huberman breaks down these complex biological processes in a way that’s easy to understand, making this podcast not only educational but engaging for listeners. Whether you’re looking to understand the science behind alcohol’s effects or seeking more knowledge about its impact on both the brain and the body, this episode offers a fascinating, in-depth exploration. It’s a must-listen for anyone interested in health, neuroscience, and the science behind everyday behaviors.

Quotes

“When you drink alcohol, it can pass into all the cells and tissues of your body. It has no trouble just passing right into those cells … it can pass into so many organs and cells so easily.”

“When people drink, the prefrontal cortex and top-down inhibition is diminished, that is, habitual behaviour and impulsive behaviour start to increase … because the brake on those behaviours has been removed while they’re drinking, but also changes in the very neural circuits that allow habitual and impulsive behaviour to occur more readily even when they’re not drinking.”

“When we ingest alcohol, the toxic effects of alcohol disrupt those mood circuitries, at first making them hyperactive. This is why people become really talkative, people start to feel really good after a few sips of alcohol, at least most people do.”

“The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis maintains your physiological balance of what you perceive as stressful and what you don’t perceive as stressful … experience increases in cortisol release from their adrenal glands when they are not drinking, and as a consequence, they feel more stressed.”

“So for those of you that are drinking a glass or two of wine or having a hard liquor drink or a beer in order to fall asleep, the sleep you’re getting is simply not high-quality sleep, or certainly not as high-quality as the sleep you’d be getting if you did not have alcohol in your system.”