I’m sure you’ve heard it many times…
Everything is good in moderation…
But is it?
When it comes to alcohol and navigating menopause, moderation might not be the answer.
Whether we like it or not, alcohol consumption, while socially accepted, can have negative effects on your menopausal symptoms.
🚨 Here’s a quick breakdown:
1️⃣ Hot Flashes and Night Sweats: If you are already suffering from those, you might want to know that alcohol can trigger hot flashes and night sweats, making them even more intense.
Why? Alcohol widens your blood vessels, making your hot flushes worse. Alcohol also messes up with your natural body thermostat, which is already a bit “wonky” due to reduced hormones, causing more night sweats (speaking from my personal experience! 😜).
2️⃣ 😴 Sleep Disturbances: Your sleep might already be rubbish, because of the hot flushes and night sweats… and guess what? Even though alcohol may help you fall asleep initially, overall however, it can lead to even more fragmented and restless sleep, making you wake up at 2am… sounds familiar 🤔?
3️⃣ 😠 Mood Swings: Alcohol might give you that tipsy happy feeling for a short while, but in the long run, alcohol works as a depressant and can amplify feelings of sadness or anxiety. Not what you want when your mood is up and down already 😔…
4️⃣ 🦴 Bone Health: Alcohol slows down new bone formation and reduces nutrient absorption, leading to a higher risk of osteoporosis.
5️⃣ Healthy weight: did you know that in terms of calories,
a glass of wine 🍷 = a doughnut 🍩?
Yes, alcohol has lots of hidden calories, and if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight, you might want to re-think that glass of wine 😉…
In addition to all above, our cleaning products use the same alcohol that we might ingest in our cocktail 🍹?
If it’s meant to kill living organisms (bacteria, to be exact), then what does it do to our bodies?
Especially to our gut microbiome 🦠?
Well, it causes a leaky gut, leading to digestion problems (heartburn and bloating).
And you might remember from my previous emails, that we talked about your hormones relying on a healthy gut microbiome 🤔?
And one last thing…
alcohol is a recognised carcinogen, which means it increases the risk of most cancers. For breast cancer that risk goes up by 15% from having just 3 glasses of wine per week.
But what about those Mediterranean countries, where they drink red wine every day with their meal, and they are fine, right?
What about the Blue Zones?!
They live into their 90ties and even 100s, you might ask…
Well, they might be able to do so not because of but despite their alcohol intake, as they move a lot, eat a lot more veggies and a fibre-rich diet, being a lot more outdoors and feeling less stressed.
So, I am not here to tell you what to do. I’m not here to lecture you either.
But I am here to give you the facts, so you can make an informed decision and better choices for yourself.
And like with any risks in life, be it driving a car, flying on an airplane, cycling or skiing…if we want a zero risk, we should probably never do any of those things! And we won’t be able to live that way.
That does not mean that you should never ever drink any alcohol either…
But what is important for you to know is,
What Are The Risks?
How and if should you be concerned?
How does alcohol fit in your life?
What is this amount of alcohol doing to your symptoms and to your health?
And if you find that your life is really stressful and you reach out for alcohol as a stress-reliever…
it’s probably not a healthy way to live like that, especially in the long run.
And maybe this is a time to start making changes.
And that might be swapping for a non-alcoholic option, or going down from 2 to one drink per night, or per week, or none at all…
So whatever it is, make it your choice, but an informed and a better one!