Even Moderate Drinking Causes Major Brain Changes
A new study concluded that light to moderate drinking could be very harmful to body and brain health. Red wine is just as bad.
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A new study concluded that light to moderate drinking could harm body and brain health.
The belief is that a moderate amount of alcohol, particularly red wine, is supposed to benefit heart health even though experts have dismissed studies that support it. Recent research, published in Nature Communications on March 4, 2022, agrees with the experts about this myth.
The long-term study through the UK Biobank in the United Kingdom investigated contributors to genetic predisposition and environmental exposure (such as lifestyle, medications, nutrition, etc.) to the development of disease.
Light to Moderate Drinking Study
In 2006, 36,678 participants between 40 and 69 years old were cautiously studied, including their brain volumes (regionally and globally) and the integrity of white matter.
The consumption of alcohol would range from small (1-2 alcoholic units a day) to high (for example, more than four alcoholic units a day). For example, a can or a pint of beer/cider/lager = 2 units; a single shot consisting of 25 ml of spirits = 1 unit; whereas a typical glass of wine = 2 units.
The enormous number of people in the study gives remarkable statistical power to the study’s results.
It has been known for a long time now that heavy alcohol use is connected to neuronal loss, brain atrophy, and weakening of the white matter fibre. However, conflicting data shows in smaller studies that light to moderate drinking will lead to similar adverse effects.
The Study Variables
The study used high-definition brain imaging in healthy middle-aged and older adults, controlling for various potential perplexing variables, to study the effects of light to moderate drinking.
Scientists discovered “negative associations” between the intake of alcohol and brain microstructure and macrostructure.
A negative association happens if one variable increases (drinking alcohol) as another decreases (brain health).
These changes in the brain are found in people diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder, though still to a lesser degree. Differences are mainly present in the frontal lobes, referred to as the highest-order cognitive or executive functions.
The negative connections between brain structure and alcohol intake are already apparent in people who drink minimal alcohol, an average of only one to two alcohol units a day. It becomes greater as the intake of alcohol increases.
Alcohol Causes Aging
In addition, scientists determined that the effects of consuming alcohol on brain volume cause aging, which means the amount of time drinking had also contributed to changes in the brain.
The negative associations observed between brain changes (loss of gray matter volume and white matter integrity) and alcohol are evident in people who drink between one to two alcohol units daily.
Thus, consuming just one drink a day may change the brain’s gray matter volume and white matter integrity.