What you don’t want to know about alcohol and perimenopause
Drinking alcohol has been a big part of our culture hasn't it? It's unusual for us to gather together without some form of alcohol being offered around to celebrate or commiserate.
It provides us with a point at which we can be rewarded for reaching the end of the day or week.
It's often one of the first things we reach for if we're feeling stressed or angry, it's effect smoothing away the discomfort we feel, especially when overwhelmed, overworked, under-resourced or struggling in some way.
And of course it gives us a sense of confidence, helping many otherwise anxiety-ridden social situations easier to navigate.
And, let's face it, the cool kids are the ones who drink, right? Is that right?!
However, as women generally, and especially during perimenopause, alcohol is not our friend.
I'm really sorry to lay that bare to you, but it's true. And before I go any further, I want you to know that this info is coming from someone who has LOVED drinking and making cocktails and even at one time considered doing a Master of Wine training. I have really been there and been the first to dive into a drink. I started aged 15/16 (I remember crawling across a lawn and being sick - we used to know how to have fun in the 90's) and at uni I used to drink a whole bottle of cheap rosé to preload before the pre-going out drinks, 6/7 evenings a week. A whole bottle of wine before even starting the evening out!! At least 6 days a week!!
I have also gone the other way and been forced over the years to avoid alcohol for long periods, once or twice for years at a time - actually I had to give up alcohol while I was at uni because those preloading bottles of rosé quickly caught up with me.
So please know that this is coming from someone who isn't preaching from on high but from someone who has been right down in the trenches.
If you're a woman, alcohol is not your friend. And I'm telling you because I want you to thrive during perimenopause, especially when the changes really start hitting. I want you to experience good health and enjoy the body you're in as much as possible, to feel well and avoid the risks that drinking can raise. These can be scary risks, including breast cancer.
So, here goes - the reasons:
Women can't process alcohol as well as men:
Women are made of 55% water while men are 67%. Alcohol moves around in water so as the gender with less water, alcohol in our system is immediately more concentrated than in a man's.
Acetaldehyde (ADH) is needed to break down alcohol. Men are able to produce this in their stomachs, but as a women you barely have any ability and probably have none. Therefore men can start breaking it down as soon as they start drinking, but you can't so it stays in your system for longer, exerting its effect that much more.
ADH enzymes aren't in infinite supply and can be overwhelmed after about just one glass of wine so any more than that will be recirculated in your system. You'll know if your body is really struggling if you get nauseous, heart palpitations, flushing, headaches, hangover and vomiting. Sound familiar?
This means you are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol than a man, who is 30% more effective at breaking it down and metabolising it than you are.
Alcohol increases oestrogen and makes it more dangerous
Alcohol increases oestrogen levels, at least temporarily. But then if you're drinking regularly, levels will remain raised.
Alcohol influences the enzymes involved in metabolising oestrogen in our liver resulting in more toxic forms of oestrogen being produced, and increasing the risk of cancer including oestrogen-related cancers. If you have a personal or family history of breast cancer, drinking alcohol could increase your risk of developing it by 4 times and increases the more your drink.
Alcohol is metabolised by the same pathways as oestrogen but is first to be broken down because it's a toxin to your body. This means it will burden your liver and deplete many of the same nutrients needed to break down oestrogen, making it harder to break down oestrogen.
Alcohol can also lower progesterone levels, leaving oestrogen levels higher.
Higher oestrogen levels may give your heavier, more painful periods, swollen, sore boobs leading up to your period, make it difficult to sleep, make it more likely you have constipation/diarrhoea around your period, leave you feeling bloated, crappy, grumpy, irritable and tired, developing cysts and fibroids, or poor skin and acne, weight gain, depression and/or anxiety.
Alcohol disrupts your thyroid
Alcohol uses up vital nutrients needed for your thyroid to work well including zinc, selenium, B vitamins and vitamin C.
Thyroid tissue is very sensitive to toxins and guess what, alcohol is a toxin and can suppress thyroid function.
The burdened liver which leads to higher levels of oestrogen 👆🏻can suppress thyroid function.
A vital step of thyroid function takes place in the gut, and get what disrupts the gut and is known to affect this? Alcohol.
Alcohol increases cortisol levels, and the thyroid is also very sensitive to cortisol levels and can slow down as a result.
Alcohol disrupts your gut
Alcohol causes inflammation in the gut and this can harm the delicate lining of the intestines, leading to intestinal permeability, or leaky gut. That's an open door to food intolerances, migraines, immune issues including autoimmunity, joint pain, fatigue, arthritis, eczema, anxiety, depression, poor skin, inflammation, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, and more.
Alcohol kills beneficial bacteria leading to imbalances and dysbiosis and the growth of yeasts.
The gut is an important route for the breakdown of oestrogen and toxins, but alcohol disrupts the processes involved and increases overall levels of oestrogen.
Alcohol can also increase histamine in the gut, and histamine increases oestrogen. See what I said about what it's like to have high oestrogen, while high histamine can cause food intolerances, hives and skin issues, headaches and so much more.
Alcohol stops you sleeping
It's definitely NOT a sleep aid, it's a sedative (and depressant). It reduces the quality of your sleep, no matter how much you believe that tot of whisky or glass of red is going to help, because...
Alcohol raises your body temperature. You need a drop of about 2 degrees to sleep but alcohol prevents that so you end up hotter and unable to sleep well.
Alcohol stimulates cortisol, your stress hormone, which should be lowest in the evening, rising gently through the night. It works in opposition to your sleep hormone melatonin, but because it's important for survival your body will preferentially make cortisol over melatonin. Without the melatonin you struggle to get to sleep or fall back to sleep.
This means that even if you don't realise it, with alcohol in your body you will wake up regularly though the night. You may not have noticed this in your 20's, but by your 40's you might well be. I remember going out for dinner locally in Bruton and drinking some punchy red wines from Spain. I didn't sleep a wink! And I think I was actually sick a few times.
Alcohol also suppresses the restorative REM sleep you need for a good memory and brain health.
Ultimately, alcohol drives inflammation and inflammation makes perimenopause harder and more painful.
So even if you try to convince yourself that drinking is ok, really it's not.
It's one thing to drink during your 20's and 30's. Well, it's not actually a good drink for women at any age, especially when trying to conceive (that really should say it all). But to drink during perimenopause when your body is undergoing a huge shift, just isn't a good idea.
If you're well into your perimenopause and are actively experiencing worsening pmt, anxiety, depression/mood issues, fatigue, night sweats and hot flushes, insomnia, weight gain, joint pain etc., alcohol is a TERRIBLE idea. One way to tangibly improve how you feel is to let it go and say no. Truly.
Not convinced?
Maybe you've experienced some changes but haven't connected it to alcohol. My suggestion is to pay attention to how you're feeling and what your beliefs around drinking are.
Maybe you've started noticing that you can't tolerate it so well anymore?
Maybe you haven't been experiencing the fun side of drinking so much as dealing with the aftermath.
Or you can't sleep after some drinks - that's a biggie.
Do you feel that you can be strong enough to avoid alcohol, or at least have it less? Or do you succumb to your old ways when it comes to the crunch, or to societal pressure?
Is alcohol serving you in some way - relaxation, a way of blowing off steam or building confidence, that in truth you could find in other, healthier ways? Maybe a bath, going for a walk, journalling, jumping on a trampoline or getting some hypnotherapy or somatic therapy to address your confidence, would actually serve you better.
The worst is societal pressure, which frankly is a load of absolute nonsense. Think of all the huge number of different ways that humans behave all over the world. Every culture does things differently, which means there are no rules and you can set your own.
If you have the odd drink here and there it's not going to do any lasting damage, but potentially make things temporarily harder for you. But honestly I think the sooner we all normalise drinking a lot less the better.
love Bean, an almost teetotaller.