David Perlmutter

It does.

Or is that a myth?

It's true?

It is.

Alcohol, you know, it's changed my outward-facing messaging over the years, too, is a neurotoxin, and...

You know, let's talk then about the research saying that, you know, one glass of wine a day in women, two perhaps maximum in men, associated at least retrospectively with lower risk of cognitive decline.

Well, and then the fallback for all of us in explaining that is that, well, there are polyphenols in wine, for example, and they're good for your physiology.

They're good for reducing inflammation, on and on.

But I think the reality is that we can get those chemicals from other good things, colorful foods, plants.

And that the juice isn't worth the squeeze on alcohol.

And interestingly, as we have this conversation, when you say alcohol, I think the context is really important.

Well, what about caffeine?

I mean coffee.

Immediately we go to caffeine.

Neglecting the 80 other chemicals that are bioactive in coffee, for example, including polyphenols.

So I think let's look at the context of alcohol, because I think it's valid, though to be specific, the bullet point would be alcohol be bad for the brain, right?

But the context, I think, is important.

Wine has polyphenols.

Drinking scotch to get that level of alcohol each day may be certainly more threatening.

You know, caffeine itself is a bit of a diuretic and you do pee a lot or not a lot, but you will, you know, increase your urinary output when you're exposed to caffeine from any source, you know, an energy drink, whatever it may be.