Dr. Sarah Wakeman

Yeah. So alcohol, I think there's growing research on how it impacts the microbiome. Certainly, again, at heavy levels, it seems to harm the microbiome. And we see this in patients with liver disease, but also just the impact of alcohol itself. The kind of two main things it does, one is it creates more leakage in your gut. So people may have heard of kind of leaky gut.

You know, the walls of your intestine become more porous so that things that aren't meant to come out of your intestine do and can actually cross the blood-brain barrier. So this whole idea of kind of the brain-gut axis. is a really growing area of research and knowledge. So alcohol can do that.

You know, the walls of your intestine become more porous so that things that aren't meant to come out of your intestine do and can actually cross the blood-brain barrier. So this whole idea of kind of the brain-gut axis. is a really growing area of research and knowledge. So alcohol can do that.

You know, the walls of your intestine become more porous so that things that aren't meant to come out of your intestine do and can actually cross the blood-brain barrier. So this whole idea of kind of the brain-gut axis. is a really growing area of research and knowledge. So alcohol can do that.

It can also change the makeup of your microbiome itself, as can high fat, high sugar, white flour, sort of the Western diet. But there's now a lot of studies showing that that some of the modifiable things, if you want to improve your gut health, are decreasing your alcohol consumption and steering away from that kind of Western diet of high fat, high sugar, high carb.

It can also change the makeup of your microbiome itself, as can high fat, high sugar, white flour, sort of the Western diet. But there's now a lot of studies showing that that some of the modifiable things, if you want to improve your gut health, are decreasing your alcohol consumption and steering away from that kind of Western diet of high fat, high sugar, high carb.

It can also change the makeup of your microbiome itself, as can high fat, high sugar, white flour, sort of the Western diet. But there's now a lot of studies showing that that some of the modifiable things, if you want to improve your gut health, are decreasing your alcohol consumption and steering away from that kind of Western diet of high fat, high sugar, high carb.

You know, I'm sitting here listening to you and I'm thinking, why the hell do I even drink this stuff? Yeah, I think it is important to understand sort of what are the risks that we often don't talk about and assume that this is, you know, harmless thing that's just a part of life. My personal perspective is that every health behavior exists on a spectrum.

You know, I'm sitting here listening to you and I'm thinking, why the hell do I even drink this stuff? Yeah, I think it is important to understand sort of what are the risks that we often don't talk about and assume that this is, you know, harmless thing that's just a part of life. My personal perspective is that every health behavior exists on a spectrum.

You know, I'm sitting here listening to you and I'm thinking, why the hell do I even drink this stuff? Yeah, I think it is important to understand sort of what are the risks that we often don't talk about and assume that this is, you know, harmless thing that's just a part of life. My personal perspective is that every health behavior exists on a spectrum.

And it's really important to understand sort of what is that spectrum? Where do I fall? And then what are my personal health goals? And actually stopping to sort of think, how does alcohol fit in my life? Like, what do I like about it? What do I not like about it? What am I worried about it? What is this amount of alcohol doing to my health? Is there any health benefit to drinking alcohol?

And it's really important to understand sort of what is that spectrum? Where do I fall? And then what are my personal health goals? And actually stopping to sort of think, how does alcohol fit in my life? Like, what do I like about it? What do I not like about it? What am I worried about it? What is this amount of alcohol doing to my health? Is there any health benefit to drinking alcohol?

And it's really important to understand sort of what is that spectrum? Where do I fall? And then what are my personal health goals? And actually stopping to sort of think, how does alcohol fit in my life? Like, what do I like about it? What do I not like about it? What am I worried about it? What is this amount of alcohol doing to my health? Is there any health benefit to drinking alcohol?

My opinion is that we shouldn't be thinking of it as a health benefit. So I would never, as a doctor, say to a patient, I think you should start drinking a glass of wine a day for your health. We used to people used to say that, you know, again, this idea of a glass of red wine is healthy. I think that framing is wrong.

My opinion is that we shouldn't be thinking of it as a health benefit. So I would never, as a doctor, say to a patient, I think you should start drinking a glass of wine a day for your health. We used to people used to say that, you know, again, this idea of a glass of red wine is healthy. I think that framing is wrong.

My opinion is that we shouldn't be thinking of it as a health benefit. So I would never, as a doctor, say to a patient, I think you should start drinking a glass of wine a day for your health. We used to people used to say that, you know, again, this idea of a glass of red wine is healthy. I think that framing is wrong.

I think that doesn't mean that you can't drink any alcohol and we should talk through that. But thinking of it as a health promoting behavior is probably not the best way to frame it. Now, there are many things we do in life that the safest thing would be to do none of it.

I think that doesn't mean that you can't drink any alcohol and we should talk through that. But thinking of it as a health promoting behavior is probably not the best way to frame it. Now, there are many things we do in life that the safest thing would be to do none of it.

I think that doesn't mean that you can't drink any alcohol and we should talk through that. But thinking of it as a health promoting behavior is probably not the best way to frame it. Now, there are many things we do in life that the safest thing would be to do none of it.

So if your goal is to have zero risk, you should probably never drive your car, never go skiing, never fly in an airplane, never eat bacon, never go out in the sun. And people aren't going to live that way. So I think it's really important to understand what are the risks? How does this fit into my overall life? And when should I be concerned?