How does alcohol impact your gut health?
Let’s talk about it.
Alcohol has been well studied in terms of its effect on your health, including gastrointestinal health.
First of all, alcohol affects your liver’s ability to remove toxins from your body which affects bile production. Excessive alcohol affects your ability to digest and absorb fats. Chronic excessive consumption of alcohol negatively affects your gut microbiome – altering both its composition and function, and contributing to intestinal inflammation.
Excessive alcohol intake can increase the permeability of the intestinal lining leading to leaky gut syndrome and systemic inflammation. Heavy alcohol use can cause increased pressure in the liver’s blood circulation leading to esophageal varices – bleeding vessels in the upper gastrointestinal tract.
Alcohol affects the intestine’s ability to protect itself by negatively impacting gut immunity. Studies show that not all alcohol is detrimental. Women who drank red wine and to a lesser extent white wine had a greater gut microbiota diversity than those who didn’t drink any wine. The same was not found with beer or liquor. Alcohol consumption in moderation – no more than 1-2 servings of red wine daily can help keep your gut healthy.
If you have any questions about alcohol and colon health, please join us in our Hormone Reboot Training.
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