How To Make Drinking Less Harmful

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⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Cruciferous vegetables are wonderful in many respects, especially for their cancer-fighting properties

• Alcohol is bad for almost every part of health, but we can at least somewhat mitigate the harm it does, by taking certain things before/during/after it that counteract some of its effects a little, for example:

  • Coffee (this works by several mechanisms—see today’s main feature for details)

  • Antioxidants, polyphenols, flavonoids, and things with similar mechanisms

    • For example berries, cacao nibs, and green tea extract

  • Dihydromyricetin (an anti-alcohol drug)

• Obé Fitness is a great online fitness platform with live and on-demand classes (see today’s sponsor section for details!)

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

These Vegetables Destroy Cancer Cells and Build The Immune System | Dr. Mandell

Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates, compounds that give these dark green plants their bitter flavor. Research shows glucosinolates have strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, helping to protect our cells from disease-causing damage, including cancers:

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Studies cited:

• Cruciferous vegetables: dietary phytochemicals for cancer prevention

• The epigenetic impact of cruciferous vegetables on cancer prevention

• Cruciferous vegetable consumption and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study

• Cruciferous vegetable consumption and stomach cancer: a case-Control study

• The role of cruciferous vegetables and isothiocyanates for lung cancer prevention: current status, challenges, and future research directions

• Cruciferous vegetables intake and risk of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis

🍻 MAIN FEATURE

Making Drinking Less Harmful

We often talk of the many ways alcohol harms our health, and we advocate for reducing (or eliminating) its consumption. However, it’s not necessarily as easy as all that, and it might not even be a goal that everyone has. So, if you’re going to imbibe, what can you do to mitigate the harmful effects of alcohol?

There is no magical solution

Sadly. If you drink alcohol, there will be some harmful effects, and nothing will completely undo that. But there are some things that can at least help—read on to learn more!

Coffee

It’s not the magical sober-upperer that some would like it to be, but it is good against the symptoms of alcohol intoxication, and slightly reduces the harm to your body, because it is:

• Hydrating (whereas alcohol is dehydrating)

• A source of antioxidants (whereas alcohol causes oxidative stress, which has nothing to do with psychological stress, and is a kind of cellular damage)

• A stimulant, assuming it is not decaffeinated (it’s worth noting that its stimulant effects work partly by triggering vasoconstriction, which is the opposite of the vasodilation caused by alcohol)

To this end, the best coffee for anti-alcohol effects should be:

• Caffeinated, and strong

• Long (we love espresso, but we need hydration here and that comes from volume!)

• Without sugar (you don’t want to create an adverse osmotic gradient to leech water from your body)

As for milk/cream/whatever, have it or don’t, per your usual preference. It won’t make any difference to the alcohol in your system.

Antioxidants, polyphenols, flavonoids, and things with similar mechanisms

We mentioned that coffee contains antioxidants, but if you want to really bring out the heavy guns, taking more powerful antioxidants can help a lot. If you don’t have the luxury of enjoying berries and cacao nibs by the handful, supplements that have some similar benefits are a perfectly respectable choice.

For example, you might want to consider green tea extract:

L-theanine 200mg (available on Amazon)

Specialist anti-alcohol drugs

These are somewhat new and the research is still ongoing, but for example:

Dihydromyricetin (DHM) as a novel anti-alcohol intoxication medication

In short, DHM is a flavonoid (protects against the oxidative stress caused by alcohol, and has been found to reduce liver damage—see the above link) and also works on GABA-receptors (reduces alcohol withdrawal symptoms after cessation of drinking, and thus also reduces hangovers).

Once again: the marketing claims of such drugs may be bold, but there’s a lot that’s not known and they’re not a magic pill. They do NOT mean you can take them alongside drinking and drink what you like with impunity. However, they may help mitigate some of the harmful effects of alcohol. If you wish to try them, these can be purchased at pharmacies or online, for example:

Alcohol Defense Capsules (available on Amazon)

Bottom line

Alcohol is bad for your health and none of the above will eliminate the health risks. But, if you’re going to have alcohol, then having the above things as well may at least somewhat reduce the harm done.

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Obé Fitness: Rewriting the Rules of Fitness!

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🌎 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

• Valuable tips to help alleviate sleeping discomfort in hot weather

• Look AHEAD study: Type 2 diabetes patients who were physically active in the afternoon have greater reductions in blood sugar

• Health experts and multinationals join together to announce the formation of Movement Health Foundation

• Modest reduction in beta-amyloidogenic processing of APP may be a viable strategy to prevent Alzheimer's disease

• Web-based surveys offer a feasible way to monitor the safety of novel vaccines

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

What to Eat When: A Strategic Plan to Improve Your Health and Life Through Food - by Drs. Michael Roizen and Michael Crupain

Here at 10almonds, we cover a lot of the "what to eat", but tend to only sometimes touch on the "when"—and indeed, this is a reflection of a popular focus. But what if we were to pay a little more attention to that "when"; what would it get us?

According to Drs. Roizen and Crupain... Quite a bit!

In this work, they take into account the various factors affecting the benefit (or harm!) of what we eat when:

• in the context of our circadian rhythm

• in the context of our insulin responses

• in the context of intermittent fasting

The style throughout is very focused on practical actionable advice. For example, amongst other lifestyle-adjustment suggestions, the authors make the case for front-loading various kinds of food earlier in the day, and eating more attentively and mindfully when we do eat.

They also offer a lot of "quick tips" of the kind we love here at 10almonds! Ranging from "how about this breakfast idea" to "roasting chickpeas like this makes a great snack" to "this dessert is three healthy foods disguised as a sundae"

All in all, if you'd like a stack of small tweaks that can add up to a big difference in your overall health, this is a book for you.

Click here to get "What To Eat When" from Amazon today!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and fulfilling weekend,

The 10almonds Team