Heavy alcohol consumption can cause inflammation, affecting your entire system by interfering with your body’s defenses. To know more about alcohol consumption and how alcohol causes inflammation, stay with us.
Alcohol can have numerous long-lasting effects on the human body. It may enhance harmful bacteria and decrease beneficial bacteria, and the imbalance may result in gut inflammation.
In intense cases, it may cause a leaky gut syndrome in which intestinal linings get more vulnerable, allowing toxins and harmful bacteria to enter the bloodstream and trigger an immune response.
Chronic alcohol use can disrupt the liver’s ability to detoxify bacterial products and the brain’s ability to regulate inflammation. It may damage the liver and the central nervous
system, which also causes inflammation.
While digging deep, does alcohol cause inflammation? One must understand that alcohol causes inflammation and can even harm your body’s ability to regulate inflammation.
Drinking in moderation can also drive inflammatory reactions that may harm your body. Here we will explore the relationship between alcohol and inflammation and anti-inflammatory alcoholic drinks.
Table of Contents
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is connected to several significant health problems, so it is essential to understand what is happening inside your body when you intake alcohol.
Inflammation is the reaction of the immune system to any sudden illness or injury to protect a particular area, remove harmful substances, and help the body avoid worsening the situation.
Inflammation often manifests through symptoms like redness, pain, swelling, and warmth in specific areas. This vital process involves your white blood cells, which play a crucial role in protecting you from infections caused by:
- Bacteria
- Viruses
In some diseases like arthritis, your immune system, which is the body’s defense system, triggers inflammation without any outside invader; therefore, it would be due to these autoimmune diseases.
Types of inflammation
When the body’s inflammatory response works well as it meant to be, the body will heal and protect itself from any harm. On the other hand, if the body’s system is not working correctly, it may not work against outer causes and initiate problems.
In other words, if the inflammatory cells successfully eliminate a harmful intruder, the inflammation process resolves itself. Alternatively, the inflammatory response could be fatal when someone gets exposed to any dangerous intruder for extended periods.
Inflammation could be acute or chronic:
- Acute inflammation could be a short-term response when the body gets exposed to an irritant, such as a burn or cut. It goes away within hours or days.
- Chronic inflammation develops when the body is constantly exposed to irritants, like pollution or smoke, and is persistent for months or years, even after the initial trigger besides.
The inflammatory cells that get the signals to kill off potential harm stay active and start damaging healthy cells, tissues, and organs.
Conditions that may associate with chronic inflammation include:
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s disease
Symptoms of inflammation
There could be only a few symptoms at one time:
- Joint pain
- Stiffness in joints
- Redness
- A swollen joint that one may feel warm when you touch it.
- A joint is not working correctly.
There could be some flu-like symptoms during inflammation, such as:
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Chills
- Headaches
- Appetite loss Muscle stiffness
Effects of inflammation
Inflammation may help the body protect itself from harm, a short-term reaction. It continues for long periods:
- Damage to tissues and organs may lead to swelling and stiffness in the muscles and joints.
- It may disturb the body’s ability to fight infection and heal from injuries.
- Contribute to life-threatening conditions, even organ failures.
What could be the cause of inflammation?
Various chemicals from your body’s white blood cells enter your blood or tissues to protect your body from invaders, which may cause inflammation. This process of chemicals may increase the blood flow to certain areas of injury or infection.
Some substances and fluid leaking in your tissues cause swelling, whereas this protective process can trigger nerves and cause pain. This elevated number of white blood cells makes the situation inside your joint cause:
- Irritation.
- Swelling of the lining of the joint.
- Loss of cartilage over time.
Inflammation and alcohol
Drinking alcohol can significantly affect both your physical and mental health. Many people are unaware that the driving force behind wide-ranging psychological and physical problems has traces of alcohol-induced inflammation.
We will guide you here to learn more about the connection between alcohol and inflammation, which may guide you well to understand the role alcohol plays in your life and how you may find relief.
It is essential to recognize that alcohol can harm your body as it is a toxin. Processing a toxin causes stress, irritation, and other symptoms in specific organs. Alcohol can cause inflammation, and it all revolves around your gut health.
Even moderate alcohol consumption can contribute to inflammation as organs process and expel the toxins. Alcohol consumption contributes to inflammation in the following ways:
Gut imbalance
Alcohol consumption can interfere with the gut microbiome, which may upset the balance between good and bad bacteria. It may also cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the digestive tract, contributing to gut inflammation.
Moreover, alcohol consumption may cause the overproduction of inflammatory substances, which increase the production of specific inflammatory chemicals, endotoxins.
Stresses the intestinal wall
Research has found that alcohol increases the permeability of the intestines. Intestinal wall permeability will allow harmful substances to leak from the gut and other tissues.
Weakness immunity system
Alcohol can interfere with the immune system, which may lead to inflammation. Alcohol disturbs the immunity to fighting bacterial infections.
Fatty liver disease
Such disease occurs due to adding fats in the liver. Although people can not get fatty liver disease without being alcohol-induced, continued alcohol abuse can enhance the chances.
Worsened arthritis
It happens when someone suffers from gout (painful inflammatory arthritis).
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Drinking alcohol will trigger inflammatory bowel disease as it contains pro-oxidant effects and damages gut functioning.
Chronic inflammation series
Chronic inflammation occurs when unhealthy alcohol triggers various reactions in the body, which cause inflammation to intensify over time. Somehow bacterial outgrowth increases the bacterial waste while producing endotoxins.
Endotoxins are chemicals that activate the proteins and immune cells, promoting inflammation. Alcohol can lead to chronic inflammation because of a protein called C-reactive protein.
Alcohol-related health problems occur when your body metabolizes alcohol in the gastrointestinal tract, which may disturb tissue maintenance due to severe inflammation in the intestines.
Joint inflammation
While joint inflammation is commonly known as arthritis, it is worth noting that moderate alcohol consumption may offer certain anti-inflammatory benefits, as supported by scientific studies that indicate a reduction in specific inflammatory molecules. Embracing average alcohol intake could lower the risk of developing arthritis.
It is essential to beware of the potential risks while drinking alcohol as it may contribute to the game, from low-grade inflammation to several serious health problems. One must be aware of the dangers of inflammation and take steps to reduce it. Eliminating alcohol is a healthy step to take measures against inflammation.
Inflammation in the brain
The brain becomes inflamed like the rest of the body, whereas the brain has its immune system. One must take brain inflammation seriously as it may rapidly degenerate the brain, which comes out with the risk of Parkinson’s, dementia and Alzheimer’s, and various other brain degenerative diseases.
People with severe alcohol consumption come with a vicious cycle of changes to the brain and behavior. Whereas if we stay, the inflammation in the brain is due to inflammation in the body.
Various infections, chronic joint pain, gut leakage or inflammation, or unmanaged autoimmune conditions may cause inflammation in the body which may release immune cells named cytokines, which may activate inflammation in the brain.
The primary cause of chronic depression is that people do not respond to antidepressants because the situation is so bad that even medication does not address brain inflammation.
Brain’s immune system
The microglial cells are the brain’s immune cells, at the root of brain inflammation. These cells play a crucial role in maintaining neuronal integrity; recent research highlights their essential role in brain functioning.
During the healthier situation of the brain, microglia dispose of dead neurons and other debris that interfere with healthy communication between neurons. The microglia cells also facilitate healthy neuron metabolism and neuron synapses.
When brain inflammation occurs, the glial cells switch into attack modes, which may hinder communication between neurons, creating brain fog symptoms, slower mental speed, recall, and reflexes.
Brain inflammation may cause a shutdown of energy production in the neurons, dropping brain endurance and making it harder to concentrate at any time, leading to depression. Moreover, chronic neuroinflammation may result in neuron death and brain degenerative disorders.
The blood-brain barrier and brain inflammation
The most considerable risk of brain inflammation if it is due to a leaky blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a thin lining that surrounds the brain, allowing even nano-sized particles in and out.
Due to leakage, it may allow foreign invaders to trigger the microglia. The blood-brain barrier degrades quickly and may regenerate through dietary and lifestyle modifications.
Factors that may cause brain inflammation
High stress can even lessen the blood-brain wall, whereas normalizing focus may allow it to repair. Many things may cause brain inflammation, including the following things one may need to address.
- Neurological autoimmunity
- Previous head trauma
- Diabetes and high blood sugar
- Poor circulation, chronic stress, respiratory issues, and anemia.
- Eating gluten if you are allergic to it.
- Alcohol and drug abuse.
- Leaky blood-brain barrier
- Inflammatory bowel conditions
- Systemic inflammation
- Environmental pollutants
- Poor brain antioxidant status.
Tips to reduce alcohol-related inflammations
Alcohol-related inflammations cause health complications, which may be mild or severe depending on the consumption of alcohol. There are various ways to reduce alcohol-related inflammations.
- Stop drinking alcohol
- Reduce alcohol intake
- Stay hydrated
- Consult a healthcare provider
Stop drinking alcohol
The best way to deal with the inflammation is to reduce alcohol and drink in moderation. If anyone finds it difficult to stop drinking or reduce drinking habits, they may suffer from alcohol use disorder (AUD).
After determining someone has an alcohol use disorder, they need professional help, as quitting on your own can be dangerous in a particular situation.
Reduce alcohol intake
For alcohol inflammation prevention, the fundamental thing is to reduce alcohol intake. Excessive alcohol consumption is the main reason for inflammation, whereas moderate consumption may lead to more positive effects on the body.
Stay hydrated
Drink more and more water as dehydration can exacerbate inflammation. Alcohol dehydrates the body, and drinking alcohol on an empty stomach increases its effects on the liver.
Staying hydrated and eating healthy foods reduce the risk of hangovers and other consequences of alcohol on your body.
Consult a healthcare provider
If someone still faces complications due to alcohol-related inflammation, they must consult a professional healthcare provider.
How to reduce inflammation naturally?
Managing inflammation with alcohol will help someone keep things under control.
Drink in moderation
Moderate alcohol consumption, including one drink for women and two for men, will help reduce specific inflammatory mediators.
Avoid tobacco smoke
Cigarette smoke can irritate the lungs and contribute to inflammation in other organs. Cigarettes cause inflammation on their own but also increase the harmful effects of alcohol on the liver.
Eat anti-inflammatory foods
Avoid foods that cause inflammation, and eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats. Add nutrient-rich foods that will help reduce inflammation by providing the body with the essential things to repair tissue damage and fight infections.
Various professionals eat servings of fruits and vegetables in multiple colors every day. Season with spices like turmeric, ginger, caraway, and rosemary, which may have anti-inflammatory properties.
Try fasting
Eating may cause an inflammatory response, but fasting may reduce circulating levels of inflammatory mediators. We can not deal with the habit of eating all of a sudden, and who would want to even?
Intermittent fasting to decrease the body’s overall inflammatory burdens. The easiest way to fast is to spend the time sleeping. Moreover, stop eating two to four hours before bed and delay breakfast for two to four hours after waking up.
Eat before you drink
Eating before drinking will save you from gastric emptying and decrease the absorption rate of alcohol in the bloodstream and, eventually, inflammation. It may control moving substances from your stomach to the small intestine.
Exercise regularly
Exercise may help reduce inflammation by improving blood circulation and increasing the production of anti-inflammatory chemicals.
Stress reduces
Depression, chronic stress, and anxiety all may contribute to inflammation. As a human being, one must manage stress while adopting some mindful techniques.
Foods that cause inflammation
Inflammation is part of the body’s defense against adverse bacteria, viruses, and toxins. However, the immune system is complicated, and any unexpected thing, including certain foods, may trigger it.
The immune system gets activated by detecting anything foreign such as invading microbe or any chemical or plant pollen and triggers inflammation.
Sometimes to combat inflammation, you need to focus on grocery stores instead of seeking solutions in pharmacy. Various ingredients activate inflammation and are harmful. Foods that may cause inflammation are given below:
- Red meat and processed meat like bacon, hot dogs, sausages, burgers, steaks, and cured meats.
- Fried foods and french fries.
- Snack foods include chips, cookies, crackers, and pastries.
- Refined carbohydrates usually include white bread, white rice pasta, and breakfast cereals.
- Soda and other sweetened beverages.
- Margarine and shortenings.
All these foods have something in common: added sugars and saturated/trans fats, except red meat. If we combine alcohol with aforementioned inflammation-promoting foods and alcoholic drinks with grains or added sugars, it could be way harmful.
Adjust your diet to reduce inflammation
Primarily, one must limit inflammation-promoting foods, including sodas, packaged foods, and refined carbohydrates. Instead, eat a diet mainly composed of healthier and natural sources of carbohydrates and fats, which may contain protein and fiber.
We must also consume enriched-nutrient food, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts, fatty fish, and olive oil. All these foods may stabilize insulin, and a well-balanced ratio of other nutrients will reduce the risk of inflammation.
Various professionals recommend consuming the nutrients in proper portions to avoid any weight gain.
Anti-inflammatory alcoholic drinks
If someone consumes large amounts of alcohol, the metabolites can primarily affect the gastrointestinal tract and liver and damage both. Alcohol and its metabolites commonly promote intestinal inflammation, significantly exacerbating alcohol-induced organ damage.
Chronic alcohol intake leads to intestinal inflammation, including altering intestinal microbiota composition and function, increasing the permeability of the intestinal lining while affecting the intestinal immune system.
Several researchers reported a lower rate of cardiovascular diseases among moderate alcohol. Sometimes small amounts of alcohol appear protective, which may be a bit challenging as the protective effect of alcohol has been primarily explained by an effect on lipids.
If someone is generally healthy, a small amount of alcohol every day won’t lead to inflammation. For instance, “dry red wine” has the least adverse health effects, as it contains higher polyphenols and beneficial bacteria.
If someone dislikes red wine, they can opt for beer, which may have lower alcohol content. Beer has the benefit of having lower dangerous ranges than alternatives, as higher alcohol content causes more inflammation in the gut.
Avoid hard liquor if you are suffering from inflammation, and avoid those varieties that are aged in wooden barrels, which may contribute to inflammation.
One type of alcohol is better than other
Extensive studies determined that alcohol causes the least amount of inflammation. In contrast, hard liquor and beer consumption were significantly associated with the risk of gout, whereas people who drink wine less undergo such conditions.
Wine may contain resveratrol with anti-inflammatory properties but may inhibit the inflammatory factors triggering heart disease. Hence, one must consume even wine in moderation, as it can worsen inflammation.
Red wine dramatically decreases the levels of inflammatory molecules, including adhesion molecules and proteins in monocytes and lymphocytes. Additionally, we can notice less heart disease and strokes in wine drinkers compared to those who use alcoholic beverages in general.
Reducing alcohol-related inflammation can provide numerous benefits to overall health and well-being. It comes with improved sugar levels and decreased cholesterol; joint and muscle inflammation symptoms eventually subside.
Cutting-down alcohol consumption may improve negative mood changes and increase energy. There would also be decreased risk of developing various chronic health conditions.
What could be the worst drinking habits for inflammation?
The following could be some of the worst drinking habits for inflammation:
- Drinking more than two alcoholic beverages per day, which may come with fatal results.
- Drinking alcohol daily is not a wellness habit, as it may cause internal and external inflammation.
- Combining alcohol with a poor diet or non-nutritious foods could significantly contribute to inflammation.
- Add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet, which may include:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Olive oil
- Foods enriched with omega-3 fatty acids
- Nuts and seeds
- Drinking alcohol with soda or juices will increase. The drink content as alcohol already contains a lot of sugar, which may trigger inflammation.
- Making a habit of exercising and drinking will help you to minimize the inflammatory effects of alcohol. Adding at least 20 minutes of exercise to your daily routine is recommended.
Does coffee cause inflammation?
We know now that most chronic diseases are linked to inflammation, and coffee has both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects. Coffee is among the most consumed beverages enriched with beneficial compounds to maintain optimal health and protection from certain diseases.
It is essential to find the potential effects of coffee consumption on inflammation and root out some contradictory findings. While digging, some meta-analyses summarize the facts regarding coffee consumption.
Coffee has some beneficial compounds that may help maintain optimal health while keeping you from certain diseases. Coffee may reduce inflammation in most people, and some may experience increased inflammation following coffee consumption.
Potential benefits of coffee consumption
Regular coffee contains a mixture of active compounds, which have significant potential to act as antioxidants and free radical scavengers that fight against cancer.
Various experiments produce positive results showing a reduction in inflammation with coffee consumption. Other findings of researchers proved that coffee had done more good than harm.
Regular coffee drinkers usually have lower incidences of cancers and neurological, metabolic, and liver conditions with clinical manifestations of inflammation. Additionally, it may lower the risks of type 2 diabetes, chronic liver disease, and certain cancer types.
Recent studies have identified a common health-promoting mechanism in coffee, vegetables, and fruits. Plant chemicals activate specific genes in cells to make a variety of protective proteins, even some key repair enzymes.
Potential harms of coffee consumption
We can expect some of the harm from too much caffeine in coffee, with little evidence of damage while affecting blood pressure. All coffee contains anti-inflammatory properties, whereas the inflammation response depends on the concentration of caffeine, the body’s response towards caffeine, genetics, and age.
Some of the evidence suggests that coffee may increase inflammation in some people. In comparison, it depends on the difference in an individual’s genetics and other factors that may affect coffee’s inflammation.
Conclusion
While seeking the answer, does alcohol cause inflammation? One must understand how much daily drinking contributes to inflammation. The risk of inflammation may come down when you focus on diets and foods that cause inflammation, sleeping cycle, hydration, and gut state.
Alcohol induces gut inflammation leading to various health issues. Alcohol-related disorders include cancers, liver diseases, other neurological pathologies, leaky gut, bacterial outgrowth, alterations in the mucosal immune system, and even inflammation in the brain.
If someone suffers from inflammation, they must focus on reducing alcohol consumption related to short-term and long-term effects on health and drinking habits. Moreover, hydration is vital to minimize the impact of sugar, which may worsen inflammation. Diet changes, too, help in offsetting chronic inflammation.
Researchers are working to develop some better strategies to prevent and treat the conditions associated with chronic alcoholism. Various studies suggest ways of modifying diet and other drinks to deal with regular heavy drinking.
Does coffee cause inflammation? It contains active compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which may reduce low-grade inflammation while protecting you from certain diseases.
Everything in moderation should be a rule, whether alcohol or coffee. Moderate drinking comes with various benefits and enhances the protective qualities of your immune system. Every human being is different; therefore, healthcare providers still need to individualize whether one should drink coffee.
