Blog | Rapid Health Optimization

Alcohol Linked To Brain Shrinkage

Written by Saksham Goswami | Dec 17, 2024

High performers use their brain to gain a competitive edge.

It is sad that so many of them go home at night and destroy their best asset, their brain.

These are not hard drugs or prescription pills.

It is a high priced chardonnay, two fingers of Kentucky bourbon, or favorite IPA.

Chronic alcohol use links to:

  • Brain shrinkage
  • Loss of neurons
  • Alterations in brain structure
  • Accelerated developmental changes associated with aging.

A recent study aimed to identify whether moderate use had any impact on the brain.

After analyzing 36,768 participants, it identified that 1-2 drinks per day:

  1. Associated with a decrease in global brain volume
  2. Decrease in regional gray matter volume
  3. Decrease microstructures within the white matter.

These changes are detectable at one at one drink per day and increase with consumption.

To quote the authors:

"Alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional GMVs, and WM microstructure. The associations between alcohol intake are evident across the entire brain, with the largest volume changes observed in frontal, parietal, and insular cortices, temporal and cingulate regions, the brain stem, putamen, and amygdala."

Setting aside your emotional attachment, alcohol is not healthy.

This is not “frat part hammered.”

This is the systematic degradation of your ability to think clearly.

It is one to two drinks a night to, “take the edge off.”

With the end result being the destruction of your most important asset, your brain.