I've only had about 5 alcoholic drinks in my life and most of them occurred before I was of legal age! I thought it was cool to drink alcohol so I tried it. But the truth is, I strongly dislike alcohol. I despise the taste and I despise how it makes me feel.
What made matters worse were my experiences with very sick people who were addicted to alcohol. When I worked as an Occupational Therapist for 8 years in a local Los Angeles hospital, I saw EVERYTHING from car accidents to cancer to hip replacements to drug addictions.
One thing that stands out to me the most was the people who were addicted to alcohol. They were the sickest. Far sicker, mentally and physically, then meth or crack addicts. I vowed to never put alcohol in my body again as I realized it does most harm and no good to the body.
People ask me "What if I just have 1 or 2 drinks per week?". My response is WHY? Alcohol is toxic to every organ. Why do you want to bring that into your body?
Alcohol way back when it was full of wonderful probiotics and wild microbes may have had some health benefits. But now alcohol is pasteurized and full of environmental toxins like glyphosate.
Alcohol:
1. Leads to the leaky gut barrier (this is the first foundational piece to health). Once you have a leaky gut, all other organs suffer. Especially your liver that becomes overburdened. Once your liver cannot do 99% of its tasks, your thyroid goes, your mitochondria suffer, your metabolism shuts down, and your emotions are a rollercoaster
2. Leads to dysbiosis. Having a balance of healthy microbes to unhealthy microbes is the second foundational piece to health. Dysbiosis is throwing this balance off. The gut of people who drink often is usually found to be in a state of dysbiotic balance.
3. Increased risk of SIBO or SIFO. small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or fungal overgrowth is 3x more likely to occur in people who have alcoholic drinks. It is very hard to get rid of SIBO and going on antibiotics will only make things worse.
4. Reduces glutathione levels. Your master antioxidant. You need it. Alcohol causes cells to release an enzyme that breaks down the matter of alcohol which depletes glutathione.
5. Raises blood sugar and can contribute to insulin resistance.
6. Gives you bloating, constipation through paralysis of the intestine, diarrhea, acid reflux
7. Sleep disturbances. Alcohol disrupts your circadian rhythm. Initially, people feel tired and relaxed but interruption of the pineal gland making melatonin will lead to insomnia and waking up without being able to fall back to sleep.
There is so much more to this list. I can go on... but I will spare you.
I vote to get alcohol out of your life. There are other drinks you can have if you want to look like you are being "social". Or just deal with the discomfort of being social and not drinking. It goes away eventually.