Last week I talked about coffee, my favourite drink. There are many different opinions about the goodness of coffee, how much you should be drinking and whether you may be better off without it. The topic of another popular drink, or group of drinks, alcoholic drinks, is even more polarizing.
I thought I should take a bit of a dive into what kind of information is around regarding alcohol, the good, the bad, and the ugly facts and add a bit of my own opinion.
It is one of those things that keeps popping up in the news. One day a big research study comes out to say that a glass of wine every night with dinner is good for your health. Then another survey comes out to say that no amount of alcohol is good for you.
I guess we need to look at the big picture and ask ourselves some questions. Does your circle of friends drink it? If you do drink it, will you increase your circle of friends? Are the risks involved in drinking worth it to make a group of friends? These are all important questions.
Alcohol does help to increase dopamine, albeit for a short period of time, which can create a euphoric effect. It can also help us to lose our inhibitions, which can help us to relax and be more social. But you don’t need much of that to do so, just a couple of drinks, apparently.
Some people may be concerned about liver damage, but actually there is another substance that is included in many other drinks that does the same thing, and that is sugar. Personally, I think that sugar is a much worse poison. It is consumed much more often on a daily basis by many people, compared to even the heaviest drinkers of alcohol.
Getting back to the subject of inhibition. Alcohol has been known to affect a neurotransmitter called GABA. It is responsible for regulating the nervous system. Alcohol can create GABA withdrawal, which can lead to intrusive thoughts and anxiety.
I thought I found a bit of interesting information about alcohol. I hope it has made you think about your habits. Let me know what you think about the topic. Do you think it is worth drinking, or can you do without it?
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https://www.gbhoh.com/gaba-and-alcohol-how-drinking-leads-to-anxiety/
