Alcohol & Menopause - What you need to know to protect your health

There is no better time to talk about drinking alcohol and the effects on health than in the menopause years. Like some other areas of your life, you probably find that you can’t tolerate alcohol as well as you used to, or you may even feel unwell when drinking and have decided not to drink alcohol, or maybe you have noticed no difference at all. As our body’s transition through the second puberty, alcohol not only affects us differently from when we were younger, but it is also associated with health risks that we should be aware of before we fill our glass one too many times.

How alcohol affects symptoms in menopause

First and foremost, there is no safe limit of alcohol consumption, as it affects everyone differently. It is important to be aware of how it affects you, to know your limit and monitor how much you are drinking. Women are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than men due to losing water in our tendons and cartilage as we age, resulting in our body holding less water. The more water in your body, the more efficiently your body can dilute alcohol.

Alcohol can increase the severity of some menopause symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia. It also can have an impact on our health in the long term, increasing our risk of:

Osteoporosis
Liver disease
Heart problems
Affects nerve and brain health
Abdominal weight gain
Cancer

In particular, we are going to look at how alcohol affects liver function, heart and brain health in the menopausal years.

Liver Function

The liver is the largest organ in the body, located on the upper right side of the abdomen. It is one of the most important organs in the body, working 24/7 performing many essential functions including:

Bile production to breakdown dietary fats
Makes triglycerides and cholesterol
Makes proteins required for many functions, such as hormones and blood clotting factors
Converts carbohydrates into glucose for energy and glucose into glycogen for storage in the liver and muscles
Detoxifies substances by converting them to be either eliminated from the body, or used by the body in a safer form
Breaks down drugs/medications, alcohol, and hormones such as oestrogen and insulin
Stores vitamins that the body needs

An enzyme in the liver that is involved in alcohol metabolism known as alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is responsible for breaking down alcohol in the stomach before it reaches the bloodstream. It is known that ADH activity and production is lower in women, especially as we age. As a result, women feel the effects of alcohol quicker and for longer periods of time due to the alcohol not being metabolised efficiently. This is the cause of those horrid hangovers!

Heart Health

Peri and post menopausal women are at greater risk of heart disease due to falling and fluctuating levels of oestrogen. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australian women, killing three times as many women as breast cancer. Alcohol consumption can increase blood pressure and heart rate in the short term, and in the long term , ongoing heart problems such as:

Increased heart rate
High blood pressure
Irregular heart beat
Weakened heart
May result in heart attack or stroke

Alcohol is known to cause disruption to sleep, and sleep deprivation is a known risk factor for heart disease. Insomnia from hot flushes, night sweats and altered circadian rhythm is common in menopause, and minimising alcohol consumption will help with sleep quality and quantity, symptom relief and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Brain Health

Brain fog and memory issues are common in menopause, due to the abundance of oestrogen receptors in the brain no longer receiving oestrogen via the lock and key mechanism. In the short term, alcohol can affect brain function that results in changes in mood and behaviour, poor coordination, confusion, slurred speech and difficulty concentrating, which all resolve once drinking has stopped and the alcohol eventually leaves the body.

However, in the long term, heavy or binge drinking can have long lasting effects by interfering with the brain’s communication pathways and how it processes information. This can include brain atrophy (shrinkage), neurogenesis (impairs the brain’s ability to make new cells) and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (thiamine deficiency as a result of heavy drinking).

As we go through menopause our brain experiences many changes that can be challenging for some women, and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can exacerbate these symptoms and affect brain function later in life.

It’s not all gloom and doom……

Awareness is key, if you are struggling with the changes in menopause and drinking alcohol, try cutting back or stopping for a while and see if it makes a difference. Excessive amounts of alcohol on a regular basis are detrimental to our health, but moderate amounts may result in health benefits – such as reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, dementia, obesity and heart disease. There is a fine line between what moderate and excessive intakes looks like though, and it also depends on the type of alcohol you are drinking. Red wine has been linked to many health benefits, including heart, brain and gut health, due to the abundance of antioxidants that reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.

Regardless of whether you drink red wine or some other alcoholic drink, it is how much you have in one sitting and how often is key to reduce your risk of adverse health outcomes.

Tips to cut down drinking:

Have regular alcohol free days
Enjoy lower alcohol drinks
Space alcoholic drinks with non alcoholic drinks, such as water
Avoid situations that make you feel pressured to drink
Avoid shouting drinks if in a group
Don’t top up your glass before finishing your drink

The Australian guidelines for drinking alcohol state that:

For healthy adults – no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any given day

Knowing what a standard drink looks like makes it easier to monitor your intake. Click on the link here for information on standard drinks from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Always remember that there is no safe limit of alcohol intake, be aware of the risks and enjoy in moderation.