Are you having menopausal symptoms and also drinking alcohol regularly? I hate to be the bearer of what you might perceive as bad news, but minimizing or eliminating alcohol could be key to managing your symptoms! Let’s take a look at the top menopause complaints: mood swings, anxiety, sleep disturbances, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, and cognitive decline/brain fog. There are rock-solid physiological explanations for why alcohol exacerbates all of them.
- Mood swings, anxiety, and depression: In menopause, estrogen levels decrease, making emotional regulation more challenging. Alcohol impacts GABA (Gaba-Aminobutyric Acid), a neurotransmitter that helps calm nerve cells, and also impacts serotonin levels, which can worsen mood disorders.
- Sleep: Alcohol is a REM sleep disruptor, and a frequent culprit when it comes to insomnia and night wakings. While it may seem like alcohol makes it easier to fall asleep, it also makes it more challenging to stay asleep, further exacerbating menopausal sleep issues.
- Hot flashes & Night Sweats: Alcohol affects blood vessels, causing acute dilation, which can both trigger and intensify hot flashes.
- Weight Gain: Increased blood sugar levels and more empty calories from alcohol equals weight gain, especially around the mid-section.
- Cognition: Alcohol negatively impacts memory and focus, exacerbating any existing menopausal brain fog.
Less obvious but more serious symptoms include bone and heart health, which decline in menopausal women, and alcohol exacerbates that decline. When consumed in excess (think more than one drink a day), alcohol can disrupt calcium absorption and interfere with bone cellular repair and growth, making menopausal bone loss an even greater concern.
Estrogen plays an important role in heart health, but as estrogen levels decline with age, the protective effects of estrogen also decline, and alcohol potentiates this decline. Studies show that even moderate alcohol consumption can increase blood pressure. Because alcohol is metabolized through the liver, it also increases the risk of fatty liver disease and insulin resistance. In addition, the inflammation and oxidative stress caused by alcohol consumption can cause plaque build-up in blood vessels and compromise blood vessel strength and integrity. This doesn’t mean we can never drink alcohol again as we enter menopause. But moderation is key, and for many of us, “none” is easier than “some” when it comes to alcohol. Depending on your symptoms, you may be able to tolerate 3 to 5 drinks per week without any obvious symptoms. But for those with active symptoms or compromised bone and/or heart health, none is probably the better option.
