How does Alcohol affect our immune system?

Okay . . . I'm probably going to make some people mad with this Health Tip and maybe even make some people cry. But the question for today is, "How does Alcohol affect our Immune System?"

Well, Alcohol of any kind is also called Ethanol. And remember in yesterday's Health Tip we spoke of our "good" and "bad" bacteria. And that when our "bad" overruns our "good" bacteria in our body, it causes a negative effect on our immune system? Well, let me explain a little more!

So we all know that as you drink an alcoholic beverage the alcohol passes into your bloodstream. Well, the Ethanol is the intoxicating part of alcohol and its molecules are so small that they can actually pass into the gaps between brain cells. There, it can interfere with the neurotransmitters that enable all the brain's activity.

Alcohol is metabolized in the brain, pancreas and stomach but mainly by the liver. So most of us think . . . with that many parts of the body working to metabolize and delete the alcohol, we're good, Right? Wrong!!! Alcoholic (or Ethanol) beverages are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 "carcinogen" which is carcinogenic to humans.

So let me ask you a question: "Ever wonder why you have "brain fog?" Well, that's because you have Ethanol floating in your brain and it simulates the same reaction as being drunk without the drinking! Okay . . . hang on there. Give me a minute and I'll tell you how that ethanol got in your brain in the first place. But first, let me ask one more question. Ever wonder why some people get drunk, drinking alcohol faster than others . . . on fewer drinks? Well, that would be because that person has an over abundance of "bad" bacteria in their body. And Ethanol is a byproduct of this "bad" bacteria. So in essence, If you already have an Ethanol problem from the "bad" bacteria and then you add an alcoholic drink . . . Boom! you get drunk faster on fewer drinks than the next guy! And as for that "brain fog" . . . well, you get that feeling due to the Ethanol that the "bad" bacteria in your body has produced!

So what exactly does Ethanol or Alcohol do to the body and its immune system . . . AND this virus?

1. destroys enzymes, which cause the release of free radicals that damage DNA

2. it stops the absorption of iron, with iron being the most important oxygen support in the blood, which without ample support - disease and obesity occur

3. it impairs the body's ability to break down and absorb nutrients, which increases the blood level of estrogen which is directly linked to the risk of breast cancer.

4. it kills our "GOOD" bacteria and serves as a "fertilizer" to help "bad" bacteria grow fast and out of control, which compromises our immune system allow this virus to take hold.

So let's talk about Breast cancer for a moment because it's such a big issue in the world with about 1 in 8 US women developing invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2020, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed and 48,530 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.