5 Life-Changing Lessons From Quitting Alcohol

Disclaimer: Not Medical Advice. Opinions are my own.

In partnership with ​Eight Sleep​

Today's newsletter at a glance:

• My Experience with Alcohol

• How Your Body Digests Alcohol

• The Risks of Alcohol

• My Takeaways from Removing Alcohol

Drinking alcohol is a personal decision.

Whether you decide to drink alcohol is entirely up to you.

Ultimately, it's your body, your rules. No judgment.

Quitting alcohol has been the single most transformative decision of my adult life.

The experience has been so positive that I would be remiss not to share it.

I was never an alcoholic.

Like most, I was a social drinker. Social gatherings, sporting events, and concerts.

The experience of pairing wines with food was a passion of mine.

I removed alcohol from my life around 4 years ago when I started to feel off. I thought "the least I could do was stop drinking."

Multiple lab visits, medical consultations, and workups later, we still couldn't put our finger on it.

Come to find out, I had a 99% blockage on the back of my heart.

A stent was successfully placed, and I felt better immediately.

The first question my wife asked was, "Are you going to start drinking again?" - now that the problem was resolved.

My answer was unequivocally no.

In this newsletter, we are going to go over the most significant takeaways from removing alcohol from my life, how our bodies digest alcohol, and what the data says about alcohol consumption.

How Your Body Digests Alcohol

After understanding how our body processes and responds to alcohol, it makes it hard for me to believe I will ever return to it.

Alcohol is toxic to every cell in our body.

When you drink alcohol of any kind - beer, liquor, and wine - it is absorbed by your stomach and small intestine, and then your liver goes to work.

Alcohol is broken down into acetaldehyde and acetate.

Acetaldehyde is what makes you feel drunk or inebriated. This is what is toxic to our cells. It alters the DNA of every cell it comes into contact with.

Acetate is empty calories. It provides no essential nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, or protein.

Personally, it didn't make sense for me to prioritize what I eat, exercise regularly, and focus on sleep, only to actively poison my body.

The Risks of Alcohol

Are the risks worth the reward?

Here are some of the most significant risks to consider:

• Liver Disease: ​The leading cause of alcohol-related mortality, particularly in older adults.​ Alcohol-related liver disease is now the most common indication for liver transplantation in the United States, and cirrhosis is frequently the first life-threatening presentation.
  
  

• Cancer: ​Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning it is causally associated with an increased risk of cancer.​ The Global Burden of Disease Study found that cancers account for up to 27% of alcohol-attributable deaths in older women and 19% in older men.
  
  

• Cardiovascular Disease: ​Alcohol consumption has been shown to elevate blood pressure​, increase oxidative stress, and negatively impact fat metabolism (lipids, fatty acids, cholesterol), all risk factors for heart attack and stroke.
  
  

• Alzheimer's & Dementia: Even moderate consumption has been shown to shrink the brain. This effect is dose-dependent (the heavier you drink, the bigger the impact). ​Heavy drinking is particularly concerning, as it significantly raises the risk and may accelerate the development of Alzheimer's and dementia.​

Does this mean that if you drink alcohol, you are guaranteed to fall victim to the above? No.

When considering risks, we are playing a game of probability.

It's quite clear that the more you consume, the greater the risk becomes. However, no amount of alcohol is safe.

My question to you is: why not stack the deck in your favor?

If longevity and healthspan are a priority to you, then why not take action to maximize your chances?

My Takeaways from Removing Alcohol

1. Every day is the same.
   The power to wake up in the morning and count on feeling your best is severely underappreciated. No more brain fog, recovery period, or hangover. Each day has the potential to be a great day.
   
   

2. Maximize Physical Output
   Overall, my body feels better. I can train harder. Recover faster. I feel my maximum physical ceiling has only increased by removing alcohol from my life.
   
   

3. Emotional Stability
   My mood is more dependable. No more high highs and low lows. I have more emotional capacity as a husband, father, friend, and physician.
   
   

4. Deepen Relationship
   At first, I marginalized some friends after quitting drinking. This was hard for me. However, the relationships that truly mattered only deepened. It was an opportunity to see who my real friends truly were.
   
   

5. "Alcohol promises everything sobriety delivers."
   This quote hits home. Alcohol tells you everything you want to hear. Maybe temporarily it can be a crutch, but whatever alcohol promises you frequently fades. Everything we want is on the other side of hard. Anything worthwhile requires effort. With effort, sobriety offers the long-lasting results we desire.

If these lessons resonated with you,​ I posted a podcast yesterday that dives deeper into what I've learned from removing alcohol. Click HERE to watch it.​

The Best Night of Sleep You've Ever Had

After 25 years of being on call as a heart surgeon, I struggle with sleep.

I'm naturally a hot sleeper. We used to have to crank the A/C down, turn on a ceiling fan, and turn on a fan on my nightstand.

That was until my wife and I got our ​Eight Sleep​ last year.

The pod doesn't replace your bed; it transforms it.

With Eight Sleep, you can upgrade any mattress, and it is transforming my sleep.

​Eight Sleep recently launched their newest generation of the Pod: Pod 5​. With the Pod 5, you can heat and cool each side of the bed using the Pod Mattress Cover, and now you can further enhance your comfort with the Pod Blanket.

The Pod 5 can automatically track your sleep stages, HRV, abnormal heartbeats, and snoring - no wearable required.

For those who need background noise to fall asleep, the Pod 5 features an integrated speaker that enables the playback of white noise and guided meditations by Dr. Andrew Huberman.

If you are interested in adding the new Pod 5 to your mattress, ​click here to get up to $350 off your Eight Sleep, and you will have 30 nights to try it at home and return it if you don’t like it.

In the end, I want to live life untampered with.

When times are good, I cherish them.

When times are bad, I deal with them.

So I encourage you to experiment.

Remove alcohol for a day, a week, a month, and see how your body responds.

Only the best,

Jeremy London, MD

P.S. Don't forget to follow my podcast for free on ​Spotify​ or ​Apple Podcasts​