🥂 Alcohol and the Body: What’s Really Happening When You Drink

Let’s have an honest conversation—no shame, no finger-pointing, no puritanical preaching. Just truth, wrapped in compassion and curiosity. Because like many of us, I never thought I drank that much.

A glass of red wine in the evenings or with dinner. A JuneShine on a sunny afternoon. A margarita on vacation. These little moments of ritual, celebration, or wind-down were so embedded in my life that I didn’t even consider the impact. Until I started healing. Until I began really listening to my body. And suddenly, things I once brushed off as “normal” became loud, clear signals: disrupted sleep, low energy, mood swings, hormonal shifts, and that sneaky morning brain fog that no amount of coffee could fix.

Turns out, alcohol was the quiet thief I hadn’t noticed.

🧠 The Real Effects of Alcohol on Your Body and Mind

🔬 Your Liver: The First Line of Fire

When alcohol enters your bloodstream, your liver stops all other detox efforts to prioritize breaking it down. Why? Because alcohol is a toxin—metabolized into acetaldehyde, a compound even more toxic than alcohol itself. This interrupts your liver’s ability to process:

• Hormones (hello estrogen dominance)

• Environmental toxins (like mold and heavy metals)

• Excess blood sugar and inflammatory byproducts

Over time, even moderate drinking can lead to fatty liver, elevated liver enzymes, and sluggish detox pathways—especially if you’re already healing from Lyme, mold, or other chronic conditions.

🛌 Sleep: It Knocks You Out, But You Don’t Rest

Alcohol is a sedative, but it doesn’t help you sleep—it just makes you unconscious. Big difference.

Alcohol suppresses REM sleep—the deep, dreamy stage that supports memory consolidation, mood regulation, and healing. It also causes blood sugar crashes and cortisol spikes in the early morning hours, leading to that familiar 3 a.m. wake-up, sweaty and anxious.

I’ve found that I can sometimes have one drink earlier in the day without major issues—but a late-night glass of wine? It wrecks my sleep every time. Like clockwork.

💉 Blood Sugar + Hormonal Mayhem

Alcohol causes rapid blood sugar spikes, followed by dramatic crashes. Your pancreas scrambles to release insulin, which sets off a cascade of hormonal disruptions—including cortisol, progesterone, and estrogen.

Women in particular feel this—especially in perimenopause or while navigating PMS. Alcohol can worsen:

• Breast tenderness

• Mood swings

• Anxiety

• Irregular cycles

It also increases the risk of insulin resistance, especially when paired with poor sleep and stress.

🧬 Brain Health: The Alzheimer’s Connection

Here’s the part that hit me hardest: even moderate alcohol consumption increases your risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s. Studies show that alcohol shrinks the hippocampus—your memory center. Over time, it accelerates brain aging and contributes to inflammation in the central nervous system.

For those with a family history of dementia, this matters. For those navigating brain fog from mold or Lyme, it matters even more.

🦠 Gut Disruption and Nutrient Depletion

Alcohol is harsh on your gut lining. It can lead to intestinal permeability (aka “leaky gut”), disrupt your microbiome, and increase inflammation throughout the body.

It also depletes critical nutrients you need to heal:

• B vitamins (especially B1, B6, B12)

• Zinc

• Magnesium

• Glutathione, your body’s master antioxidant

When I began rebuilding my health, I realized how often alcohol had been sneaking behind the scenes, stealing the very nutrients I was trying to replenish.

🍸 My Journey with Alcohol: An Honest Check-In

I still enjoy a drink now and then. I love a glass of clean, biodynamic red wine shared over a long dinner. I adore a chilled JuneShine while soaking in the sun. But I’ve become far more intentional.

Once I started saying no more often—simply out of self-respect, not restriction—I realized how much better I felt.
My sleep deepened.
My skin cleared.
My energy rose.
My clarity returned.
I felt more me.

🌿 Alternatives that Nourish the Ritual (Not the Wreckage)

For those who still love the feeling of a drink—celebration, relaxation, connection—there are beautiful ways to honor that without compromising your health.

💫 Functional + Botanical Beverages:

• Kin Euphorics – mood-boosting drinks with adaptogens and nootropics

• De Soi or Three Spirit – botanical blends that taste like a cocktail, but heal instead of harm

• Organifi Harmony or Gold – hormone-balancing, calming elixirs for evening rituals

• Mineral mocktails – sea salt + coconut water + lemon or adrenal cocktail mixes

• Bitters + sparkling water – support digestion and satisfy the ritual without the buzz

🌕 So, What’s the Takeaway?

This isn’t about moralizing your drink.
This is about asking: What do I truly need right now?

Is it relaxation? Connection? Escape? Comfort?
Is it worth the cost to my liver, my brain, my sleep, my hormones, my healing?

Sometimes, for me, the answer is yes. Most of the time now—it’s no.
And in that choice, I’ve found power.

You don’t have to give up alcohol forever to reclaim your vitality.
You just have to start listening to the whispers of your body—and trust that they’re guiding you back home.

💛 Want Support On Your Healing Journey?

If you’re working to balance your hormones, heal from mold or Lyme, or just want to feel better in your skin—I can help you map a path that works for your body, your goals, and your reality.

Book a consult or explore my programs designed to help you reclaim your health—without shame, extremes, or overwhelm.

You were made to feel clear, radiant, and alive—not dulled by what no longer serves.