From a purely physiological standpoint, women have a tough time with alcohol. Because women’s bodies have a higher ratio of fat to water, they reach a higher blood alcohol concentration after a single drink than men.

Women also absorb 30 percent more alcohol and get intoxicated more quickly because they also have far smaller amounts of the gut-protecting enzyme, dehydrogenase.

The dehydrogenase enzyme lessens the impact of alcohol in the bloodstream. Since women have less of this enzyme, the alcohol hits us way sooner and harder than men.

Also, this means that the alcohol which can not be cushioned in the blood stream gets cushioned by the liver, making our livers work harder.

Alcohol creates the desire for more alcohol, and so we become dependent. This dependance generally occurs because the body and mind are getting a feel-good hit and the body and mind stop producing these feel-good feelings on it’s own, creating a vicious cycle (need drink to feel good!).

The beautiful thing is, we have the most well-stocked pharmacy of all, right here in our brains, and its internally produced drugs are 100 percent pure. Our own brain chemistry will, most often, work for us if we work with it. And this work can be uncomfortable and not easy, but the pay offs are huge.

Dependance on alcohol to feel warm, loved and relaxed is something I became more familiar with in my mid 30’s when I lost my mom. A few glasses a night of wine. Every. Single. Night. My energy dimmed. I was tired and sad during the day. Digestion was wrecked. Skin sallow. Not a good look.

If you are ready to wean off any substance or habit that no longer serves you, you know the feeling and you know when the time is right to stop. It helps to work with a coach, a healer, a therapist, a friend. I’m going back to no longer drinking this week and I’m very excited to share the process. In fact, I’ll be leading a 60 day intermittent fasting and alcohol-free Ayurvedic program soon. Reach out if you’d like more details.

With Love,

Sabrina

Sources:

Nancy Lonsdorf M.D., A Woman’s Best Medicine, Penguin Group, 1995. Anastasia Toufexis, “Why Men Can Outdrink Women,” Time, January 22, 1990.