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Drinking is an activity enjoyed by many across generations, whether it's the main excuse for meeting up with friends, a way to unwind, or something you do to enhance a meal. However, deep down everyone who drinks knows it's not exactly good for the body—especially as we grow older, recent research has shown. In fact, neurologist Dr. Richard Restak calls for ditching alcohol altogether when we reach a certain age.
In 2021, Dr. Restak published a book titled The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind, with a section devoted to how alcohol affects the way our brain processes information. “Alcohol is a very, very weak neurotoxin—it’s not good for nerve cells,” he writes. It can be particularly bad once you reach 65, as the human body has less neurons than it used to. “It is essential to abstain from alcohol at a stage in life where preserving neurons is crucial.”
Although the loss is not as significant as it may sound—recent studies from the British Psychological Society suggest that we may only lose somewhere between “2 to 4 per cent” of neurons throughout our lives—it's extremely important to take care of them. “I strongly suggest that if you are 65 years old or older, that you completely and permanently eliminate alcohol from your diet,” Restak writes. If you're past that age, reducing it at 65 with the goal of cutting it completely by the time you're 70 will make a huge difference.
The biggest reason to avoid alcohol is to minimize our risk of developing dementia—a claim backed by the UK's Alzheimer's Society. Their research points out that people who drink too much (more than 14 units of alcohol each week) were putting their brains and other organs in danger. And for people who are more prone to accidents when they are under the influence, are especially in danger of seriously hurting themselves in their “golden years.”
Regardless of your age, it's always good idea to drink wisely and with moderation. Ultimately, the World Health Organization suggests that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health. As Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges says, “We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink—the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is—or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is.”
Neurologist Dr. Richard Restak calls for avoiding alcohol altogether when we reach a certain age for the sake of our memory.
“Alcohol is a very, very weak neurotoxin—it’s not good for nerve cells,” Dr. Restak says.
“I strongly suggest that if you are 65 years old or older, that you completely and permanently eliminate alcohol from your diet.”
Sources: The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind, “Significant loss of neurons is a normal part of ageing” and other brain cell myths; Reduce your risk of dementia; No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health
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