There was a time when I genuinely enjoyed drinking beer and wine. Not excessively, not recklessly—just to add a little extra enjoyment to social gatherings. I even believed that if I focused on wine instead of the harder stuff, I might actually be doing something good for my health.

After all, we were told for years that red wine was “heart healthy.” Grapes. Antioxidants. The French paradox. A drink a day keeps the doctor away.

That belief felt reasonable. Comforting, even.

But, as I explained in a recent column, that story turned out to be based on a scientific illusion—what researchers now call the sick quitter bias. The apparent health benefits of moderate drinking were largely an artifact of flawed comparisons. People who abstained from alcohol were often grouped together with former drinkers who had quit because they were already ill. Once researchers corrected for this and compared healthy lifelong abstainers with moderate drinkers, the supposed health benefits of alcohol quietly disappeared.

That realization forced me to look at alcohol itself more honestly.

When Science Grows Up

There was also a time—many decades ago—when cigarettes were promoted as healthy. Doctors appeared in advertisements. Smoking was said to calm the nerves and aid digestion.

We now look back on that era with disbelief, even horror, that such a clearly harmful substance could have been marketed as beneficial.

Alcohol, it turns out, is going through a similar reckoning.

In recent years, neuroscientists, epidemiologists, and public health organizations have taken a much closer look at alcohol, stripped of cultural romance and industry-funded narratives. What they are finding is remarkably consistent: alcohol is not a health food. It is not neutral. It is not protective.

It is a toxin.

Alcohol as a Biological Poison

One of the clearest explanations of what alcohol actually does in the body comes from modern neuroscience.

When you drink alcohol, your body immediately treats it as a threat. The liver’s first job is to convert ethanol into acetaldehyde—a highly toxic, DNA-damaging compound. Only after that does the body further break it down into acetate, which can then be used as calories.

These are not nourishing calories. They are metabolically expensive “empty calories” produced only after the body has neutralized a poison.

This is not a side effect. This is the main event.

What It Does to the Brain

For years, people assumed that only heavy drinkers damaged their brains. But large modern imaging studies tell a different story.

Recent research shows that even low to moderate drinking is associated with reductions in brain volume, including gray matter. The neocortex—the part of the brain responsible for judgment, planning, and emotional regulation—is particularly affected.

This means alcohol doesn’t just relax you temporarily. Over time, it erodes systems in the body that you rely on for clarity, self-control, and emotional balance.

The Stress You Don’t Notice

One of the most counterintuitive effects of alcohol is what it does between drinks.

Alcohol temporarily increases dopamine and dampens stress signals. But during the recovery period afterward, baseline stress rises. Stress hormones increase. Dopamine—one of our key “feel-good” neurotransmitters—drops below normal.

This creates a quiet cycle: you drink to relax, but your nervous system becomes more stressed when sober, making the next drink feel necessary just to feel “normal.”

This isn’t psychological theory. It’s neurobiology.

The Myth of “Safe” Drinking

In January 2023, the World Health Organization made something explicit that had been quietly emerging in the research for years: no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health.

Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen—the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Importantly, a large percentage of alcohol-related cancers occur in people who drink lightly or moderately.

The damage begins with the first drink.

Large global analyses have reached the same conclusion: the level of alcohol consumption that minimizes health risk is zero.

So Why Do People Still Drink?

People drink for various reasons: culture, the social ritual and social bonding, and just pure enjoyment of the feeling of that buzz.

All these are valid, assuming that drinking is done within reason.

Here’s where I want to be very clear and very human: our bodies are resilient. A healthy liver can process small amounts of alcohol. Wine enjoyed occasionally, without illusions about its benefits, is not a catastrophe.

In other words, we are allowed to enjoy life! But enjoyment should not be confused with medicine.

A More Honest Relationship

Once I stopped seeing alcohol as something that might be “good for me,” my relationship with it became simpler and more honest.

When people understand that wine is not a health tonic but a known toxin—closer to a cigarette than to dark chocolate—they are finally free to make an adult choice from a place of clarity.

And clarity, as it turns out, is very good for your health.

Practical Steps for Those Reconsidering Drinking

If you’re curious about reducing or eliminating alcohol, a few simple experiments can be revealing.

• Pay attention to how you feel the day after drinking. Notice your sleep, your energy, your mood, and your mental clarity at work. These subtle costs are often easy to overlook.
• Consider what you’re really seeking. Is it connection, relaxation, or celebration? Once you identify the true need, you can often meet it in healthier ways.
• Explore alcohol-free alternatives. You can still participate fully in dinners, toasts, and celebrations without consuming a toxin.
• And finally, try a month without alcohol. Many people are surprised by improvements in sleep, energy, and mental clarity they didn’t expect.
• For readers interested in going deeper, The Easy Way to Stop Drinking by Allen Carr offers a reframing of alcohol that many find freeing—even if they’re not sure they want to quit entirely.