Inflammation can affect your life in many ways, such as swelling, joint pain, and fatigue. When you’re experiencing inflammation, it’s common to wonder about what might be causing it or making it worse.
One of the possible links is alcohol and inflammation. When you drink alcohol, it can cause an inflammatory response or worsen inflammatory conditions like arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), so it’s an important aspect to consider.
Keep reading as we dive further into the question “Does alcohol cause inflammation?” reviewing the alcohol inflammatory response, its effects on the body, and resources that can help when inflammation or alcohol use are becoming hard to control.
Understanding Inflammation
Before we review the connection of alcohol and inflammation, let’s start with the basics of inflammation and why it happens.
What Is Inflammation?
Inflammation is your body’s natural response to irritants. It can occur because of things like injuries, illnesses, germs, or toxic chemicals that require healing or removal from the body.
When you get injured or something bad enters your body, your immune system triggers inflammation to trap the germs or toxins in one place and begin the healing process.
While this is a natural and healthy response from your body, it can cause pain or swelling in the process that becomes uncomfortable. Having inflammation too often can also be harmful since it can damage healthy cells, tissues, and organs when affected parts of the body are constantly having to heal.
Acute vs. Chronic Inflammation
There are generally two types of inflammation you’ll hear about the most: acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation happens when your body suddenly has an inflammatory response that resolves within a short timeframe. This can happen when you experience a sudden injury like a cut on your arm or suddenly get sick with an illness like the flu.
Chronic inflammation happens when your body continues having inflammatory responses even when there is no danger or healing necessary. This can happen with chronic conditions like IBS or after the body has sustained consistent damage.
For example, studies link chronic inflammation to alcohol abuse. Continuously having to remove large amounts of toxins from alcohol will stress the body’s immune system over time and disrupt its natural processes, leading to consistent inflammation.
How Alcohol Triggers Inflammation
Drinking any amount of alcohol can cause inflammation as the body processes it and removes it from your system.
When you drink small amounts of alcohol, such as having 1-2 drinks in a sitting, the liver will work to break it down, releasing chemicals called acetaldehyde and acetate in the process. Both of those chemicals are known to cause inflammation and can damage organs like the liver when you drink alcohol too often.
After having more than 2 drinks in a sitting, the body switches to the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS) to keep breaking down alcohol. The MEOS is a different pathway in the liver that’s more capable of breaking down high amounts of toxins.
However, that pathway releases free radicals as it breaks down alcohol that can cause inflammation and damage cells and tissue. These effects become worse when someone regularly drinks high amounts of alcohol.
Alcohol’s Role in Chronic Inflammatory Conditions
The effects of alcohol on the immune system and inflammatory responses can worsen common conditions, such as:
Joint Pain and Arthritis
Alcohol and joint pain are both associated with inflammation. It’s common to have an inflammatory response around irritated joints that need healing or have swelling and inflammation that cause joint pain.
Drinking alcohol, especially in high amounts, can worsen those effects. Since alcohol can cause inflammation throughout the body, it can lead to more inflammation around affected joints and increase the pain you’re experiencing.
Alcohol can also have similar effects for conditions like arthritis that cause inflammation, swelling, and joint pain.
Digestive Disorders
Research shows that alcohol can induce inflammation in the digestive tract.
More inflammation in the digestive tract can worsen conditions like IBS and leaky gut that cause inflammation on their own.
Additionally, a study from the Journal of Alcohol stated that alcohol may increase intestinal permeability, which is the body’s ability to control what passes from the gut to the bloodstream. That effect can worsen the effects of conditions like leaky gut.
Skin Conditions
A study from the Journal of Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology found that inflammatory responses from alcohol consumption can worsen or increase the risk of many skin conditions, including:
- Acne
- Rosacea
- Psoriasis
- Atopic dermatitis
- Skin cancer
The study found that alcohol’s effects on the skin were highest with excessive drinking or ongoing heavy alcohol use. Plus, the research mentioned other long-term health effects of alcohol abuse, such as liver damage and gut damage that can lead to worsening effects on the skin and your overall health.
Getting treatment for alcohol addiction that’s causing adverse health effects is crucial to prevent further damage to the body. Chronic inflammation and drinking are connected, so it’s not something to take lightly.
How Much is Too Much?
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines heavy drinking as:
- 4 or more drinks in a single day or 8 or more in a week for women
- 5 or more drinks in a single day or 15 or more in a week for men
Typically, staying well under those numbers is a good idea for health and well-being.
It’s also important to consider individual responses to alcohol and any health conditions you have. For example, someone with IBS or arthritis may want to limit drinking further to prevent additional inflammation building up in the body.
Signs That Drinking is Becoming a Problem
Frequent heavy drinking that’s hard to control can be a sign of alcohol addiction, especially when it’s resulting in health effects like chronic inflammation or organ and tissue damage.
Some other common signs to look for include:
- Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking
- Worsening performance at work or school
- Having relationship, financial, or legal problems because of drinking
- Feeling like you can’t stop thinking about alcohol
- Worsening physical appearance, such as poor hygiene
- Making excuses to drink more often
- Hiding alcohol around the house
Many resources are available that can help when you’re experiencing these signs or having alcohol use affect your health. Seeking alcohol addiction treatment at a rehab center is a great place to start.
Reducing Inflammation: What You Can Do
There are several strategies to reduce inflammation in the body, including:
- Cutting back or stopping drinking: When alcohol is a primary cause, cutting back your alcohol use or stopping entirely will make a difference. Having trouble quitting can be a sign of addiction, so assessing your relationship with alcohol is important if that’s the case.
- Dietary changes: Eating anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens or whole grains can help. Additionally, reducing your intake of processed foods like white bread or sugary drinks is a good idea.
- Manage stress: Studies show that stress can increase inflammation. Some ways you can reduce stress include deep breathing, spending time in nature, or developing a better work-life balance.
- Talking to your doctor about health conditions: Your doctor may be able to prescribe medications or provide you with strategies to manage chronic conditions like arthritis or IBS that cause inflammation.
A well-rounded rehab program for alcohol addiction can also help with these elements when you’re experiencing inflammation related to alcohol use.
How Genesis Health Supports Recovery
Genesis Health is a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center that can help when alcohol use is getting out of control and contributing to health effects like chronic inflammation.
Our inpatient and outpatient treatment programs are tailored to fit your needs, including multiple forms of therapy, dietary coaching, stress management, and monitoring your health during detox to ensure safe and effective care.
If you or a loved one is experiencing chronic inflammation or worse health effects because of drinking, it’s not too late to do something about it. Our team at Genesis House can help you find strategies for success.
Contact us today to learn more about our treatment options.
References
- Tharmalingam, Jayaraman, et al. “Impact of Alcohol on Inflammation, Immunity, Infections, and Extracellular Vesicles in Pathogenesis.” Cureus, vol. 16, no. 3, 25 Mar. 2024, doi:10.7759/cureus.56923. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11043057/
- Setshedi, Mashiko, et al. “Acetaldehyde Adducts in Alcoholic Liver Disease.” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, vol. 3, no. 3, 2010, pp. 178–185, doi:10.4161/oxim.3.3.3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2952076/
- Jiang, Yanchao, et al. “Alcohol Metabolizing Enzymes, Microsomal Ethanol Oxidizing System, Cytochrome P450 2E1, Catalase, and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease.” Biomedicines, vol. 8, no. 3, 4 Mar. 2020, p. 50, doi:10.3390/biomedicines8030050. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7148483/
- Faraz Bishehsari, et al. “Alcohol and Gut-Derived Inflammation.” Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, vol. 38, no. 2, 2017, p. 163, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5513683/
- Purohit, Vishnudutt, et al. “Alcohol, Intestinal Bacterial Growth, Intestinal Permeability to Endotoxin, and Medical Consequences.” Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), vol. 42, no. 5, 1 Aug. 2008, pp. 349–361, doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2008.03.131. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2614138/
- Liu, Lin, and Jin Chen. “Advances in Relationship between Alcohol Consumption and Skin Diseases.” Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, vol. Volume 16, 1 Dec. 2023, pp. 3785–3791, doi:10.2147/ccid.s443128. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10759914/
- “The Basics: Defining How Much Alcohol Is Too Much | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).” https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/health-professionals-communities/core-resource-on-alcohol/basics-defining-how-much-alcohol-too-much#pub-toc4
- Liu, Yun-Zi, et al. “Inflammation: The Common Pathway of Stress-Related Diseases.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 11, no. 316, 20 June 2017, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00316. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5476783/
