Can Alcohol Ever Be Healthy? | Booze Myths vs. Science | Ep. 143

For years, people have said red wine is good for your heart or that booze in moderation can be healthy… but is any of that actually true?

In this episode of Arsenic Culture, Matt, Jason, and Kendra dig into the science (and the BS) around alcohol and health. From old studies that claimed wine could extend your life, to the rise of “functional” cocktails and low-ABV wellness drinks, we’re breaking down whether there’s really such a thing as a healthy buzz.

Do you think alcohol can ever be healthy or is it all just marketing spin?


#HealthyAlcohol #BoozeCulture #ArsenicCulture

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Transcript

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If You look at like those like the Poppi sodas? those are actually, I think it's prebiotic or probiotic packs include my favorite flavor, which is the orange, orange cream. That's good. That's good with good one. See? There we go. go. Welcome back to Arsenic culture. I'm Matt. I'm Jason. I'm Kendra. And uh, do any of you all have any fun relatable anecdotes we could use to tie into our current topic? of the day? Sure. Well when I bought, when you bought this shirt for me, our, one of our Oh yeah. I, I, you walked in with it. I didn't even you were the arsenic I couldn't fit in the damn thing 'cause it's midsized a right. that's one of your designs Looks I've lost like three pounds now I'm squeezing it. Yeah. That's hilarious. I didn't even realize you had on. So we actually paid an artist to, uh, do some designs for some from apparel. And life is busy. So I haven't been able to like put 'em online and sell 'em, but that's my favorite one. agree. that one is badass. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're, you're welcome. Just took me like a year to wear it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, uh, I have a, uh, uh, a little story today that I was driving around, I photograph houses for a living and um, I was in the middle of the day. I got kind of hungry, so I went to a gas station and usually the options to eat something quick and healthy are quite limited Like a beef jerky or a protein bar. Yeah, exactly. Or hard boiled or like a 12 day old hot dog. Yeah. roller dog. So what I, yeah, exactly. What I'll usually do is I'll get some beef jerky, um, but then I'll just grab like a bag of chips or something like that because I'm hungry and they're there. Um, we just did, last time we recorded, do you remember we were talking about chips and grip os or no, no, no, no, no, no, last time. We, we did some a while We did the Michigan barbecue. yeah. which were great. And I just edited that quick shot, uh, to put out and I was like. We kept talking about chips. I was like, man, I really want some chips. So when I was in the gas station, I was like, I want to get, um, those voodoo, uh, razor Grips or I thought they were GPOs or something else. They're not, they're, uh, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. think of the name brand in a minute. But, um, so I couldn't find'em there, but they did have a grippo that was, um, a suite. Hot honey. And I was like, Ooh, Oh, I've not seen that Yeah, I hadn't either. So I bought those and as I was walking out, I saw a bag of lays that was kettle cooked, um, nacho cheese. I was like, Ooh, those look good too. So I got Two bags of chips. two bags of bags of chips. bags of chips. They're small bags, but I did get two of em. Um, and then I got my beef drink like I normally get. So I ate those those. were very healthy So It was probably like a to 1500 calories and per bot, 0% protein, uh, value. fat, all the saturated fat Uh uh, I don't know if you can eat so much sodium that it turns into protein at some point. That's what I was going for. Uh, but so then I, after I finished work and I went to the gym real quick and I thought I was like, I was so tired and exhausted. I felt like I was just like bleeding outta my pores. was probably The sodium, Probably the sodium. it was the combination. It had to been a combination of Muscles all swell up. Well, I couldn't even move my muscles. I mean, did like half sets on everything. Um, I was fatigued. Uh, again, I felt like I was just like sweating body fat, um, because the fat in those was really high too. Uh, but you don't think about how bad stuff is for you and then how it makes you feel. Um, so that's really sparked a, a movement is this whole, um um. Functional, functional foods, functional beverages, and everybody's getting in on it. Basically, health, food health at Like those, like the poppy sodas, those are actually, I think it's prebiotic or probiotic, whatever. They're very, very good. They're like two 50 a can though it's a little pricey. 12 ounce can, but if a convenience store grab and go, well, they, they got the probiotics in it. They're low in sugar. It's only 35 calories and they taste good. Costco. Um, sells them like in 12 and they include their new, uh, packs include my favorite flavor, which is the orange, orange cream. a good That's vodka. See? There we go. Um, so that actually kind of leads us into our point is there's so much, um, there's, there's so much, uh, creation, um, innovation on the functional beverage and functional food front. Like can alcohol be. Healthy. Yeah. And there's been talk about it in the past and I would love for it to be true. But is it, I think part of it is, you know what maybe could do is probably extend your life that way. You would never die. say die. No, never say die. say die. we're gonna, we're gonna start a game to where we never actually say die, but uh. Yeah, we need to, we need to pour some of this in, in a vessel and drink We can do it never say die the only bourbon That's good for you. That's not true. Don't, don't, don't take that. Uh, I'll Cut that. out yeah, yeah. Uh, but our sponsor. Never say die. Bourbon Great stuff. You can find out a liquor store near you. Think, uh, never say die for sponsoring us. Um, and it's good stuff. It is. Sorry mom, I almost said the S word. So. Uh, but yeah. So tell us about, um, give, give us a little history on what you know about like, Yeah, so I did a little research on this one. So, you know, my background personally, professionally is, is in a little bit in the medical profession. Not, not, I'm not a doctor or anything, but, uh, I do play one on this show. MTVI did say at a Holiday I did say Holiday Express last I think. So, you know, looking at like the Mayo Clinic, which is a pretty, I would say, renowned source, right? Right. So. They're saying that drinking in any amount, any amount of alcohol, does carry a health risk, right? But risk is low for moderate intake. And of course the risk goes up the more you take. That sounded good to me. I was like, okay, I think, I think I'm a moderate can behind that, yeah, I might drink a lot on occasion, moderately, you know? But then I looked up what moderate was and I was a little concerned. So moderate for Kendra would be one drink. Moderate for me or Matt would be up to two drinks two drinks. Up to two drinks. up to two drinks. That's really It's a sad. It made me Yeah. Yeah. It also made me remember though, beers, if beers don't count, then we're good. Yeah. long as beer don't count, then we're good. Yeah. is just water. Mm-hmm. So I think what you look at there from that source is, you know, anything in moderation can be okay. Right? So anything like that. Then you go dig a little further. then I went down the WebMD hole. Which, gets uh, then you had, you found out you had cancer. I I did I did looking I don't know what even looking for WebMD you might have cancer. So there's all kinds of things on that and we'll get into in a minute. But what do you all think? I mean, what do you think personal experience about alcohol? I saw that study, Mm-hmm um. I actually saw a more recent study done by the WHOO, I think the World Health Mm-hmm that more or less band? The who? Either way. Yeah. Or the, or the band. They definitely know all alcohol. Um, it had taken that study. And essentially said they were wrong. So even in moderation, I think the new data says that any amount of alcohol can have health risks and risks to, um, longevity of You can find like good arguments for both sides, though that alcohol's okay or bad. I feel like throughout history it of goes back and forth. agree with you. Like the, the most recent one from the WHO is pretty, um, it, it kind of made the rounds now because it was, I mean, it was a blanket like, do not drink or you will die it I lie, I saw it online, but I just excluded it 'cause I didn't, that's the thing, and I think we as adults usually are just kind of like. My grandparents drank my parents drank, and they lived full lives, which most people do. But it goes back to what you said. I think anything in moderation is fine. Our bodies are built to kind of filter out a lot of the bad parts of that. Um, yeah, maybe it is not good for you in, in any amount, but I mean, as long as you're doing it responsibly, like moderate for us might only be eight drinks a day Could without any beer. I like you said though, like, so health wise, you know, maybe alcohol isn't good for you, but neither is sugar. know what I mean? So if you have an excessive amount of sugar, if I'm eating three pieces of cake every day. Is that worse than having one drink a day or, or say three drinks a day? I would say yes. I would say that is worse for you think so. I think so I mean, causes diabetes. I mean, I really do. You know when you looked at this, some of the WebMD stuff, again, not a source, I would say I trust everything but some of the things here, so it looks at balanced blood sugar. It was saying that actually, I guess alcohol did something to help balance your blood It didn't go into depth on it, so it's probably not accurate, it you a little bit of information The other thing I thought that was most interesting from them. Is it gets you more active. Um, most people had said that drink, like in moderation, go to the gym workout more. Mm-hmm. So I think I thought of that and I'm like, that makes sense.'cause if you go to the gym, you'll hear guys and girls and they're lifting, working out, concerned about their health, but also like, Hey, I went out last night and I had had a few drinks and my friends, or I'm going out this weekend, have a few drinks with my friends, whatever. Yeah. So I do think that's true. So I, I read, um, a study that said there are, uh, social benefits mm-hmm. And holistic, not holistic, but, um. Uh, health, if you mental health. drinking and again, in moderation, but it's like even if the alcohol itself might have this much of a negative impact on your actual body, you know, the mental benefits could actually bring it up again, unless you're an alcoholic and drinking until you're, your liver fails. But there was a, uh, really popular adage in the past that's kind kind of been a mainstay up until I think, the past few years, and it was red wine. It's good for you. You heard that? Oh Yeah, yeah. There is heard I think everybody's heard of that. there's a substance in it called Res Res resveratrol, resveratrol, and, um, bless you. Yeah, thank you. It's, uh, resveratrol. It's an antioxidant in grape skins. And the original study back in like the nineties, uh, said that by. Ingesting resveratrol. It actually will help prolong your life because it is um, it's an antioxidant. Then what they ended up finding is that the amounts in it are so trace that you probably have to drink like gallons and gallons of wine a day for it to actually amount to anything at which point you die of alcohol, Sounds like a challenge to Yeah, I was how healthy are we gonna get if we just drink all the wine? Good question. Solid very healthy. I think. I think we need to find out. Yeah. I think something else I remember, and not from anything I looked up this time, but I remember hearing this back several years ago looking at carcinogens. So when you look at like bourbon, where it's as in oak that's been charred, you know, to go in there. So it's saying that has like a trace of carcinogen and it makes sense. But that same, same thing. I remember reading was like wine could have some of that from those wine cask, but then also like barbecue, like having that smoker, you know, Yeah. I mean the burnt the burn ends. Yeah. Yeah. barbecue's great. Like I love barbecue, but I guess it makes sense. But again, I think it goes back to everything can be bad for you in excess or like everyday and addiction. But if you can balance things out, in my opinion, there are some benefits to it. all, uh, are you familiar with tonic water? Yes Yeah. Well very Are you drinking? tonic I normally drink tonic water. I'm not, right now, I drink like Topo Chico or something like that. I'll drink that. Yeah. So actual tonic, like the mixer. There's, Oh, I know what you're talking about. yeah. Yeah. Well, so people will use club soda and stuff. Kendra, you drink tonic water a lot with your vodka and lime? as your kind of like nightly drink of low calorie. Yeah. Whenever she has her one or eighth drink every single night. Tonic water. him if You want to You want Tonic water actually has, um, a history of being medicinal. That's how it got its name. tell me that. out why better. That's why it so great. Um, in colonial India, in the 19th century, British soldiers were given quinine. Quinine. Yeah. If you look at a bottle of tonic water, it says, contains quinine in it. I never knew what that. was is, um, well, the British soldiers in the 19th century were given quinine from the, sin the CIN bark, I guess is part of a tree. It prevents malaria. Okay. So, um, the, the substance was so bitter that they didn't want to eat it by itself or whatever, so they mixed it with sugar, lime, and soda water. That's what became tonic And then they just gave it this, uh, the, the name tonic because it was a tonic to keep them from getting malaria. you remember you looking back, you know, in, in, back, in our history, um, a lot of like alcohol and stuff. Hell either even opium back in the day. Mm-hmm. They were given to you as like a prescription. Right. It was, it even before prohibition, it here, take some of this, do this, do That You was considered medicinal. Yeah. tonic didn't actually have alcohol in it. But um, back then gin was really popular and tonic. They already had to add sugar and stuff to make it like palatable. So they just started mixing gin with it and that became the tonic.'cause the gin and tonic that was part of it. So that's actually, I didn't know they did. where it originated from. But it was considered to be like medicinal again. I don't think, uh, the amount of quinine in it is going to actually prevent anybody from getting malaria. That's what we have our. Uh, vaccines and stuff for, um, but that is actually a cool little piece of history. Um, but you look at all the other beverages, the functional beverages that we have now, do you remember a little beverage called Magic Mind? I do. We had 'em on the show. Do you remember this? was. it. purple green, green, little Shots those little green bottles I had in the house? They had for a while. Yeah, I had 'em for a while. Um, so they, these guys were very nice and they approached they gave us some, I think they approached a lot of people. didn't, did not care for They, they gave us some bottles and they wanted us to do a review on it. Um, we don't do paid We try to be unbiased in everything we do. So I told them, it was like, well, you can give it to us and we'll throw you a plug. I mean, we didn't have any sponsors. I don't really give a whatever. So they ended up giving us like a six pack or whatever, and we kind of give 'em a shout out. They gave us a few bucks, um, that is marketed as a functional beverages. It's got mushrooms in it. Uh, adaptogens. Uh adaptogens I remember this. Yeah. A lot of these things are supposed to, they're said to help you, like, give you like clarity of mind and help you relax. Also feel refreshed. Um, you tried some? Yeah. You tried some? did, yeah. I tried to shop. Do you remember it doing anything to you? No. No. I, don't think it did either. But it's also like, so I remember Costco had these things like, uh, they actually recalled these. I was, I was drinking 'em every day. It didn't make feel very safe, but it's like, it's like, a you how like Liquid iv, you get those little like, uh, tubes, like you just shake it in your water? They had these of like green stuff. I don't remember what it was called, but it was essentially that. So you would pour the packet in your water, shake it up. It'd be a little thicker. So think it was like those, remember those naked drinks you'll see like in the stores? Like squares. They'll be like yeah. And and it's smoothie kind of, yeah, That's what this make your water essentially, but it's like getting all your nutrients You said naked and I was like naked, naked, naked, naked. Naked naked. A neck. What that Eastern Kentucky access coming You know, he was naked. But anyway, uh, you did that. So it tasted like, okay, that actually tasted better than I remember. Magic shot. Sorry. Sorry. Magic shot. But yeah, I still, I felt a little better on that one until I realized, hey, it's probably not good for you. You got recall What did, what did you get recalled for? I think it was cancer. Oh my God. it Is it listed on WebMD like the Yeah. pretty sure like Costco took it out there. If it wasn't a Costco brand, it was some, you know, other brand they had in there. But yeah, that's Um, new tropic stuff. Probiotic stuff is really popular. Um, mushroom coffees and like mushroom tea. Not to get you Hi, uh, high or whatever day Dead concert. We're not gonna Yeah. Don't drink those. We'll do if you want to. You, you be those. are all really popular right now, but I'm sure they have true like, and that's the thing, do they actually work? And I think, um, everything that I've read, uh, almost universally, all the studies on them are like either nil or they're low. As in they, there's not enough evidence not enough evidence. They haven't, they haven't like, progressed far enough to find it a problem with a study like that too? Like you need such, such a vast amount of data to actually back it up or, you know, determine if it you really do. Um, thing you look at was dash. Damn, I just lost my hope. thought. Where were we talking about right there? Um, mushroom teas, uh, adaptogen yeah, one other thing I remember hearing, reading about too is like micro dosing, like with real mushrooms, yeah. like a I have friends that like grow own and try or something may, maybe acid's the wrong one, but there's a lot of microdosing you'll hear talk of on the web LSD or something, I think something like that. Yeah, it would give you, like do people microdose, LSDI don't remember, it's some hallucinogen and also mushrooms, something, but they would take just enough to like, I guess not really give you, get you wild like drunk or high, more of just change your frame of mind or you a little I think they're trying to find like inner peace or something. also trying to carry a buzz all day long, probably. You know what I mean? what I mean? When I hear microdosing, that's kind of exactly what I like go to. So you have a friend, I won't mention her name, but she's micro does for a long time. Does she still do that Yeah. that? She, yeah, she grows her own, uh, mushrooms does good. Yeah. Well, yeah, according to her, she does good. Mm-hmm. Well, mean, I know people, we both do that, you know, with marijuana and stuff, so THC, the gummies, whatever they need that it's their medicine and does need that too, like, yeah, Yeah And I mean, I, I stay on an even level, I know a people that honestly, like I can, I can confirm they need that. Our anxiety issue. he he Pierre does too. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't thinking of him, but yeah. You're Yeah. No, he'll, he'll go, he'll write up and tell you like there's a lot of people like that that are kind um, extolling the CIE of THC or even CBD like alternative medicine, right? So it's not hard on you, like if you're having pain or something, like you don't wanna take a Percocet or whatever, right? You're going to take, Hey, if I have a gummy, mean, in my opinion, that's a whole lot better you. right? Seriously. But I think that's why, um, a lot of these elements have been introduced into beverages specifically. Um, THC seltzers are, are a big thing. Um, there are CBD shelters also. are, yeah. um, which I've never seen that I have not tried those. never even seen them. Do do I've seen them, uh, I don't think I've seen 'em in Kentucky maybe when we first came out with 'em. Right. A lot of them now they'll have THC and CBD. But the THC that has it, like Delta eight, delta nine, which is like quarter molecule off THC. Yeah, Yeah. Um, but, uh, and then like the adaptogens and the mushrooms and stuff like that, nootropics, whatever that word means, it's really popular right now. Um, so whether they actually work or not, not a lot of evidence is out there. Um, so they may or may not, but probably, I feel like it's gimmicky at I feel all I agree with The only thing I read that has any sort of like benefit is caffeine. we've just been around forever, buddy. Every or forever. Everybody knows what caffeine does and it can be also very volatile in large amounts too. There's a guy that died from a caffeine overdose. Do you remember that story? I was telling you about Well, a lot of people did. I mean, a lot of people had heart issues from like four Locos and stuff like Yeah, yeah, And then you know people now point, but yeah, people now are just buying cases of Monster and just drinking, I mean, drinking three monsters, four monsters a day is probably not Who, who was the, uh, the football coach that you said was Oh, uh oh. Rin Ogre Ed? Ogre Was Gruden John? No, ed Ogre. Rin. He was Oh, ed Former former coach at LSU. Yeah. Yeah. yeah, He's like, yeah. I cut my, I cut my intake down from about 12 a day. About five or six. You know, he's got the monsters, No, for damn. Uh, red Bulls. Red Yeah. That's How many you drinking at your peak? At five? He's like 12, 12 to 15. Oh many are you drinking now? He goes, I'm, I'm down to like five to six days. insane. That's his of his job, he's gonna heart that's why his voice sounds like that. Oh is like raspy as be. bet you when he is like off of Red Bull, he's, he sounds like a little like woman, like a nice like a church lady. You know? you know. I could help your voice though is honey. So we've actually got a bottle of bourbon that finished in Honey Cast. So this is short barrel. The bee's knees double barrel toasted and it's bourbon whiskey finished in Honey cask. It is 112 proof. There's gotta be all kinds of health benefits with that a hundred percent, but what they have done with this one, actually on the side here, it tells you experimental releases and where this honey was, uh, sourced from, this is from Blackberry from Oregon. So the, the bees actually run like a Blackberry, I guess orchard what you'd call I'm actually cited, I've had this before. This is just the first time I'm opened We can We can, use some of these glasses. Okay. Okay So there are some brands that are here. Go ahead and just pour one for me too. I got one. Okay. There are some brands that are now experimenting with putting alcohol into some of these functional beverages. Straight up. Um, we go back to thanks. We go back to caffeine, which is. Uh, notoriously difficult because caffeine and alcohol just apparently don't mix. Um, we tried to get into trouble when we did our buck fast. Yeah. But, uh, um, we didn't have enough it. But the whole four Loco fiasco and, um, the way Buckfast is, uh, perceived and consumed over in the United Kingdom, it's very obvious that it is more or less a dangerous combination. Yeah. Excuse me. But now they're, um, we got like, um. Some hard seltzers that are, uh, incorporating some of these adaptogens into New tropics and, and other stuff like that. Do you remember a flying embers seltzer? I don't no. We've had it before. We tried it at like a somewhere and we're like, oh, this is great. Let's try to get more of it. We ended up buying a six pack, a sampler pack, and it had like spicy, um, habanero something or other. It was vaguely remember Yeah. It was a hard seltzer, but it was like a hard kombucha. it It was like a kombucha tea, but it had I think like six or seven or 8% alcohol in there was a lot of breweries, um, in the recent, say last five, seven years. Right. That started to come out with like a line of that they tried to make it work in the craft Hard kombucha. Yeah. But I don't think it ever really took off. Like there's a few of 'em still doing it, but not many. They didn't. So there's a brand called Amass Heart Seltzers. They do botanical blends with ingredients like Ashwaganda root, uh, Rishi mushrooms, lime man's mushrooms. Um, and then they put alcohol in it too. So here's the, here's the thing, like when you combine alcohol. With anything beneficial. The bottom line is, what usually happens is the alcohol ends up killing any of the benefits you get from, and it's usually just because of the way your body processes, processes and you know, reacts to alcohol. Um, you wanna become more restful. You wanna become clear of mind, oh great, let's throw a shot of vodka in there, undo all that shit. You know what I mean? I mean, just think about all the times that you've wanted to relax or something, and then you go have. You go out and you have a few drinks, it literally just does the opposite of whatever you want it to do. usually you don't get a great night's sleep either. If you drink too much, you got a little an like anxious, like you might wake up with like, my heart's beating fast. I'm kind of sweating. all Running job get like really hot. I gotta get O over covers, put the fan on me. You know all about it. Oh, I know, I think it's why a lot of you know younger people are going with the C, the THC and stuff like that, because you don't have that aspect. I get it. I mean, I guess we're just used to it, you We're just tougher. Yeah. Hell yeah. Probably. Or dumber. or dumber. Yeah. Well, it's funny 'cause our, our generation, we were tapping into our parents' liquor cabinets and drinking some outta their bottles, making little markers so we knew what fill back up with, with like water or like soda or something to like, make it look like it was back to the level Nowadays it's like we have alcohol and kids are just like, I don't My son's never got into mine.'cause I actually keep a, I'm watching, Yeah. But I, you be more apt the energy drinks and the Well, our nephew, we've even been like, you wanna try something? Let us know. And he's like, no, I'm good. I mean, I'm not saying I want to get drunk, but like for educational purposes, Yeah. I you think about growing controlled situation. of a beer, Yeah, exactly. Yeah. If you want to know what something tastes like, well, you know, I'll help you venture into it and we'll do it in a safe, controlled environment. No, I don't even want it. Like, okay, good. That's, that's good for you. So, um, I think the bottom line is that when you introduce, uh, anything healthy with anything alcohol, it just has a canceling effect. Um, not drinking is really popular and that's fine if that's you want to Mocktails, stuff like that, we did the whole episode. I think the moderation too, you I think price ridiculous, but, um, well, I think alcohol is fine and that we should carry on. We know our limits. agree. I would agree. about four a day. That that sounds modern. Mild to me. I don't know. I Well this a again, the mental health aspect social aspect, that's a real thing. That is a real thing done in clinical studies prevents kidney stones.'cause you gotta pee a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Let's just stop right there That's good. We're good. I have never had a kidney stone, so I'm I haven't either. Yeah. Yeah. You'd be a surprise them like how high my vitamin B complex levels are from all the, the beer don't count that I drink. So, but yeah, it actually does have, uh, mental health benefits. I'm not saying alcohol is good for you. Uh, it, it honestly can be bad for you and this is all stuff that people know, but if you try to make it healthy, honestly, you're not just everything in moderation, just like anything Correct. Correct. And don't listen to us for medical advice dude, you read like a whole article WebMD. Web Yeah. I read WebMD. I did three minutes of You're basically a doctor point. Yeah. Even though you found out you had cancer, which Yeah, Yeah, it a good run. know. Yeah. We had good time. Yeah. Yeah. are you gonna stop drinking Yeah, sure. No guys. you like this, then Please share it. Uh, for more Arsenic Culture. 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