Can alcohol trigger MS symptoms or even an MS flare? Is there a safe amount to drink? Is one alcohol better than another? These questions may be popping up this holiday season when you tend to be around alcohol more often. So do you sip or skip a holiday beverage? Today's episode isn't just your generic talk about moderation. That's important, but we've already heard that message. Today, I'm sharing research, recommendations, and even some personal stories so you can make an informed decision that works best for you and your health this holiday season. And my fellow Multiple Sclerosis sisters, if you want a more personalized approach to creating your MS diet and lifestyle, check out my private coaching program. It includes a comprehensive assessment, personalized strategies, and lifestyle support. Each month, I only accept three new clients.

So if you're interested, apply now at Alenebrennan.com/coach. Now onto today's episode. There are 1 million people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the US. So that makes you one in a million. And you have a special purpose in this world that no diagnosis can take away from you. So if you are ready to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis, welcome to my MS podcast. I'm your host, Alene Brennan. I have to admit, when I was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, it never really crossed my mind that alcohol could impact MS. My attention immediately went to food and supplements and managing stress and exercise. It didn't think about alcohol. And maybe it's because I didn't want to create yet another restriction in my life because I have MS.

And I'll be honest, I like an occasional glass of wine, a good margarita, or even on a super rare occasion, a lychee teeny. Yes, please, with some good sushi, I am all about it. But the longer I live with MS and I see firsthand all the ways my everyday choices have a direct impact on how I feel, alcohol does start to lose its appeal. But I still want the option to have a drink if I'm out for a date night, a girl's night out, or a holiday party. I think back to how I felt when I was first trying to understand migraines and managing them. I've shared before that I got debilitating migraines since childhood. So when I got of the age where I started to drink, I very quickly realized that alcohol was a big migraine trigger for me.

And that was a painful lesson to learn. But let me tell you, it was also one of the fastest lessons I learned because the connection was undeniable. Literally one or two drinks could trigger a migraine attack. And that's not easy when you're going through college. I would limit my intake because I didn't want to spend the entire week in a dark room, which let's be honest, there's no such thing as a dark, quiet room when you're living in a college dorm. That's the last place you want to be with a migraine. Plus, I didn't want to have to be missing classes, falling behind in assignments, or even going to the hospital because that would happen too. And again, this is just from one or two drinks. It would drive me nuts.

But it wasn't worth it to me. So I eventually figured out that there were certain alcohols that would affect me more from a migraine perspective than others. I really started to understand that like red wine and beer, they were hard no-go for me, but white wine and some cocktails. I was good with them. I mean, in moderation, but I was able to have them. And that's what I wanted from an MS perspective. I wanted to know, are there certain alcohols that are going to affect me more so than the others? And what is my tolerance, so to speak, not from a migraine perspective, but from an MS perspective? Because the stakes feel so much higher when it comes to MS. I feel like MS is like this beast that I don't want to wake, right?

It's like, we just want to keep it sleeping. Do not wake up, please. Shh. That's what my daughter says all the time. If she sees somebody's eyes closed, whether it's in person or a picture, she'll look over, she'll go, shh, sleepy. That's what I want MS to do. Shh, sleepy. Don't wake up. And if alcohol has the potential to wake MS, I'm not interested until the holiday party rolls around and I want to enjoy a glass of wine. So what's the deal? What's the deal? Does alcohol affect MS? Is it okay to have a moderation? Or does it have the potential to trigger a new symptom or a flare? Let me put it out there. I am not a doctor, nor am I an expert in alcohol.

But what I'm sharing with you today is my own personal research. So take it for what it's worth. I hope it resonates. Leave what doesn't. Take what does. But I want to share with you because as your fellow MS sister, I'm willing to bet that these are some of the things that are on your mind as well. Because let's keep it real. Like we want to manage our health. We want to do everything in our power to keep this disease from progressing. but we also want to enjoy life. And I'm not saying that to enjoy life, you have to have alcohol as part of it. That's not the case at all. But if that’s something that you want to enjoy on occasion, I want to give myself that freedom.

I’ll say that. I want to give myself that freedom to have the option if and when I choose to have a drink. I just want to know if I’m doing it safely and that I’m not unknowingly causing any further damage from a health perspective. So is there a link between alcohol and multiple sclerosis? And how exactly does alcohol affect MS? Well, here’s a shocker. The relationship between alcohol and multiple sclerosis isn’t fully understood. What is understood about MS? I feel like living with multiple sclerosis can feel like one big mystery box. You never know what's inside until you open it up. So, some research suggests that alcohol can temporarily worsen symptoms, while other studies suggest alcohol can actually calm an overactive immune system, potentially easing certain aspects of MS.

I read that. I'm like, what? Alcohol can ease certain aspects of MS? Well, apparently out of 30 papers published between 1983 and 2016, results of alcohol and MS were either inconclusive or inconsistent. Basically, some showed positive associations while others showed negative associations. So I'm going to do a quick rundown of their pros and cons list. And then I want to share with you my own personal take on it, as well as what the Walsh Protocol says about it, alcohol. First, let's go into this pros and cons list. Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Personally, I always want the bad news first. I like ending on a high note. So let's start there. What are some potential concerns that alcohol can raise with MS?

First, research suggests that one drink could temporarily worsen symptoms, specifically coordination and balance issues. And thinking about it, I mean, it makes sense. Alcohol can throw off your balance, MS or not. So if that's something you're already prone to, alcohol could only heighten that. And then when I think about that of like, okay, what are some of the symptoms that I already experienced that could also be heightened from alcohol? And personally, I think of being tired, and not as mentally sharp when you drink. And that's definitely something that we're already all too familiar with when it comes to MS. Hello, MS brain fog and fatigue. Like, hello. So if alcohol can only make that worse. I don't know.

It just kind of loses its appeal because it seems like that's, I want to do things that are going to help alleviate symptoms for me. I don't want something that's going to pull me down even further. That said, I try to focus on the upside of things. I'm not restricting myself from having a glass of wine. I'm choosing not to drink. That feels very different. When I say I'm choosing not to drink because I know that these decisions add up and they're, again, they're either keeping me fatigued or they're helping me to get out of the fatigue. So I want to choose things that are stacking the odds in my favor. And obviously this is going to be more relevant based on how I'm feeling at that moment.

So if I've been, again, experiencing a lot of fatigue recently, I'm not going to be as excited to have a glass of wine. But then if I have been feeling well, like from an energy perspective, digestion perspective, migraine perspective, just all of it, if I've been feeling good in my body, I'm going to have a little bit more confidence having that glass of wine. I say wine, like that just tends to be my go-to. The other thing is that alcohol can also increase urinary frequency and urgency. Again, MS or not, but this is something that we are often all too familiar with from an MS perspective. We're constantly running to the bathroom. We don't need anything that's going to instigate that any further.

So, I think of what are some of your existing symptoms that you deal with because of MS? And are they ones that could also be associated with alcohol? So to me, that's the connection that I'm starting to put together. Like if I know that urinary frequency and urgency is something I'm already dealing with, and I know that that's something that alcohol can only heighten, well, it makes sense then that that's going to increase that symptom. Same again with brain fog, fatigue, balance, coordination, like all of the things. And then when you think about combining some of those symptoms together, like if you're dealing with fatigue, balance, and urinary frequency, and then you're having alcohol, that feels like a recipe for disaster.

Because imagine having to make a mad dash to the bathroom when your coordination isn't on point and you're just not feeling as mentally sharp. Maybe you're experiencing more fatigue because of the alcohol and oftentimes weakness comes with the fatigue. It's just not setting you up for success. And then aside from the physical symptoms, there's the emotional aspect of it. And that's just as real. Alcohol and MS affect your mood. And for some people, alcohol can make you a little cheery, can make you feel a little bit more outgoing, socially, like in your social groove, whatever it is. But for other people, it can make you feel more depressed. And again, that's something that's all too common with the MS community already. Now, some of these symptoms or effects of alcohol can wear off as the alcohol wears off.

But I'll tell you from a nutrition perspective, I have to add in that alcohol can disrupt your gut microbiome, which I'll talk more about in a minute. But that's not always a temporary thing that is automatically corrected when the alcohol wears off. Depending upon how much alcohol you're having and how frequently you're drinking, that can add up and that makes it harder to correct. Okay, so those are the potential concerns. Again, none of the research is consistent or conclusive, but those were the potential concerns that were raised. Now let's look at the upside of things. What did they find as the pros to drinking alcohol? The first, this one might blow your mind because it did for me. Some research suggests that alcohol could potentially suppress the immune response and actually relieve MS symptoms.

Talk about a nice alternative to DMTs. All cheers to that. I mean, could you imagine if your medicine was a glass of wine every night? Yes, please. But of course, there's a catch because there's always a catch with something that's that good. They discovered that while regular alcohol intake can suppress one aspect of your immune system, it can increase another aspect. So as nice as it sounds, it's not exactly a recommendation that I am betting on to manage my diagnosis. The next theory, neuroprotection. Apparently, there's a theory out there that alcohol can offer some neuroprotection. When I first read this, I'm like, really? Because I always thought that alcohol kills brain cells. That's not quite my definition of neuroprotection. Nonetheless, researchers looked into red wine for potential neuroprotective effects.

Maybe that was the reason why, because I don't drink red wine because of migraines. So maybe that's why I've been missing out on this. Anyway, apparently they found that people who consumed three glasses of red wine per week appeared to have lower levels of neurological disability than those who consumed no alcohol. So three glasses of wine per week appeared to have lower neurological disability. However, again, there's a catch. MRI scans also showed that those who drank red wine had a higher volume of high-intensity lesions than those who did not drink red wine. So the more I read, the more I realized they have absolutely no idea how much alcohol impacts MS. So for what it's worth, here's my take from a nutrition coach perspective as somebody who is living with MS and enjoys an occasional beverage.

Here's the reality. We know that alcohol isn't contributing to our health in any way. The question is, how can we minimize the negative impacts? And when I think of the negative impacts, I think of three specific things. First, the impact that alcohol has on my blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels are something that I really focus on personally, but also in my coaching program to make sure that you are keeping them as stable as possible because unbalanced blood sugar levels can increase inflammation. And that's the opposite of what we want. MS is an inflammatory condition. We want to minimize inflammation in our body. And one of the ways that we do that is by supporting our body's balanced blood sugar levels. So, blood sugar levels are definitely one thing that I think about.

The other is the hit that my liver takes when it comes to drinking alcohol, because our liver is our biggest detoxification organ. And it already carries a heavy load because of all of the toxins that we are naturally exposed to on a daily basis. And alcohol is only taxing it more. And then the third thing I think of in terms of alcohol impacting my health is the impact that it's going to have on my gut. We work so hard, so hard to optimize gut health because we know that it is very closely connected to the health of our overall body and specifically brain health. Well, alcohol isn't doing our gut any favors. It can encourage the bad bacteria to grow, which has a domino effect on the rest of our health.

So how do I address these? Again, first, the blood sugar levels. I try to eat something when I'm having a beverage and something specifically that has either fat and/ or protein with it, because that's going to support more balanced blood sugar levels. And it can also help slow down the absorption of alcohol. So if you're having a drink, it's ideal to have something to eat with it. Again, specifically some fat or protein. And please keep in mind that these are general thoughts. These are not personalized recommendations. So you need to filter this information through your own personal health needs. But the other thing I mentioned, the impact on your liver. So to help address this, I might have a little lemon water the day. Before a holiday party, the day of, and even the day after.

Or I just might make it a daily habit. That was one that I learned during my yoga teacher training as part of the Ayurvedic practices. Having a warm glass of lemon water when you first wake up in the morning, it really helps to support your liver. And also having some citrus in your water can really help to boost hydration. So there's a lot of benefits that you get from a cellular perspective, but from a detoxification process when you have some lemon in your water there. And then the other thing, the gut health, I mentioned that the health of the gut microbiome, I guess two things come to mind here. First is I'm not trying to add insult on top of injury.

And if I know that alcohol is already compromising my gut health, I'm going to try to be mindful of minimizing any other hits or impact on it. So I say this in the context of like, if I'm having a glass of alcohol, I'm going to try not to have a dessert. I'm not a big, I used to be a big dessert person. I used to be a very big dessert person, but that just kind of has like faded over the years, I guess because the more I've changed my diet, the less cravings for sugar I have, which is a really nice thing. But that said, these aren't like rigid rules. That I'm perfectly following every single day because it was just Thanksgiving and I had two glasses of wine and a slice of allergy-friendly pumpkin pie.

So is this something that I am like super rigid about? No. But do I have that on a regular basis? No, that happens literally maybe two or three times a year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and I don't know what the other one is. And then the other thing from a gut health perspective is I really do try to eat well when I'm at home during the holiday season or just when I'm at home in general. If I have everything in my control in my kitchen and I can choose the best quality oils and load up on the veggies and have good quality fats and high quality protein and get the most nutrient-dense meals when I'm in the comfort of my own home, I'm going to do that.

And that way, that feels like I have a little bit of wiggle room when I am out at a holiday party, not to say that I'm like indulging in anything that has gluten or dairy in it. Again, those are hard no's for me, but it does make me feel like I have a little bit more of an allowance, so to speak, for a glass of alcohol. Now, I personally don't go beyond two glasses, and that's more from like a migraine perspective or even a fatigue perspective. I know if I have more than two glasses, I'm going to wake up the next morning feeling like garbage and I'll be annoyed. I really enjoy my morning time and it annoys me if I wake up and I'm not feeling well, specifically because I had alcohol the night before.

And the way I look at it, I'm like, just have one drink because you still get the benefit of like enjoying the wine or whatever it may be. But you don't have to wake up the next morning feeling like garbage. So that's how I really try to keep it in context. Like, how am I feeling overall? And it can feel like every day I'm putting a new puzzle together when it comes to choosing my food and beverages. I have a general framework. I don't compromise on gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, or eggs. The nuts are because of migraines. The soy and the eggs are hard allergies for me. And the gluten and dairy we know are highly inflammatory to the gut. And many believe that having them in the diet can increase your chances of leaky gut.

It's believed that that can be the first trigger for the autoimmune response. Again, that's my general framework. No gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, or eggs. But the rest of my decisions, like if I have a glass of alcohol or if I have a dessert, that's based on more how I've been feeling and also how much stress I'm currently under. If I'm experiencing a lot of fatigue, I'm going to keep things as clean as possible. I'll pass on a cocktail. I'll maybe get one drink and I'll nurse it the whole night and I'll have more water than I have alcohol. That's just what feels right to me. This whole process of being diagnosed, it started with migraines, but certainly got heightened with MS.

The more I started to understand my health or my body going through all these different health conditions, the more I started to listen in. I wanted to hear the whispers of my body, what it was telling me when it was whispering. I didn't want my body to have to get out a megaphone to scream at me. So in many aspects, this whole journey has really allowed me to become so much more connected with my body and to really understand it better and make decisions based on that. So it's not because this person said, 'I should' or shouldn't', or it was on this no list or yes list. Like I'm making the decisions based on how I feel in my body at that time. And that will change over time.

So if I feel like I'm doing good, then I'm going to have a glass of wine. I'm going to keep it in check by like not going overboard. But if I'm not feeling good for whatever reason, I'm not going to add insult on top of injury. Okay, now let's take a look at what the WALS protocol says about alcohol. The recommendations depend upon which level you're following. If you're following level one, you can have non-grain based alcohol like wine, preferably organic, which by the way, I have a link for over on the blog post for this podcast episode. If you didn't know, I have a blog post for every podcast episode. Over on Alenebrennan. com. So if you feel like you want something to reference afterwards, just kind of like have a refresher of the things that we covered in any episode, you can check that out.

Any links for anything that you mentioned are over there. And then in the comment section, that's where we keep the conversation going. So that's where we add your recommendations and all kinds of good things. So that's my little plug to head on over to Alenebrennan. com/blog to check out the blog post for each podcast episode. But again, I mentioned in the context of this because for level one, Dr. Wahls is recommending non-grain based alcohol, including a wine, preferably organic. And I have that link over there. She also said gluten-free beer was good, so but not to have more than one serving per day. For level two, again, non-grain based spirits such as rum, wine, gluten-free beer are allowed, but Dr. Wahls recommends not consuming it daily.

She says women should have no more than one small glass of wine or beer or one shot of spirits, no more than a few times a week. So that felt really long and complicated. Women, no more than one glass and no more than a few times a week. And to me, I look at that as like two to three times. Men should have no more than two small glasses. Level three, Dr. Wahls says, I prefer you completely eliminate alcohol at this stage, or at least reserve it for the very special occasion. If you do have a drink, choose a low-carb drink like vodka or a very dry wine. The main reason to minimize alcohol is that your body will metabolize the calories in the alcohol first before any other energy sources, including fat.

And then she also mentions the hit that your liver takes. And I mentioned that earlier, your liver has to work so hard to process alcohol and you don't want to tax your liver unnecessarily when you're already trying to heal. Okay, the last thing I want to mention here, because this is a biggie for the MS community, I hear it from you guys all the time, is the impact that alcohol has on sleep. And I say, I hear from you guys all the time because sleep is something that I hear so many people struggling with, struggling to fall asleep and struggling to stay asleep. And there's such a temptation to have a glass of wine or a beverage at the end of the night, thinking that it helps you to relax and unwind at the end of the day, especially the busy holiday season. But alcohol can interfere with your sleep. It can increase your chances of waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble falling back asleep.

This can improve your quality of sleep, so you're not waking up better rested the next day. It's disrupting your sleep, increasing your chances of waking up and increasing your chances of struggling to fall back asleep. So that's just another thing to keep in mind from an alcohol perspective. How's your quality of sleep? And if that's something that you're really struggling with right now, maybe it's not the best season to be having more alcohol. But I'm sharing these things, not to be the Grinch who's trying to take away your alcohol, anything, but I'm trying to help you understand the impact of it so that you can make the decision that works best for you. Cause it's going to be different for each of us clearly because research does not have any conclusive or consistent findings about the connection between alcohol and MS.

So that's where I look at it again, from a nutrition perspective like what's the effect that it's from a gut health perspective, from a blood sugar level perspective, and from a liver perspective? How can we kind of address some of those? So just a quick recap, I talked about from a blood sugar perspective, pairing it with some fat or protein. To support your liver, sip on a cup of lemon water. And then from a gut health perspective, support your gut when you're at home during the holiday season and throughout the year with lots of good fibrous veggies. And if you're going to have a drink, according to the Walsh Protocol, your best options are non-grain-based spirits such as rum, wine, and gluten-free beer. Okay, my friends, there we have it.

I hope this was helpful for you in understanding the connection or maybe lack thereof of alcohol and MS. I hope it armed you with information so that you can decide what works best for you. And if you do choose to drink alcohol, which the best options may be for you and how you can best support your body to minimize any negative impacts on it. As I said earlier, head over to Alenebrennan. com/blog so we can keep the conversation going. Share over there what works well for you with managing your health if you choose to have a beverage. Or if you're skipping the alcohol, what are your favorite mocktails? Let's get a good conversation going. Alenebrennan. com/ blog. Well, my friend, we've reached the end of this episode. Pick one lesson from today's discussion and put it into action now. It's time to reclaim your body, mind and life from multiple sclerosis. And for more resources, events and programs, head over to Alenebrennan. com. See you on the next episode of my MS podcast.