If you thought having two beers in a day could be harmless, think again. Not only could any amount of alcohol be putting you at cancer risk and weakened immunity, it could also shrink your brain, causing volume loss equivalent to 10 years of aging. A new study reveals that even small amounts of alcohol could pose unexpected risks to cognitive health — and the findings are hard to ignore for anyone hoping to keep their brain from aging prematurely.
A 2022 study published in Nature Communications Journal took into account brain MRIs of 36,678 patients, stored in the UK Biobank – all middle-aged or older. The study participants included women that take three or more drinks on the average day, and men that take four or more. The University of Pennsylvania researchers found that merely one to two units of alcohol – beer or wine – a day shrunk overall brain volume and gray matter volumes.
The effects at lower levels of drinking were relatively minor — to put it into perspective, the researchers compared the brain volume loss to the natural decline that occurs with aging. According to their analysis, going from zero to one daily unit of alcohol (roughly half a beer) led to brain volume loss equivalent to about six months of aging.
People who had four or more units of alcohol a day showed even a greater brain volume loss – equivalent to a full 10 years of aging, as compared with abstainers. While this may sound a trivial amount, it can contribute massively to brain aging.
“There is some evidence that the effect of drinking on the brain is exponential,” said co-corresponding author Remi Daviet in 2022, now at the University of Wisconsin. “So, one additional drink in a day could have more of an impact than any of the previous drinks that day. That means that cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain aging.”
Other foods that age your brain
Alcohol isn’t the only culprit, there are many foods that are linked to cognitive:
Ultra-processed foods
A study by the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases in Germany found that consuming ultra-processed foods for just five days impaired brain insulin responsiveness and increased liver fat content in healthy men. These changes can adversely affect appetite regulation and metabolism, contributing to cognitive dysfunction.
High saturated fat and high sugar diet
Diets rich in saturated fats and sugars have been linked to brain inflammation and cognitive impairment. Even short-term consumption of such diets can trigger neuroinflammatory processes that harm cognition.
Refined carbs
White bread, pastries, and other refined grains can cause rapid blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance, both of which are tied to impaired brain function.
Red and processed meat
Eating too much processed meat (bacon, sausages, deli meats) has been linked to higher risks of cognitive decline, likely due to preservatives and high saturated fat content, says a Neurology journal study.
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