 For those of you that don't know, I used to work as a bartender in Manhattan, jack of all trades, master of one, that is nutrition. So this video is long overdue and you might have read a study about red wine having the antioxidant resveratrol or alcohol being good in moderation, but most people agree that alcohol is a net negative. Getting drunk might be the most harmful thing that people do in their daily lives without realizing it, from the perspective of damaging your liver, metabolism and overall stress on the body. That being said, there were recent indigenous people, those still living off the land, that lived very long and healthy lives despite consuming alcohol. However, they weren't slinging back ten vodka sodas in one night. They were drinking wine or vodka made with very high-quality ingredients. Not only that, they consumed high-quality diets, were very physically active and in pollution-free environments. Alcohol itself doesn't actually damage the liver, but the liver has enzymes that turn alcohol into a substance that is very toxic and does damage the liver. This creates oxidative stress, inflammation, which can lead to fatty liver disease as well as cirrhosis of the liver. These diseases require high levels of consumption or moderate levels over consistent periods of time that don't allow the liver to recover. As the liver can regenerate itself, everyone has their own individual ability to deal with this inflammation from alcohol. One person can have a drink every night and not lower their life expectancy. Another person might end up with liver failure. This toxic substance is processed by the liver and turned into acetic acid as well as ketones. You may be familiar with acetic acid from vinegar and acetic acid has been shown to have gut microbiome benefits usually in the regulation of blood sugar. Now, if you're on a low carbohydrate diet, your alcohol tolerance will be much different. Having carbohydrates present in the diet will increase your blood glycogen, which absorbs alcohol. If you're in a ketogenic metabolism, your blood will have a lower, more stable blood sugar resulting in reduced alcohol tolerance. A good way to describe this is to say that drinking alcohol on keto is a kin to an average person drinking alcohol on an empty stomach. People say never drink alcohol on an empty stomach. That's pretty much what you're doing all the time on a ketogenic diet. In addition to this, men are much better at handling alcohol than women. As they produce more of the enzyme that is needed to break down alcohol in their livers. Women also have a higher body fat percentage which is where alcohol is stored and takes longer to detox. From a weight loss standpoint, alcohol stops the oxidation of fats as well as ketone production. So, your body will stop whatever it is doing to process the alcohol instead of the fat or carbohydrates in the liver. The body cannot store alcohol so it has to be removed by the liver. Therefore, alcohol on its own does not stimulate insulin. That is, if you are drinking an alcohol that is free from carbohydrates and sugars, a lot of drinks are not. Beer, rum and coke, most cocktails will compromise ketosis. What you want is a dry alcohol, a product with little to no residual sugar. All wines are dry for the most part, having very little carbohydrates, very little residual sugar, if any at all. And I don't mean boxed wine or cheap store-bought wine. I mean the average restaurant wine. The same thing with all distilled alcohol, vodka, tequila, rum, whiskey, scotch, brandy, all of these have little to no carbohydrates. And food quality ties into alcohol quality as well. Ideally, if you can obtain something made from a very high-quality source, made with care, it would be minimally inflammatory. Vodka made from wheat might cause more issues compared to vodka made from grapes for some people. An aged Anejo tequila might be harder on the stomach than the silver tequila because of what the liquor is absorbing from the barrels. More filtration and distillation can purify alcohol to a more tolerable point. I personally can't drink bourbon or most whiskeys but scotch is fine with me. I can do Irish whiskey, same with brandies, cognac, armoniac. Those are okay with me. But if I have one sip of bourbon, I have a headache five minutes later. Choosing your alcoholic drink is pretty simple. First, pick something you like. If you get a hangover or a headache, then move on to your next favorite drink. As I said, things like bourbon for me, I get a headache a few minutes later. You know, if I drink champagne, I'll be puking my guts out six hours later. But other things like white wine, certain spirits I can drink without too many issues. We should definitely consider histamines, especially in beer and red wine. Histamines are nitrogenous compounds involved in immune responses that need to be detoxed by enzymes and they are contained in certain fermented foods. These two alcohols, beer and red wine, are incredibly high in histamine compared to other alcohols. And as alcohol impairs histamine metabolism, drinking a bunch of beer or red wine with a dry aged steak might give you a really severe histamine reaction. You know, anytime I go to a steakhouse and have wine and like a 90 day dry aged steak, I usually have a hard time sleeping that night. Acetic acid was mentioned earlier. And I have a video on apple cider vinegar where I discuss the benefits it has shown on blood glucose, but alcohol also has B vitamins. I never really drank as a bartender, but the few times I did, I noticed an increased mental clarity. My cognitive function was a bit off, but my actual thought process, articulation and memory seemed a bit more focused. It's well known that alcohol can be used as a performance enhancing drug in certain sports because of these B vitamins and relaxing properties. And I would like to see more research done on the acetic acid from alcohol being beneficial to the gut microbiome. So as with a lot of things, everyone has their own individual subjective tolerance. Quality is important. Moderation is important. But as I said, you have people that live to 120 drinking alcohol every day and you have people that drop dead at 45 years old from liver failure, a lot of environmental variances, diet, lifestyle, individual genetic capabilities. So thank you guys for joining me. If you could please like the video, subscribe, hit that bell icon, share the video if you can. If you guys would like to support me further, definitely check out frankiesforrangeme.com providing you guys with high quality nutrient dense animal foods at the most affordable price. Please do so Frankie Boyd never has to bartend again. And you can also check out Frankie's Naturals, minimal ingredients, minimally processed hygiene and cosmetic products. If you guys would like to reach out to me for a one-on-one consultation, shoot me an email frankatefano at gmail.com. Let me know guys if you want a video on like my bartending history. You know, I've worked at like Del Frisco Steakhouse, I worked for Nucerette Saul Bay, I worked in a couple pretty popular bars in the city. So I think I have some stories to tell, but it's mostly a pessimistic conversation.