19 | Rethinking Our Drinking: The Science & Our Relationship With Alcohol

09/18/23 • 54 min

Today we're taking a (mostly) objective approach to alcohol consumption - the risks, the benefits, and the drinking culture we are up against, and how it all impacts our nutrition, our fitness, and our overall health. We talk through taking a "risk analysis" approach to how we drink and share a bit of our own experiences as well.

1:30 How can learning more about alcohol help us become more knowledgable and educated consumers? Today we want to take the morality out of this topic and go into the topic of alcohol and drinking patterns with an open mind. We talk objective vs. subjective and how both of these fit into this topic.

7:30 Alcohol is a fourth, “nonessential,” macronutrient with 7 calories per gram. The caloric value of alcohol disproportionately high for the minimal nutrients provided. This knowledge can help us make more informed food choices.

9:58 As a neurotoxin, alcohol receives metabolic priority. It doesn’t trigger fullness signals like typical food does. When we pair this with impaired decision making and lower inhibitions, we see a tendency towards overconsumption.

15:35 There are many physiological impacts of alcohol intake, both short and long term. One of them that really impacts how we feel is disturbed sleep after drinking. There is a dose-toxicity response, so moderate drinking is very different than binge drinking.

17:50 We talk through the benefits of drinking: both health and social oriented. Moderate alcohol intake can increase HDL and lower risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney stones, and more.

21:57 We must take a “risk assessment” approach to our alcohol intake. Overall health benefits pale in comparison to risks, so it feels like the benefits we can weigh are social benefits - community, celebration, and enjoyment.

27:00 Drinking habits are very personal and very sensitive and a lot of trust and respect is required before opening up a conversation around this topic.

29:50 We talk about drinking culture in the US vs UK, drinking age limits, and the downfall of abstinence-based approaches around alcohol consumption. Rates of binge drinking are increasing across certain populations: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/opinion/sunday/alcohol-binge-drinking.html

36:20 Kate and Michael each share some of their personal experiences - from growing up in a more conservative community where alcohol was attached to morality to family history and days of heavy drinking through university.

46:30 The term “sober curious” means “to choose to question, or get curious about, every impulse, invitation, and expectation to drink, versus mindlessly going along with the dominant drinking culture.” It is about assessing your relationship with alcohol and paying attention to your consumption.

49:00 Having a drink can be the correct choice when weighing pros and cons, but being in tune with our choices and behaviors can help us consume in a way that is aligned with our goals, how we want to feel, and what we want out of our lives. This episode does not come with any recommendation beyond being more aware.
Support and resources: https://www.rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/

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17:50 We talk through the benefits of drinking: both health and social oriented. Moderate alcohol intake can increase HDL and lower risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney stones, and more.

27:00 Drinking habits are very personal and very sensitive and a lot of trust and respect is required before opening up a conversation around this topic.

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🟡 Michael Ulloa: https://www.michaelulloa.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelulloapt

🟡 Kate Lyman: https://www.katelymannutrition.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klnutrition/

Thank You for Listening to How to Fitness Podcast with Michael Ulloa and Kate Lyman!

Previous Episode

18 | Talking Sex Positivity: Navigating Body Ideals, Sex as a Learned Skill, and Improving Our Sexual Health with Dr. Celeste Holbrook

We believe in taking a holistic approach to our health and fitness, and we know that our sexual health is part of that. We speak with sexologist Dr. Celeste Holbrook on growing up in a conservative community, body ideals, how to open more conversations around sex, and how we can approach sex as a learned skill.

1:38 Dr. Celeste Holbrook is a sex educator using behavior change theory to enlighten individuals and partnerships on the topic of sex. Being a sexologist was not her goal career in her youth, but sex education became important to her after growing up in a conservative community and her own personal experiences.

8:40 We discuss how we can start becoming more open about sex by taking sex off of a “weird pedestal” and making it more approachable. It is a part of life, not the pinnacle, but modern messaging around sex suggests otherwise.

10:30 Sex is a learned skill that doesn’t always come naturally. Approaching it as such provides a more healthful dialogue around sex and open up conversation with partners, friends, and those near us.

13:00 Sometimes when working with a client we can utilize sex drive as a metric of our health, but sex is too contextual to use only as a metric of being fed, fueled, and rested. Libido can be a marker for health, but not always due to the context of what is going on in our lives. Libido also lives in a range, not only “high” or “low.”

17:01 There is no gauge for our libido, it is all in relation to what feels comfortable for us. Dr. Holbrook talks about the negotiation that is sex with a partner and how that is the best metric of a healthful sex life. Like everything else about our health, it is highly individualized.

19:14 Dr. Holbrook shares her strong views around the beauty industry and how our perception of beauty has been created by individuals around marketing table. While this idea is not unique to women only, it is experienced far more by those passing as women. We can take a harm reduction approach to feel best in our bodies and, as a byproduct, find a lot of compassion for others as well.

24:07 Regarding sex, we can take the approach that feels best and most comfortable for us and can also push back harder against ideals that have been sold to us. We can also take an approach to our bodies and body image that feels safe and gives us permission to live our lives best.

28:15 The body and beauty ideals that permeate “ideal sexuality” are the same that are pushed in the fitness industry. Dr. Holbrook gives some tips around changing the way we speak to ourselves and shifting the responsibility around beauty ideals.

31:18 We can foster more confidence in our sexuality by understanding what we want out of sex and then building behaviors that support those desires. Until we know what we truly want, we are just grasping at straws.

35:08 We share some perceived cultural differences between the US and the UK. Dr. Holbrook shares some of the messages that men receive around sex. There is a pervasive idea that we only allow a small amount of emotion from men, and this drastically impacts sexual experiences. Dr. Holbrook speaks about how a higher libido in men could be related to emotional regulation.

42:00 Resp

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Next Episode

20 | Why Sleep Isn’t Boring: What We Don’t Know About Sleep

In this episode of How to: Fitness, we’re talking about sleep - a topic that can seem really boring but is truly a missing key in our overall health and wellness. Today we’re talking about what we do and don’t know about sleep, its impact on every aspect of our health, and how sleep hygiene is often overlooked in the fitness space.

6:36 We spend one third of our lives asleep, so it’s very surprising that there is so much we don’t know about sleep - including why we need to sleep.

7:52 As we sleep our brains will cycle repeatedly through two different types of sleep - REM (otherwise known as rapid-eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. Michael talks through these stages and cycles with more detail, focusing on the complexity of non-REM stage three sleep and how important it is for our fitness and recovery.

11:14 In REM sleep, the eyes move rapidly behind closed lids, and brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness. This isn’t considered a restful stage; the brain is highly active throughout REM sleep, increasing brain metabolism by up to 20%. It is believed to be important for mood, memories and learning.

14:38 Recent findings suggest that sleep plays a housekeeping role that helps to removes toxins in your brain that build up while you are awake, essentially functioning like an overnight cleaning team providing essential and restorative services to the brain as we sleep.

17:20 Sleep affects almost every type of tissue and system in the body, and research shows that a chronic lack of sleep, or getting poor quality sleep, is correlated with mortality. There is so much unknown around sleep, leaving us feeling wary of “sleep experts” who have all the answers.

22:57 Our sleep need is individualized to an extent, and there is a lot unknown around how sleep needs change as we age. The general recommendation for adults is 7 hours of sleep per night, and there are negative consequences for lower amounts of sleep even though some individuals feel they function well on less sleep.

29:30 There’s a lot of uncertainty around the impact of naps on brain development and overall health, as well as if we can catch up on “sleep debt.”

32:49 There are a lot of obvious or “boring” tips around sleep hygiene, but there are also suggestions we often overlook when addressing our sleep patterns. We talk through some of these overlooked tips around improving our sleep.

47:00 We want sexy, quick fixes and often ignore “easier” fixes. Sleep definitely falls into that category as a puzzle piece that impacts our mental, physical, and emotional health in all ways.

This is our last episode for this season of How to: Fitness. We have some really exciting interviews and topics lined up for our next season coming in January 2024!

Due to limited space in show notes, email for references: [email protected]

STAY CONNECTED
🟡 Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode.

🟡 Michael Ulloa: https://www.michaelulloa.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelulloapt

🟡 Kate Lyman: https://www.katelymannutrition.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klnutrition/

Thank You for Listening to How to Fitness Podcast with Michael Ulloa and Kate Lyman!