New Research Finds There is No Safe Level of Alcohol Consumption

I have been saying for years that alcohol consumption causes brain damage, even in small amounts. Even weekend drinkers have undergone substantial brain damage that results in them falling behind in life as compared to non- drinkers.

Now, in Mayb 2021, the research is finally in and the results are conclusive. A study in the UK with over 25,000 participants shows that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.

The study by Anya Topiwala, Klaus P. Ebmeier, Thomas Maullin-Sapey, Thomas E. Nichols concludes the following:

“No safe dose of alcohol for the brain was found. Moderate consumption is associated with more widespread adverse effects on the brain than previously recognised.”

The premise of my “Sober Superpowers” presentation is that the upside of avoiding drugs and alcohol completely far outweighs any downside.

The upside- better brain functioning than other people results in increased happiness, success, and a superior lifestyle.

The downside- you can’t “check out from reality” by getting high and drunk. You have to face your problems directly. (Is this really a downside?)

Before this study, my opinion that alcohol causes brain damage was something that I considered to be just an opinion. Although I think my opinion is worth a lot given the success that I’ve had by avoiding drugs and alcohol. There was some scientific proof, but not as conclusive as this new study.

My opinion that moderate and severe drinking causes brain damage was based on the following obersvations:

• Most weekend drinkers have had multiple instances of “blacking out” where they drank so much that they can’t remember what happened the night before. Blacking out occasionally is considered normal and acceptable by most people. Weekend drinkers and college kids even find it to be a humorous event that they bond with their friends over. My observation is that blacking out is not a joke and is quite harmful. Blacking out even once damages the brain in a way that is similar to a concussion. Concussions cause memory loss, and so does blacking out. I haven’t read the scientific studies on this, but I think it’s common sense to see that blacking out and concussions have similar effects on the brain.
• Drinking alcohol results in reduced motor function. “Falling down drunk” happens when you ingest enough alcohol to disprupt the conncetion between your brain and your legs. Again, people think it’s normal and it’s funny. I realize it’s a normal part of our culture and of course I don’t hassle my friends about it, but I think it should be obvious to anyone paying attention that disrupting your nervous system to the point of falling down will cause damage to the brain.
• I know a lot of drinkers. I have them in my family and I know them from all the rock tours I’ve been on. On rock tours we have plenty of people with reduced brain function. They’re refered to as “pickled,” as if the brain has been submerged in alcohol so many times that it has fundamentally changed, just as a cucumber changes into a pickle. In many subcultures (including rock music), we accept and celebrate the old drinkers who have pickled their brain. These people are considered funny and charming characters, as they have adopted a new set of social skills to cover up their reduced brain functioning. The truth, in my opinion, is that is it actually very unfortunate and sad that so many people have reduced their brain function so badly. I estimate that brain function is reduced by 50% or more in severe drinkers who have drank for 10 years or more. I’m no MRI machine, but that is my observation. If you want to know the real MRI results, go ahead and read the new study out of the UK, which includes MRI data.

By avoiding alcohol completely, you keep your brain functioning at 100% while everyone around you slowly loses functioning more and more due to drinking. This unleashed your potential in ways we can only imagine.