Drinking alcohol impacts bones by making them more likely to fracture or break and slower to heal. Researchers have found that mice that had bone fractures and were given alcohol in levels that were equivalent to six to nine drinks in an hour for a human developed softer bone tissue between the fractured bone areas than mice that were not given alcohol. It is thought that alcohol might lower the amount of proteins used to develop new bone tissue. Researchers also believe alcohol might cause the body to generate higher amounts of oxidizing molecules, which can slow bone growth. Alcohol also is a diuretic, meaning that it causes increased urine output, so it might flush some of the calcium needed for bone strength out of the body.
More about alcohol’s impact on the body:
- Heavy drinkers have roughly the same risk of bone fracture as non-drinkers who are 20 years older.
- Women who consume two to five alcoholic drinks per day have one-and-a-half times the risk of developing breast cancer as non-drinkers.
- Moderate drinking might help reduce the likelihood of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by reducing gaps in nerve transmissions from the brain to the rest of the body.