Heavy Drinking May Harm The Brain Of Your Future Children

Research shows that regular binge drinking during adolescence can affect the brain function of future children. Specifically, it puts them at increased risk of depression, anxiety, and metabolic disorders.

Binge drinking is a huge problem among teenagers and young adults in most parts of the world. Of course people who consume large quantities of alcohol are not concerned about their health at the time, let alone the health of potential future children.

This research finding comes from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. According to senior author of the paper, Toni R. Pak, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, "Adolescent binge drinking not only is dangerous to the brain development of teenagers, but also may impact the brains of their children”. The researchers found that binge drinking altered the on-off switches of several genes in the brains of future children. Genes that are normally turned on were turned off, and vice versa. This predisposed the future offspring to mental health problems. Unfortunately, people with mental health problems are more likely to become heavy alcohol consumers, so the pattern continues.

Among American drinkers under age 21, more than 90 percent of the alcohol they drink is consumed during binge drinking episodes. Binge drinking is generally regarded as five or more drinks for a male and four or more drinks for a female. This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

People drink too much alcohol for all sorts of reasons; however, altered brain chemistry due to nutrient deficiencies is a common cause. Magnesium and tyrosine are both required for production of adequate levels of feel-good chemicals in the brain. Both magnesium and tyrosine also improve stress coping mechanisms. Financial stress, relationship stress, health concerns and career worries are currently increasing for many people. It’s common to turn to alcohol as a way to soothe and comfort oneself. This only worsens an individual’s problems. People who drink heavily are also more likely to suffer with anxiety, depression or be bipolar. See the book Help for Anxiety and Depression.

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