SAMA HOOLE: Alcohol is hepatotoxic (damages liver), neurotoxic (damages brain), and carcinogenic (causes cancer). These effects occur at any dose. The "moderate drinking is healthy" research has been thoroughly debunked.

Alcohol metabolism produces acetaldehyde, a toxic compound that damages DNA and proteins throughout your body. 

Your liver prioritizes alcohol detoxification over every other metabolic process because alcohol is literally poison and must be cleared immediately or you die.

While your liver is processing alcohol, it cannot effectively burn fat, regulate blood sugar, or perform normal detoxification of other compounds. --Sama Hoole

There is no safe dose of alcohol. Every drink causes cellular damage.

Alcohol is hepatotoxic (damages liver), neurotoxic (damages brain), and carcinogenic (causes cancer). These effects occur at any dose.

The "moderate drinking is healthy" research has been thoroughly debunked.…

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) January 10, 2026

There is no safe dose of alcohol. Every drink causes cellular damage. Alcohol is hepatotoxic (damages liver), neurotoxic (damages brain), and carcinogenic (causes cancer). These effects occur at any dose. The "moderate drinking is healthy" research has been thoroughly debunked. Those studies were confounded by abstainers including former alcoholics with existing health problems. When you control for that: No benefit at any dose. Only dose-dependent harm. Alcohol metabolism produces acetaldehyde, a toxic compound that damages DNA and proteins throughout your body. Your liver prioritizes alcohol detoxification over every other metabolic process because alcohol is literally poison and must be cleared immediately or you die. While your liver is processing alcohol, it cannot effectively burn fat, regulate blood sugar, or perform normal detoxification of other compounds. This is why alcoholics develop fatty liver even when not consuming excess calories. The liver is overwhelmed processing ethanol and cannot process fat, so fat accumulates. "But red wine has antioxidants!" The alcohol negates any potential benefit. Drink grape juice if you want antioxidants. Or eat liver for 100x more antioxidants without the poison. Every "health benefit" attributed to moderate drinking exists in greater quantity in whole foods without the cellular damage. The alcohol industry has successfully marketed their product as health food. It's not. It's recreational poison. Enjoy it if you want, but don't pretend it's healthy.

Your body treats alcohol exactly like it treats other toxins: as something to detoxify and eliminate immediately.