How To Drink Consciously To Savor The Enjoyment & Protect Your Liver

Drinking too much during a given night can leave you feeling sluggish and peevish the next day. And for good reason — alcohol is a toxin. Luckily, in moderation, the body knows how to dispose of it.

The liver is one of the body's main detoxification organs. The body considers alcohol a toxin, so it's the liver's job to neutralize the threat. The liver is responsible for breaking down about 90% of the alcohol1 you drink, as well as water, carbon dioxide, and energy. But heavy alcohol exposure over years (if not decades) can wear away at your liver.

Now, this is a loaded question. 

Guidelines around alcohol consumption2 in the United States encourage people to not exceed moderate alcohol consumption of one drink a day for women and two for men.

"To be clear, one for women and two for men is a max level, not a daily recommended need. Some people treat it like the latter," Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, previously told us. "Because at the end of the day, alcohol is a toxin, and even moderate consumption can hurt sleep quality and brain health. And when it comes to liver health, less is definitely better."

This is where things get murky. Because (playing devil's advocate here), there can be some upsides to intentional alcohol consumption. 

We know that red wine offers beneficial plant polyphenols3 that serve as antioxidants. And some research even shows that social drinkers4 feel more in tune with their local community and have friends to rely on for social support. 

Of course, if you currently abstain from alcohol, this is not a reason to start drinking. But there's still no set magic number of drinks per week or month to stay under to protect liver health. 

One strategy could be to pare back how often you drink and reserve it for special occasions. Maybe you set a goal of only drinking for a celebration, whether that's a birthday dinner out, an anniversary, or a holiday. This may cut back your alcohol consumption to just a handful of nights each month. 

If that doesn't feel realistic for you, even going from drinking four nights a week to one or two is a great place to start. 

(Check out this list of dietitian-approved drinks to help make healthful choices if and when you decide to drink.)

If you decide to partake in more than one drink on a given day, space them out by at least an hour. It takes the liver about an hour to break down one standard drink1. So consuming more than that at a time can overload your liver and slow detoxification processes (and lead to intoxication). 

Drinking on an empty stomach is never a good decision. If you choose to drink, make sure it's part of a meal or snack. 

Food prolongs the amount of time alcohol stays in the stomach (where it's also partially broken down) before it passes to the small intestine to be absorbed into the bloodstream. 

It's well established that drinking in excess is harmful to overall health. But that doesn't mean you have to go cold turkey. Consider taking a more conscious approach by adjusting how frequently you drink, how much you drink in one sitting, and how you pair alcohol with food.