An MD On How Much Sugar, Caffeine & Alcohol You Can Get Away With

As a medical doctor who specializes in functional medicine and gut health, I see how chronic inflammation affects the gut but eventually becomes systemic, affecting nearly every organ in the body. While numerous factors drive inflammation, some of the biggest culprits are the foods and drinks we consume every day.

Some of my patients start their day with stimulants (caffeine) and end with relaxants (the foods they’re addicted to or glass of wine or beer every night).

They repeat this cycle because it gets them through the day, and they believe it helps them cope with stress. They also consume more sugar than they realize, often in sneaky sources like sweetened almond milk in their dairy-free lattes or store-bought tomato sauce.

Let's start with the big one. Sugar is the king of inflammation1, inflicting a massive blow to your gut and overall health.

This low-grade inflammation contributes to the development of numerous age-related chronic conditions1 including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease that may lead to a heart attack.

Sugar also contributes to obesity, characterized by a chronic low-grade inflammation2 in fatty tissues as well as systemically. With obese people, we see an increased immune response within fat tissue that researchers call metabolic inflammation2.

Sugar, especially added sugar in processed food, can also result in insulin resistance3. In this condition, your pancreas works on overdrive, secreting ever higher amounts of insulin because your cells have become resistant to "hearing" this hormone signal.

Many of my patients know the usual suspects for sugar. That piece of birthday cake isn't going to do their gut or their overall health any favors, and they know to keep it to the occasional indulgence (if at all).

More problematic are the so-called healthy sugars in foods like agave-sweetened cookies, almond and other nut milks, and even fruit. Large amounts of fructose3, even from healthy foods like fruit, can create or exacerbate insulin resistance and inflammation.

Insulin resistance doesn't exist in a vacuum; it also leads to other imbalances that fuel the inflammatory fires. Take leptin, a very important hormone that regulates your feeling of fullness. The more leptin in circulation, the less hungry you should be.

However, the brains of people who are obese do not respond to the leptin signal. Their levels are high, but these levels are not sensed by their brain to signal that they are full and they should stop eating. That leads to another problem—leptin resistance—leaving you hungry when you've already had all the food you need for fuel.

Too much sugar leads to insulin resistance, which leads to leptin resistance, resulting in weight gain—all of which increase inflammation.

All carbohydrates convert to sugar in your body. Some convert more quickly than others. If you eat a food containing gluten (such as pasta) and you have a sensitivity to that food, that will only add more fuel to your inflammatory levels.

Research shows coffee can have pro- or anti-inflammatory effects5, depending on the individual.

I see this in my own practice: Some patients do fine on three or four cups of black coffee in the morning, while others get jittery on even a few cups of green tea. Everyone responds to caffeine differently. Knowing your body means tuning in to the signals it gives you. If you feel jittery after two cups of coffee, then dial back down to one cup once daily. It all depends on whether you are a slow metabolizer or fast metabolizer.

If getting moving in the morning requires multiple cups of something caffeinated (coffee, tea, or anything caffeinated), I would encourage you to look at your sleep habits, stress management, and how you're expending your energy levels. If your caffeine habit is excessive, it's time to look at your lifestyle habits and move toward greater balance between activity and rest.

A serving size6 is a 12-ounce beer, 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor. Some people generously fill their wineglass (16 to 18 ounces) and consider it one glass. Some research shows that light to moderate alcohol consumption can have anti-inflammatory benefits7.

How your body responds to alcohol depends on several factors. Enjoying a glass of organic red wine will have a completely different impact than drinking a margarita or other sugary alcohol concoctions (a surefire way to rev up inflammation, by the way, based on everything I noted in the above section about sugar).

Some people also enjoy a glass of dry red wine as their dessert. For others, a glass becomes two, and before they know it, they're devouring a second piece of pie. In other words, know how alcohol makes you behave, as it disinhibits your brain control centers and will lead you to overindulge in the other contributors to inflammation.