What Alcohol Does To Your Body, Brain & Health | Huberman Lab Podcast #86 [a3c267]
Post Time: 2025-07-29
The normal blood sugar range is a crucial aspect of maintaining overall health and well-being. For non-diabetics, it's essential to understand what constitutes a healthy range and how to maintain it.
When we talk about blood sugar levels, most people think that anything below 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) is considered normal. However, the American Diabetes Association defines normal fasting blood glucose as between 70-99 mg/dL (3.9-5.4 mmol/L). But what's behind these numbers?
The Science Behind Normal Blood Sugar Range Explained
To grasp this concept, it's essential to understand insulin sensitivity and its role in regulating blood sugar levels. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that facilitates glucose entry into cells for energy production or storage. When you eat, your body absorbs carbohydrates from food, causing an increase in blood glucose. In response, your pancreas releases insulin to help lower this level.
Insulin sensitivity refers to how effectively cells respond to insulin's signal. If your cells are highly sensitive (a state known as insulin sensitivity), they absorb more glucose efficiently, reducing the amount available for other bodily functions and helping maintain normal blood sugar levels.
Diet and Blood Sugar: A Delicate Balance
While it might seem like a straightforward equation – eat healthy, exercise regularly, and your blood sugar will be fine – reality is more complex. Carbohydrate-rich foods are digested into simple sugars that increase blood glucose immediately after consumption.
However, some food items can help stabilize or even lower blood sugar levels:
- Legumes (such as chickpeas, lentils), which have a high fiber content
- Fatty fish like salmon and sardines due to their omega-3 fatty acids
- Leafy greens such as spinach, kale
In addition to food choices, timing meals correctly can also play an essential role. For example,
The impact of meal frequency on blood sugar levels has been explored extensively in various studies. Research shows that reducing daily calorie intake and incorporating intermittent fasting can improve insulin sensitivity significantly.
While it may not be realistic for everyone to drastically alter their eating habits or lifestyle immediately, making small adjustments each day can add up over time.
Maintaining normal blood glucose ranges is crucial because consistently high levels of sugar circulating in the bloodstream increases diabetes risk. Over several years or even decades this chronic exposure has been linked with numerous other adverse health outcomes like heart disease and stroke.
As you continue exploring how to keep your blood sugar range within a healthy zone, consider tracking it regularly using tools such as glucometers that can provide immediate readings after taking insulin injections; continuous glucose monitors are also popular options among those managing their condition through medications.
Common Mistakes When Trying to Manage Blood Sugar
Before concluding our discussion on normal blood sugar levels for non-diabetics let's briefly touch upon some commonly held but incorrect assumptions about blood glucose management that often hinder effective weight loss and overall well-being.
In this episode, I discuss the physiological effects that drinking alcohol has on the brain and body at different levels of consumption and over time. I also describe genetic differences that predispose certain individuals to alcoholism, binge and habit-drinking. I explain alcohol metabolism in simple terms and how it effectively acts as a poison, leading to cellular stress and damage. I then explain that it impacts neuronal function and changes our thinking and behavior – hallmarks of inebriation. I also discuss how alcohol consumption of different amounts impacts inflammation, stress, neurodegeneration, and cancer risk and negatively impacts the gut microbiome, brain thickness, hormone balance, mood and feelings of motivation. Additionally, I discuss the biology of hangovers and describe science-based strategies to mitigate the severity of a hangover. Since alcohol is one of the most widely consumed recreational substances, this episode ought to be of relevance to everyone. Indeed, even low-to-moderate alcohol consumption negatively impacts the brain blood sugar 199 in the morning and body in direct ways. The goal of this episode is to help people make informed decisions about their alcohol consumption that are in keeping with their mental and physical health goals. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): Levels: Eight Sleep: ROKA: Supplements from Momentous Social & Website Instagram: Twitter: Facebook: TikTok: Website: Newsletter: Articles Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank: Gut Microbiota at the Intersection of Alcohol, Brain, and the Liver: Tolerance to alcohol: A critical yet understudied factor in alcohol addiction: Associations Between Drinking and Cortical Thickness in Younger Adult Drinkers: Findings From the Human Connectome Project: Moderate Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Breast Cancer: Can alcohol promote aromatization of androgens to estrogens? A review: Other Resources Examine - Alcohol & Hangover: Timestamps 00:00:00 Effects of Alcohol Consumption 00:02:25 Momentous Supplements 00:03:19 Low to Moderate Alcohol Consumption & Neurodegeneration 00:06:52 Levels, Eight Sleep, ROKA 00:10:46 Historical Context & Uses of Alcohol 00:13:28 Alcohol Metabolism, “Empty Calories” 00:18:23 Inebriation: Top-Down Inhibition, Impulsivity & Memory Formation 00:24:23 Long-Lasting Effects & Impulsivity, Neuroplasticity & Reversibility 00:27:55 Food & Alcohol Absorption 00:30:07 Alcohol & Serotonin, SSRIs & Depression, Risk for Alcoholism, Blackouts 00:37:39 Predisposition for Alcoholism; apple cider vinegar to lower fasting blood sugar gestational diabetes Chronic Consumption, Cortisol & Stress 00:44:53 AG1 (Athletic Greens) 00:46:07 Genetic Predisposition for Alcoholism, Consuming Alcohol Too Young 00:52:27 Gut-Liver-Brain Axis: Alcohol, Gut Microbiome, Inflammation & Leaky Gut 00:59:46 Tool: Improving/Replenishing Gut Microbiome 01:02:44 Reducing Alcohol Consumption & Stress 01:04:25 Hangover: Alcohol & Sleep, Anxiety, fruits that raise blood sugar Headache 01:12:11 Hangover Recovery, Adrenaline & Deliberate Cold Exposure 01:17:16 Hangover Recovery, Dehydration & Electrolytes 01:20:45 Types of Alcohol & Hangover Severity, Congeners 01:25:25 Alcohol Tolerance, Dopamine & Serotonin, Pleasure-Pain Balance 01:33:36 Are There Any Positive Effects of Alcohol?, Resveratrol 01:35:42 Alcohol & Brain Thickness 01:37:11 Alcohol & Cancer Risk: DNA Methylation, Breast Cancer Risk 01:44:31 Mitigating Cancer Risk, Folate, B Vitamins 01:46:54 Alcohol & Pregnancy, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 01:50:58 Hormones: Testosterone & Estrogen Balance 01:55:09 Negative Effects of Alcohol Consumption 01:58:35 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Instagram, Twitter, Neural Network Newsletter, Huberman Lab Clips The Huberman Lab Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.