What does alcohol do to your hormones when you drink it regularly?

Regular and excessive drinking clearly lowers testosterone in men. The main causes are an overburdened stress axis in the brain, chronic low-grade inflammation, and free-radical damage in tissue. Drinking a small amount on a single occasion actually causes a brief, slight rise in testosterone, but that fleeting effect is the exact opposite of what sustained drinking causes.

Sperm quality and fertility also suffer. With prolonged excessive alcohol use, the hormonal signals between the brain and the testes become disrupted, sperm cell quality declines, and even the DNA inside sperm can be damaged. Researchers point out that this may affect the health of future children.

The liver is the organ that breaks down and converts hormones. In 10 to 20 percent of heavy drinkers this ends in liver cirrhosis, in which scar tissue gradually replaces the liver. That further disrupts the hormonal balance, and the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle, is also thrown considerably off course. Serious sleep problems are a well-known complication in people with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis.

In post-menopausal women, alcohol is explicitly identified as a risk factor, alongside problems with the cardiovascular system and weight. The precise magnitude of the hormonal effect has not been quantified in the available studies, but the advice to cut back is stated unequivocally.

Finally, a direct safety warning: drinking alcohol in a sauna is a combination that increases the risk of dangerously low blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, and even sudden death. This is not a theoretical risk: research explicitly advises against it.