Your Brain, Your Body, Your Hormones, Your Risk - with Professor David NuttYour Brain, Your Body, Your Hormones, Your Risk - with Professor David Nutt
Sober Awkward
David reveals what alcohol really does to us and whether science can offer a safer alternative
43:13•2 Aug 2026
Your Brain on Booze: Professor David Nutt Joins Sober Awkward
Episode Overview
- Alcohol’s effects on dopamine, endorphins and glutamate help explain pleasure, loss of control, blackouts and the crash into anxiety the next day.
- Heavy binge drinking can be more damaging to the brain than the same amount of alcohol spread out over time.
- Stopping drinking allows alcohol-driven inflammation in the brain and body to ease, which can lead to clearer thinking within days or weeks.
- Women face particular risks around breast cancer, pregnancy and changing hormone levels, and may experience alcohol differently before and after menopause.
- Relying on alcohol to self-medicate stress or emotional pain can quickly become a vicious cycle, whereas staying alcohol free avoids triggering dependence.
“"Alcohol is that combination of cocaine and heroin."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Sober Awkward host Victoria Vanstone, it was years of binge drinking, mummy wine culture and a brain that felt like a "dormant volcano". In this episode she sits down with neuropsychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt to unpack exactly what alcohol is doing to your brain, body and hormones.
Professor Nutt draws on more than 40 years of research to explain why that first drink feels so good and why stopping after one can feel impossible. He breaks it down into brain chemistry: alcohol releases dopamine and endorphins – "that combination of cocaine and heroin" – and in higher doses blocks glutamate, leading to blackouts, memory gaps and the dreaded hangxiety.
You’ll hear them chat about weekend benders versus daily drinking, why heavy binges can be especially rough on the brain, and what actually happens as your brain begins to heal when you stop. Vic shares how, within weeks of quitting, her thinking sharpened and the mental fog lifted, while Nutt explains how alcohol-driven inflammation in the brain can settle once drinking stops.
Women get special attention here: different body composition, breast cancer risk, pregnancy, and why perimenopause can tempt some back towards the bottle. There’s a funny-but-serious thread about sore heels, leeches on sober walks, and suddenly finding that "clubbing" now looks like coffee and cake by lunchtime. The pair also talk about public health, the hollow phrase "drink responsibly", and Nutt’s work on GABA-based alcohol alternatives and gut microbiome approaches that might offer relaxation without the same level of harm.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your weekend drinking is really "that bad", or why you wake up with racing heart and doom after a "fun" night, this chat hands you the science in plain language and plenty of laughs. Ready to question what alcohol is actually doing for you – and to you?
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