Dr. Gianoulakis and her colleagues showed that high-risk individuals have about half as much beta-endorphin in their blood as those at low genetic risk;4 Jan Froehlich and her colleagues then showed that these levels come largely from our parents.5 But most interesting to me was the fact that alcohol was able to remedy this natural deficit especially in those who inherit a high risk for excessive drinking and, at higher doses, produce a surfeit of the peptide.6
