If you’re one of the millions of people around the world who drink more than the recommended daily amount,then you could be doing more harm to your body than you’d expect. In actual fact, drinking too much alcohol (whether in a single sitting or over time) can cause damage to your liver, heart, immune system and pancreas. Research by the National Institute of Health found that drinking too much alcohol can also increase your chances of getting certain types of cancer.
If you stop drinking booze, can it really make you healthier and fix a portion of the harm you’ve done? Honestly, the answer isn’t clear-cut. Stopping drinking might not fix all the problems you’ve created–but it can definitely boost your health in several ways and could prevent you from destroying yourself even more down the line.
If you quit drinking alcohol, you’ll probably see wonderful changes in your health. Here’s what might happen if you give up booze for good:
1. Your Liver
When we think about the different body parts that are affected when we overindulge in alcohol, the liver is often the organ that first comes to mind.The liver is an amazing organ, but it can’t perform miracles. An average liver can metabolize one standard alcoholic drink every hour, so people who choose to drink more than this could risk damaging their liver. They could end up suffering with conditions like cirrhosis, fibrosis, or alcohol hepatitis.
There’s actually a positive phenomena for people who decide to stop drinking alcohol; the wonderful part is, the everyday liver can fix itself in, maybe, a few weeks. Still, it really matters how ruined it was to begin with.
2. Your Heart
Heart disease is currently the number one killer in the US. In actual fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention one person dies from it every 37 seconds. This is quite a frightening statistic. What’s even more frightening is that the majority of these deaths could have been prevented.
Studies suggest that even drinking a little bit of alcohol can harm your heart. Also, it’s been found that it makes you more likely to develop a heart muscle disease, called cardiomyopathy, and can push your blood pressure up, known as hypertension. All of this can make it more likely for you to die earlier than expected; therefore, if you’re drinking too much, there’s a pretty good risk it’s going to impact your heart.
The good news is that hypertension (and sometimes cardiomyopathy too) can be reversed by quitting alcohol and starting medication. People who choose to stop drinking alcohol completely can reduce their risk of suddencardiac death or a heart attack considerably.
If you’re worried that you or someone you love is drinking too much alcohol, and you want help or advice on how to stop then get in touch with Harris House. They’ve been helping people with addiction overcome their problems for over 50 years. Their staff are available to answer any questions you may have about alcohol rehabilitation.
3. Your Immune System
In 2015, an article was published in Alcohol Research which stated that our immune systems can be damaged if we drink too much alcohol on a regular basis. So, if you think that drinking a few extra drinks on a weekly basis isn’t going to have an impact on your immune system then you’d be wrong. This research also suggested that drinking too much alcohol could in fact weaken your immune system. It also found that people who consume too much alcohol had a higher chance of catching pneumonia and a lower chance of being able to fight off infections.
So it’s not only several bad things. If you stop drinking booze, your body’s defense group can get better; to help your body heal up fast, eating a large amount of fiber and items with good bacteria in it is a informed move.
4. Your Nutrient Levels
Mineral and vitamin deficiencies are often hard to spot in adults because the warning signs are usually subtle. But, research has shown that drinking alcohol can stop your body from absorbing foliatewhich can lead to an increased risk of breast as well as vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Drinking too much alcohol can also have an impact on the dietary choices you make. The majority of people who drink alcohol regularly are malnourished as they’re less likely to choose healthy or nourishing foods. The good news is that by quitting alcohol, you’ll be more likely to make better diet choices.
5. Your Weight
A lot of us worry about how much we weigh. Some think they’re too weighty, while others believe they need to gain weight to be healthy. Drinking alcohol often can make it tough to keep our weight steady. If you drink one extra alcoholic drink a day, you’re getting about 100 more calories, which could cause you to gain a pound or even more over the course of a month. It may not seem like an integral factor to gain a few pounds here and there–but it can quickly add up over time.
The wonderful thing is, if you stop drinking, you can really manage your weight better, and your eating habits too. If you want to drop a weight, not drinking alcohol might speed up getting to your goal.
6. Your Sleep
We’ve all heard that alcohol is a sedative, so drinking before you go to bed should help you to fall asleep, right? This is where the lines are blurred. While the majority of people who drink alcohol don’t struggle falling asleep at night, they may find that the quality of sleep they have is disrupted.
However, the good news is that research has shown that after two weeks of quitting alcohol, the majority of people see an improvement in their quality of sleep. Of course, it’s always good to remember that this can vary from person to person.
Quitting alcohol can impact your health in a number of ways. It can have a positive impact on your heart and liver health as well as improve your sleep quality andnutrient levels. So, even if quitting alcohol can’t repair all of the damage already caused, you’ll know that you’re doing your best to take care of your health and preventfurther damageoccurring in the future.
