What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Drinking Alcohol
For people who drink pretty regularly, the process of alcohol withdrawal can be long and unpleasant. It can start immediately after sobering up, some six hours after the last alcohol intake. Usually, sweating, insomnia, nausea, and headache are the first symptoms.
Many heavy drinkers experience vomiting, shaky hands, and anxiety as well.
Withdrawal Is A B*tch!
In worst cases, these symptoms are followed by hallucinations and delirium tremens. Sometimes, the body temperature and blood pressure both rise.
You probably won’t feel anything worse than fatigue if you drink in moderation.
We feel physically sick during these first hours of alcohol withdrawal because the body is rapidly healing and trying to restore balance. Alcohol works as a depressant on the brain, affecting the way neurons communicate with each other. Withdrawal reverses that.
Even without drinking too often, drinking too much initiates a vicious cycle of continuous tiredness. Even though getting drunk may help us fall asleep faster, which is why many people accept the challenge in the first place, alcohol can’t help us sleep better.
Sleep and Alcohol
Alcohol hampers average hormone production in the human body and decreases melatonin. Melatonin is responsible for maintaining a healthy sleep cycle by alarming us when we feel tired and waking us when we’ve had enough rest.
Without a proper amount of melatonin in our system, sleep quality suffers.
Poor sleep means drowsiness during the day. Since the body cannot recover from toxins usually, everything feels slowed down and exhausting. Achieving usual productivity seems almost impossible, not to mention tackling complex problems.
Of course, all this struggle goes away when you stop drinking.
With quality sleep, your body can reset during the night and go back to its 100% in the morning.
Another side effect of having a good night’s sleep instead of a drunken slumber is waking up without any headache. Any amount of alcohol will slow the brain down, causing some damage in the process. In excessive consumers, this damage can be severe.
Memory and Alcohol
In many cases, the results are memory loss and decreased focus.
However, regular alcohol consumption may mean irreversible brain damage for underaged drinkers. The brain doesn’t fully mature until we reach the age of 25, making excessive consumption during college years hazardous for brain development.
If you practice restraint for a few weeks, you’ll start feeling the difference. Your brain will work faster, focusing will take less time and effort, and you won’t get tired as often.
Research shows people who drink are more likely to develop mental health problems.
Alcohol affects several processes in our brain, the most important of which are neural interactions, information processing, and inhibition control. Because of this, we feel more relaxed, confident, and happy while we’re drinking; until the effects wear off, at least.
But after sobering up, we usually feel worse than before.
Patience Is Required
On top of everything else, most heavy drinkers struggle with regret as well.
In addition to that, the neural damage caused by alcohol makes fighting off depression and anxiety even harder. To feel strong, confident, and happy, the brain needs hormonal balance that alcohol disrupts.
Alcohol can make us feel better only temporarily.
Quitting can return some balance to the system and restore a sense of control.
In many cases, this is enough for a person to feel good.
Other than the brain, the liver is the first major organ to suffer from regular alcohol consumption.
Alcohol and The Liver
The liver is responsible for cleansing the human body from all types of toxins that we expose ourselves to daily. If the liver is preoccupied with metabolizing ethanol, other toxins will keep piling up. Eventually, the liver itself will suffer as well.
One toxin too many means a higher probability for infection and inflammation.
Even moderate drinkers are more prone to common colds and viruses. In addition to poisoning the body, alcohol also causes dehydration. The immune system and defence mechanisms cannot function properly without enough water.
These systems will get back in place the moment you stop drinking.
And finally, abstinence will help you achieve the desired appearance.
What Happens To Your Body When You Quit Drinking Alcohol
Only two glasses of wine are enough for exceeding daily sugar intake, which is also the recommended daily limit for male drinkers. If you drink in moderation, you will still add weight.
And since alcohol is a toxin that robs you of a good night’s sleep, it will also speed up the formation of free radicals under your skin and, by extension, accelerate premature ageing.
Whichever we look at it, drinking alcohol is bad for our health. Calling it quits will make you feel better and rejuvenated, more confident, and happier in the long run.
Sources:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/a/alcohol-and-mental-health
