Do you have a tricky relationship with alcohol? For a lot of people, alcohol has become a real problem in their lives. Of course, there are different levels to this – some of you might drink recreationally every weekend, while others may have a few glasses of alcohol every single day.
Giving Up Alcohol
In either case, your drinking habits could be causing a whole host of issues with your health.
You see, a common misconception is that you need to be at the very extreme end of the scale for alcohol to be a problem. People think that just because they’re not stuck in drug and alcohol rehab, they can carry on drinking as much as they want. As long as you’re not addicted to the stuff, what’s the problem?
Well…two issues to unpack here. For one, you very much could be addicted without knowing it. Secondly, you can still drink too much alcohol without having an addiction or reliance on the stuff. If you are exceeding the recommended limits, you’re going to end up seeing some physical and mental health complications.
Speaking of which, what happens to your health if you decide to give up alcohol – or reduce your intake? Here are some benefits you are likely to see:
Improved Sleep Cycle
If you drink alcohol during the week, it’s common to end up with a messed-up sleep cycle. Most notably, you struggle to sleep soundly without any distractions at night. Alcohol can make you go to the toilet, meaning you often wake up and go pee. Cutting down on alcoholic beverages – particularly in the evening – can mean you sleep for longer and wake up feeling more refreshed.
You also benefit from more clarity of thought in the mornings, thanks to a lack of hangovers from the lingering effects of alcohol. Hangovers can be a painful and uncomfortable experience, but fortunately, there are several ways to fight them and find relief from hangover symptoms.
Improve Brain Capacity
Alcohol has a very negative effect on the brain. Ironically, you see a perfect demonstration of this when you’re drunk. Your speech is slurred, you lose the ability to balance, and you wake up the next day with zero memory of what happened. If you keep drinking heavily week after week, your brain will eventually reach a point where these things happen to you even when sober. You struggle to think clearly, you suffer from memory loss, and so on.
By giving up drinking, or reducing your intake, you can improve brain capacity. You’ll have more focus, a better memory, and can prevent yourself from suffering from brain-related health conditions like dementia.
Lose Weight
Did you know that alcoholic beverages tend to be very high in calories? A weekend of drinking with your pals can mean you consume over a thousand wasted calories. Especially if you’re a beer drinker, the average pint of beer will contain over 200 calories. Imagine you go through five of them on a Friday night, that’s 1,000 calories right there.
Not to mention that alcohol affects your eating habits. You crave foods like pizza, kebabs, or any other calorific snacks. Giving up alcohol can mean you avoid consuming an extra thousand or so calories every week. As a result, you will find it so much easier to lose weight. This will be aided by the next point as well!
Giving Up Alcohol Gives You More Energy
Yes, giving up alcohol can give you more energy. So, you can see how this helps you with the goal of losing weight. You’ll have more energy to expend in your workouts, letting you burn more calories and reach your weight loss goals a lot faster. Additionally, you have more energy and alertness throughout the day. Alcohol makes you lazy and sluggish, which might be why you wake up feeling so drained and devoid of energy every morning.
Reduced Risk of Serious Health Problems
As a knock-on effect of losing weight, cutting down on alcohol also leads to a reduced risk of various serious health problems. A lot of people will gain weight because of alcohol consumption, putting them at risk of heart disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and so many more conditions.
Alcohol itself has been linked to various forms of cancer, so you’re doing your body a massive favor by cutting it out of your diet.
This experienced dentist in Harrisburg also adds that alcohol is detrimental to your dental health. It is an acidic beverage and, therefore, erodes the enamel of the teeth when consumed.
Clearly, there are some very convincing health benefits to giving up alcohol entirely. Hey, that might be a decision that you’re happy to make right away.