What Alcohol Does To Your Body
Do you live for Happy Hour? If so, have you ever stopped to wonder why drinking regularly actually causes you to feel less happy and more lifeless? Do you notice a huge slump in energy after a night of partying? That’s because alcohol is a sedative. It can make you drowsy, but it often leads to low-quality, interrupted sleep (which can leave you looking and feeling like a zombie the next day).
If you feel physically drained all the time, it may be time to take a good, hard look at alcohol (just a look, not a drink!) It may be the sneaky villain you didn’t realize was stealthily sabotaging your life while pretending to be your best friend. That’s pretty rotten.
What Happens When You Cut Out Alcohol
If you’re still not convinced that alcohol is the archenemy of your energy levels, here are a few of the amazing things you could experience if you cut it out of your life. Just pretend it’s your ex-boyfriend and there’s no way you’re letting him weasel his way back into your heart. Once you kick alcohol out for good, you’ll likely experience:
• Increased Energy: Without the constant impact of morning hangovers, you’ll be amazed at how energetic you feel when you wake up. You’ll also experience higher-quality sleep when you don’t drink alcohol.
• Fewer Food Cravings: Did you know booze can trigger food cravings? It activates AgRP neurons, which trigger intense hunger and can make you crave unhealthy things.
• Easier Weight Maintenance: Alcohol is not a low-calorie drink, which means you’ll have a harder time maintaining a healthy weight if you consume it regularly. When you stop drinking those extra calories, your waistline will respond in kind.
• Decreased Risk of Dehydration: Alcohol is dehydrating because it’s a diuretic and flushes water out of your body. Replacing alcohol with a healthier choice (such as fruit-infused water) is a great way to increase hydration.
• Improved Digestion: One of the surprising drawbacks of alcohol consumption is that it can alter the gastric motility of your stomach. This means it can make it harder for you to digest the food you eat. When you stop drinking alcohol, your digestion will most likely improve.
• Reduced Risk of Disease: Excess alcohol consumption is linked to diseases such as heart disease and liver disease. When you stop indulging in booze, you reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening health conditions.
• Healthier Skin: Since alcohol is a diuretic, it can dry out your skin and cause it to look dull and saggy. Fortunately, you can reverse this effect by simply staying away from alcohol. It only takes a few days of abstinence in most cases to notice that the skin looks and feels plumper and more hydrated.
This list is just a small snapshot of how your life could improve if you decided to cut alcohol out of it. Not everyone can quit cold turkey, and that’s OK! As long as you’re consistently making efforts to consume less booze, you’ll eventually find it easier to replace alcohol with healthier options. When things get hard, just remember you’re doing this to improve your health and energy.