What Will Happen If You Stop Drinking Alcohol?

Whether you drink infrequently and in moderation or drink heavily, you've probably thought about giving up alcohol at least once. We will share with you the opinions of experts about what happens to the body after giving up alcohol to help you make the right decision.

If you're an occasional (or more than occasional) drinker, you've probably thought about taking a break from alcohol at least once. Maybe your doctor has advised you to abstain for health reasons, or you've noticed that the weekly parties are draining your bank account. People who take time out usually claim that they look and feel better, but is that really the case?

While drinking alcohol in moderation (usually defined as one drink per day for women and two for men) is generally considered normal for your health, excessive drinking is unquestionably harmful. It is very easy to exceed the permissible limit if alcohol is an integral part of social life. After all, people usually drink a lot more than a glass of beer, a glass of wine or 50 grams of hard alcohol, especially on weekends or holidays.

Alcohol is definitely a very insidious drink: a small amount of it will not particularly affect the body, while too much alcohol can cause serious problems.

Whether you're a heavy drinker or always stick to the recommended limit, if your friends continue to drink, it's going to be pretty hard to give up alcohol. We will share with you the opinion of experts about what happens to your body after giving up alcohol. Maybe this will help you make the right decision.

The number of calories consumed decreases

 

Maybe you didn't know, but alcohol is quite a caloric product, and some drinks probably have too many calories. For example, a beer can have about 150 calories, a pinot noir has about 120 calories, and an iced margarita can have about 220 calories. If you drink regularly, giving up this activity will help reduce the number of calories you consume.

James J. Galligan, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and toxicology and director of the neurobiology program at Michigan State University, says that some people can lose a few pounds simply by giving up alcohol.

It's not just about "drinking" extra calories: alcohol can lift all inhibitions and lead to late-night snacking that you'd likely avoid sober. How quickly you lose extra pounds will depend on how much you drank before. New York nutritionist Jessica Cording says that someone who drank one alcoholic drink a day could see weight loss in just a week if they didn't replace the "alcoholic" calories with other high-calorie foods or drinks.

The work of the immune system improves

George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, says alcohol weakens the immune system, making you sicker. Alcohol does not cause various viruses, but it can make you more vulnerable to them. So you could say that living sober will give you a super powerful immune system - it will simply return you to your baseline health, which is the immune system you had before you started drinking. If you're a healthy person, Dr. Galligan says that within a few weeks of giving up alcohol, your immune system will return to normal.

Metabolism is accelerated

 

If you didn't drink too much before giving up alcohol completely, it's unlikely you'll notice much of a difference, but it's still worth mentioning. Although drinking alcohol in moderation can improve insulin sensitivity (which leads to improved metabolism), excessive alcohol consumption makes it difficult for the liver and pancreas, which are actively involved in metabolism. So if you've been drinking enough to suppress these processes, your metabolism will start working more efficiently within weeks of getting sober.

The liver begins to function more efficiently

Not only is alcohol a direct toxin to your liver, it also produces metabolic byproducts that must be removed from the body again by the liver. As a result, the liver must work harder and longer to recover from the effects of alcohol consumption. In addition, alcohol can cause inflammation in the liver, which prevents it from working properly to get rid of toxins and convert fat into energy for your body.

If you abuse alcohol, it can affect the liver's ability to deal with fat, which can lead to fatty liver disease. Fortunately, this disease is preventable, and giving up alcohol should help your liver function better. But liver function doesn't improve as quickly as, say, the immune system: it can take several months for your liver to fully recover, even if you don't have fatty liver disease.

Sleep is normalized

 

Alcohol is a relaxant, so you may think it will help you sleep better. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Alcohol does help you fall asleep, but it suppresses REM sleep, the restorative part of the sleep cycle. That is why sleep after use is so interrupted. Alcohol is also a diuretic, so you go to the bathroom more often, which can also affect the quality of your sleep. Refusing alcohol eliminates all these factors, making sleep more restful and deep.

Returning to an old habit can lead to excessive drinking

 

If you decide to give up alcohol for a while, be careful when you start drinking again. Even those who drank alcohol in moderate quantities, after a two-month break, tend to abuse alcohol. The exact reason for this behavior is unknown, but it seems that it is some kind of overcompensation for lost time. Your drinking habits may return to normal after the nostalgia of celebrating a month or two of sobriety is a thing of the past, but Dr. Koob says it's important to keep the process under control to avoid alcohol intoxication.

Therefore, if you are thinking about taking a break from alcohol, consider some of the benefits listed above. And keep in mind that abstaining from alcohol can be even more beneficial for people with certain health problems, such as liver disease, diabetes, HIV, and gastrointestinal problems.