While alcohol in moderation is usually defined as one drink per day for women and two for men, as a rule, it is normal for your health, excessive drinking causes undeniable harm. To exceed the maximum rate very easy if alcohol is an integral part of your social life. In the end, people usually drink a lot more than a glass of beer, glass of wine or 50 grams of strong alcohol, especially on weekends or holidays, writes likar.info.
Regardless of whether you drink a lot or always stick to the recommended amount, if your friends continue to drink, give up alcohol it will be quite difficult. We will share with you the experts about what happens to your body after alcohol withdrawal. Maybe this will help you to make the right decision.
Decreases the amount of calories consumed. Maybe you didn’t know, but alcohol is quite caloric product, and some drink calories, is perhaps too much. For example, beer has about 150 calories in glass of Pinot Noir would be about 120 calories, and in the ice-cold Margarita can be about 220 calories. If you regularly drink, the rejection of this activity will help to reduce the amount of calories consumed.
James J. Galligan, Ph. D., Professor of pharmacology and toxicology and Director of the program in neuroscience at Michigan state University, says that some people can lose several kilos of weight just after giving up alcohol.
It’s not just about “drinking” calories: the alcohol can remove all inhibitions and lead to late night snacking, which you probably would in a sober state. How fast you lose those extra pounds will depend on how much you drank earlier. New York-based nutritionist Jessica Cording declares that those who drank one alcoholic drink a day, can see the weight loss in a week, if not, replace “alcohol” calories other calorie food or drink.
Improves the function of the immune system. George F. Cobb, Ph. D., Director of the National Institute on drug abuse and alcoholism says alcohol weakens the immune system making a person more painful. Alcohol causes a variety of viruses, but may make it more vulnerable to them. Thus, we cannot say that a sober life will provide you with heavy duty immune system – it will simply return you to the base condition, that is, to the immune system that you had before you started drinking. If you are a healthy man, Dr. Halligan said that a few weeks after alcohol withdrawal your immune system back to normal.
Accelerating the metabolism. If you’re not drinking too much before you completely give up alcohol, it is unlikely that you will notice a big difference, but the point is still worth mentioning. Although drinking alcohol in moderation can improve insulin sensitivity (which leads to improved metabolism), excessive consumption of alcohol hinders the liver and the pancreas, who are taking an active part in metabolism. So if you drank enough to inhibit these processes, your metabolism will begin to work more effectively within a few weeks after the start of sobriety.
The liver begins to function more effectively. Alcohol not only is a toxin to the liver, but also produces by-products of metabolism that must be excreted again through the liver. As a result, the liver must work harder and longer to recover from the effects of alcohol. In addition, alcohol can cause inflammation in the liver, which hinders the normal work of getting rid of toxins and the conversion of fat into energy for your body.
If you abuse alcohol, it can affect the liver with fat, which can lead to fatty liver. Fortunately, this disease can be prevented, and avoiding alcohol should help the liver to function better. But liver function is not improving as fast as, say, the immune system: complete restoration of the liver, even if you have no fatty hepatosis may take several months.
Normalizes sleep. Alcohol – relaxing agent, so you may feel that it will help you sleep better. Unfortunately, it is not. Alcohol really helps me sleep, but it suppresses the fast phase of sleep, the restorative part of the sleep cycle. That’s why the sleep, after drinking this intermittent. Alcohol also is a diuretic, therefore you are more likely to go to the toilet, which can also affect the quality of sleep. Avoiding alcohol eliminates all of these factors, making sleep more calm and deep.
A return to the old habit can lead to excessive drinking
If you decide to give up alcohol for a while, be careful when you’ll start drinking again. Even those who drank alcohol in moderation, after a pause the length of two a month, tend to abuse alcohol. The exact reason for this behavior is unknown, but it appears to be some kind of overcompensation for the lost time. Perhaps your habits in the use of alcohol will be back to normal after the nostalgia of the celebration a month or two of sobriety will last, but Dr. Cobb said that it was important to keep this process under control, to avoid alcohol intoxication.
Therefore if you are thinking about a break from alcohol, consider some of the above advantages. And keep in mind that abstinence from alcohol can be even more useful for people with certain health problems such as liver disease, diabetes, HIV, and problems with the gastrointestinal tract.