When you stop drinking, you might notice a range of physical, emotional, or mental health symptoms that ease as soon as you have a drink. Drinking alcohol on a regular basis can also lead to dependence, which means your body and brain have grown used to alcohol’s effects. Alcohol use can factor into mental health symptoms that closely resemble those of other mental health conditions. Here’s a breakdown of alcohol’s effects on your internal organs and body processes. Alcohol can cause both short-term effects, such as lowered inhibitions, and long-term effects, including a weakened immune system. But there’s plenty of research to back up the notion that alcohol does lead to weight gain in general.
When it comes to the brain, alcohol acts as a depressant to the CNS. However, it can have inconsistent effects, exciting users under some conditions and sedating users under other conditions. Excitement, typically at lower doses, may be due to alcohol suppressing the inhibitory parts of the brain. When you drink too much alcohol, it can throw off the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. That’s partial hospitalization program bay area because your body already has processes in place that allow it to store excess proteins, carbohydrates and fats. So, your system prioritizes getting rid of alcohol before it can turn its attention to its other work.
Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits
Pancreatitis can be a short-term (acute) condition that clears up in a few days. But prolonged alcohol abuse art therapy ideas for addiction can lead to chronic (long-term) pancreatitis, which can be severe. The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk for these health effects, including several types of cancer. Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain. A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death. This is of particular concern when you’re taking certain medications that also depress the brain’s function.
- That’s because alcohol can weaken your immune system, slow healing and make your body more susceptible to infection.
- This can lead to hyperglycemia, or too much sugar in the blood.
- It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours.
- Steatotic liver disease used to go by the name fatty liver disease.
Steatotic liver disease develops in about 90% of people who drink more than 1.5 to 2 ounces of alcohol per day. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. The pancreas helps regulate how your body uses insulin and responds to glucose. If your pancreas and liver don’t function properly due to pancreatitis or liver disease, you could experience low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Many people assume the occasional beer or glass of wine at mealtimes or special occasions doesn’t pose much cause for concern.
But good evidence shows that drinking high amounts of alcohol are clearly linked to health problems. Many people drink alcohol as a personal preference, during social activities, or as a part of cultural and religious practices. People who choose not to drink make that choice for the same reasons. Knowing your personal risk based on your habits can help you make the best decision for you.
Psychological effects
Steatotic liver disease used to go by the name fatty liver disease. Your liver detoxifies and removes alcohol from your blood through a process known as oxidation. When your liver finishes that process, alcohol gets turned into water and carbon dioxide. Drinking too much can cause a range of consequences, and increase your risk for a variety of problems.
Impact on your health
Over time, alcohol can cause damage to your central nervous system. You might notice numbness and tingling in your feet and hands. If your body can’t manage and balance your blood sugar levels, you may experience greater complications and side effects related to diabetes.
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking. You might not recognize how much you drink or how many problems in your life are related to alcohol use. Listen to relatives, friends or co-workers when they ask you to examine your drinking habits or to seek help. Consider talking with someone who has had a problem with drinking but has stopped. For more information about alcohol’s effects on the body, please visit the Interactive Body feature on NIAAA’s College Drinking Prevention website.
These effects may be more serious and more noticeable if you drink regularly and tend to have more than 1 or 2 drinks when you do. Past guidance around alcohol use generally suggests a daily drink poses little risk of negative health effects — and might even offer a few health benefits. “Excessive alcohol consumption can cause nerve damage and irreversible forms of dementia,” Dr. Sengupta warns. Your gut microbiome is a hotbed of bacteria that help keep your digestive system happy and healthy. The trillions of microbes in your colon and large and small intestines are critical to proper digestion. They also help fend off inflammation and support healthy liberty cap gills metabolism.
Heavy drinking can also lead to a host of health concerns, like brain damage, heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver and even certain kinds of cancer. Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems. It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours. Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior.