Alcohol and health: What you need to know
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Feb 23, 2019
- 3 min read
Straight to Your Head
After thirty seconds of consumption, alchool blocks chemicals and pathways to brain cells. The result will be altered mood, slow reflexes and imbalance.
Your Brain Shrinks
Heavy consumption of alchol will change brain size and how it works. Your brain may start shrinking and it affects your learning abilities and thinking skills. Moreover, alcohol affect body movement and body temperature.
Does It Help You Sleep?
You may sleep easily but not well as you start tossing and turning. You will wake up for bathroom. And you’re more likely to have nightmares and vivid dreams.
More Stomach Acid
Increase in alcohol and acid cause build up and then nausea. Moreover, long term drinking has been linked with stomach ulcer. Alcohol has been linked with hunger as your stomach is irritating and then you will not get enough calories.
Diarrhea and Heartburn
As alcohol throw off the normal speed that your body move food it may lead to diarrhea and it can be chronic. Alcohol relaxes the uscle that keeps acid out of your esophagus, the tube that connects your mouth and stomach.
Why You Have to Pee … Again
Over consumption of alchool has been lniked with high amount of urine and then you are at risk of dehydration. Moreover buildup of toxic component will affect kidneys.
The Steps to Liver Disease
Heavy drinking has been lniked with fatty liver and with time thickened blood vessels decrease or even block blood flow to the liver so the liver will not work anymore this is what we call it cirrhosis.
Pancreas Damage and Diabetes
Alcohol jams that process up. The chemicals stay inside the pancreas. Along with toxins from alcohol, they cause inflammation in the organ, which can lead to serious damage. After years, that means you won’t be able to make the insulin you need, which can lead to diabetes. It also makes you more likely to get pancreatic cancer.
What’s a Hangover?
Alcohol make you dehydrated, having nauses and vomiting. And because your liver was so busy processing alcohol, it didn’t release enough sugar into your blood, bringing on weakness and the shakes.
An Offbeat Heart
One night of binge drinking can jumble the electrical signals that keep your heart’s rhythm steady. If you do it for years, you can make those changes permanent. And, alcohol can literally wear your heart out. Over time, it causes heart muscles to droop and stretch, like an old rubber band. It can’t pump blood as well, and that impacts every part of your body.
A Change in Body Temperature
Alcohol widens your blood vessels, making more blood flow to your skin. That makes you blush and feel warm and toasty. But not for long. The heat from that extra blood passes right out of your body, causing your temperature to drop. Long term of heavy drinking has been lniked with high blood pressure as the heart pump more to assure blood flow.
A Weaker Immune System
Alcohol affect immune system and the body will not be able to make enough white blood cells to fight germ and the result will be you will get sick the next day. Long-term, heavy drinkers are much more likely to get illnesses like pneumonia and tuberculosis.
Hormone Havoc
Alcohol affect hormone balance. In women, that can knock your periods off cycle and cause problems getting pregnant. In men, it can mean trouble getting an erection, a lower sperm count, shrinking testicles, and breast growth.
Hearing Loss
Alcohol affect hearing but the mechanism is not clear so it is may be due to how the brain affect sound or due to damaged nerves related to hearing. However it happens, drinking means you need a sound to be louder so you can hear it. And that can become permanent. Long-term drinkers often have hearing loss.
Thin Bones, Less Muscle
You will lose muscles as alcohol decrease calcium absoprtion, inable to make new bone and decrease blood flow to muscles so they can not take enough protein and the result will be fargile and weak bones.
Sources:
https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/BH365/2016/04/19/1247/
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