What happens when you quit alcohol?
Alcohol. Effective at killing waterborne pathogens. Proven to lower inhibitions and affect mood in a variety of ways. Generally thought to taste good.
Those are three of the main reasons why booze has been revered by many of the world’s great civilizations, since at least 6,000 BC. Empty calories weren’t so much of a concern back then.
But we live in a time of abundant available food energy and a strong desire to look good naked, so it behooves us to look at alcohol with a more discerning eye.
Too much of the stuff will kill you. Too little of this stuff might also kill you. If, like many millions of Americans, you drink alcoholic beverages frequently, you might be interested to know how your body may change if you cut out beer, wine and liquor for a while.
1
YOU’LL LOSE
WEIGHT
1
YOU’LL LOSE
WEIGHT
WEIGHT
Alcohol contains calories, mostly from carbohydrates. You can safely assume that a beer, glass of wine or a cocktail packs about 150 calories apiece.
Aside from wine’s supposedly heart-healthy benefits (see below), these calories are the very definition of empty — they offer next-to-nothing in the way of nutrition.
If you cut out drinking and don’t replace the alcohol with other sources of empty calories, it’s a good bet that you’ll start to lose weight without much effort.
Say you drink an average of five alcoholic beverages per week. Then you cut out the booze without making any other lifestyle changes. In a year’s time, you’d save more than 39,000 calories. That’s 11 pounds of belly fat burnt.
When 14 staff members of New Scientist magazine decided to cut out the booze for 5 weeks, they lost 2% of their body weight on average.
2
YOU’LL STOP
OVEREATING
2
YOU’LL STOP
OVEREATING
OVEREATING
In addition to the calories you’ll save from nixing the booze, you’ll probably be less inclined to overeat.
A study published in theAmerican Journal of Nutrition showed that alcohol is one of the biggest drivers of excess food intake. Another study published in the journal Obesity has suggested that this may be because alcohol heightens our senses.
Researchers found that women who'd received the equivalent of about two drinks in the form of an alcohol infusion ate 30% more food than those who'd received a saline solution.
Even mild intoxication cranked up brain activity in the women’s hypothalamus regions. This, say the study’s authors, made them more sensitive to the smell of food, prompting them to eat more.
3
YOUR METABOLISM
WILL IMPROVE
3
YOUR METABOLISM
WILL IMPROVE
WILL IMPROVE
Here’s another way you’ll start shedding pounds once you put the plug in the jug: When there’s alcohol around, the body uses it for energy, not other sources like fat. Stop boozing it up, and your metabolism will get a boost.
To sum up #1-#3, giving up booze is a triple threat to your love handles.
4
YOU’LL BE HEALTHIER
OVERALL
4
YOU’LL BE HEALTHIER
OVERALL
OVERALL
When those New Scientist staffers got their medical results back after just five weeks off the sauce, they discovered that they hadn’t only reduced their love handles.
Their blood work showed that they’d lowered their cholesterol levels by an average of 5%, their blood glucose by 16% percent, and their liver fat by 15%.
Although many peer-reviewed studies have shown that you can expect health improvements after kicking booze, theNew Scientist experiment demonstrated just how quickly health metrics can improve after abstaining from alcohol for a relatively short period of time.
5
YOU'LL SLEEP BETTER
5
YOU'LL SLEEP BETTER
You need to get a sufficient quantity and quality of rest for every process in your body to function properly.
Though booze can make you fall asleep initially, it tends to disruptsleep. That conclusion was reached by a review of 27 studies on the topic.
Another recent study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research found that drinking before bed increases alpha wave patterns in the brain. If you want restorative shuteye, those waves don’t help.
Once you give up alcohol, however, you’ll start feeling more refreshed and sharp.
6
YOU’LL HAVE
BETTER SKIN
6
YOU’LL HAVE
BETTER SKIN
BETTER SKIN
Alcohol is a diuretic — it causes you to pee more that you otherwise would. Many foods and drinks have diuretic properties.
But unlike green tea, for example, alcohol also decreases the body's production of the antidiuretic hormone that helps the body reabsorb water.
This is bad news all around, but it’s noticeably bad for the part of you that greets the world each day—your face. After a few days of abstinence, you'll notice that your skin looks and feels more hydrated, and other skin conditions like dandruff, eczema or rosacea may also improve.
7
YOU CHANGE
DISEASE RISK
— BOTH WAYS
7
YOU CHANGE
DISEASE RISK
— BOTH WAYS
DISEASE RISK
— BOTH WAYS
First, the bad news: Multiple studies have shown moderate alcohol consumption may lower your odds of heart disease and stroke.
Diabetes and mortality rates also tend to increase once a light drinker decides to be a teetotaler. (Note that this applies to lightdrinking.)
Now the good news: By quitting drinking, you’ll lower your risk of developing several cancers.
According to the National Cancer Institute, alcohol use has been linked to an increased risk for cancers of the mouth, liver, breast, colon, and rectum, and the risk increases the more you drink.
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