Drinking alcohol has become normalized. From teen college movies to adverts on the TV, most individuals drink alcohol without ever considering what it is doing to our bodies.

Whilst the occasional red wine with your favorite meal isn’t a major cause for concern, drinking alcohol frequently or being addicted to alcohol can have many negative impacts on the body.

Disease

Alcohol has been proven to cause many disorders, including heart disease and liver disease. This is because too much of the stuff can damage these vital organs and leave them unable to work as they should. This can have devastating consequences. Alcohol can disrupt your natural blood sugar levels and cause diabetes. Alcohol has also been linked to breast and oral cancer.

Brain

When you drink alcohol, you are interfering with the normal brain pathways. You can feel this yourself, as when you drink alcohol, everything about you can change, from how you walk to how you speak. Although acting out of sorts is one way alcohol impacts the brain, long-term use can damage pathways and lead to many mental health problems, including anxiety and depression.

Heart

The heart is one of the most vital organs we have, therefore we need to look after it as best we can. Excessive alcohol use, or even drinking too much in just one session, can cause short and long-term damage to the heart. Some of the main problems of excessive drinking include high blood pressure and strokes. For more in-depth information on alcohol effects on the body and how you can get help, click the link.

Alcohol & Your Liver

Your liver is responsible for the metabolism of alcohol. If you’re drinking too much this can massively affect the liver. It is thought that the liver takes around 60 minutes to metabolize just one ounce of alcohol. If you’re constantly drinking, your liver has to work overtime to keep up. This leads to  fibrosis (the forming of abnormal amounts of scar tissue) and steatosis  (also known as fatty liver).

Stomach Issues

Too much alcohol can lead to stomach ulcers, bloating and excessive gas. For some, this causes major issues for the whole digestive tract, with problems such as acid reflux. If, after drinking alcohol you get a burning sensation in your stomach or have painful acid that travels up your esophagus, you could be suffering with acid reflux due to excessive alcohol consumption. Without treatment, acid reflux can cause stomach ulcers.

Immune System

When you drink a lot of alcohol the body is so busy dealing with side effects your immune system is weakened. Your entire body can no longer react as it usually would when a virus enters, meaning you are more likely to get ill.

If you or a loved one is suffering from alcohol dependency, don’t suffer alone. Get help before you cause permanent damage to your body.

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