Enjoy These Benefits When You Give Up Alcohol
Alcohol can’t solve your problems; you can! Stop drinking now to reap all these health benefits of giving up alcohol consumption.
Many of us have faced tremendous stress in the past few months. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, states have imposed lockdowns, people have lost jobs and businesses, and there has been a myriad of financial and health concerns bombarding us daily.
It’s probably been one of the most difficult times many people can remember. And sometimes when we’re under that kind of stress, we might rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Alcohol can be one of those things we lean on, but it can ultimately make mental and physical stress worse.
If you were drinking more than you’d like over the past few months, you might be thinking about the benefits of cutting back or stopping drinking could bring to your health and your life.
The Health Benefits Of Giving Up Alcohol
The following are some of the major benefits you can experience if you give up alcohol even for a few weeks:
1. Weight Loss
If you’ve been working to lose weight and find that you’re not getting the results you’d like, you might want to take a look at your drinking habits.
Alcohol is high in calories and sugar, and if you can cut it out and not replace those calories with something else, you’re likely going to lose weight.
You might, in particular, see less stomach fat.
There are also indirect ways quitting drinking can help you lose weight. For example, you may be more likely to fill your time with exercise or less likely to make unhealthy food choices as you would if you were drinking.
2. Brain Boost
Alcohol can have long-term effects on the health of your brain, but also short-term effects. When you drink too much, it can cause brain damage and impair your memory and concentration.
If you stop drinking and you were a heavy drinker, you may be able to reverse some of the brain damage that’s occurred.
For example, when you drink heavily over the years, your brain can shrink in certain areas. When you don’t drink for a period of time, your brain may reverse that shrinkage and cognitive damage.
3. Reduced Cancer Risk
The use of alcohol is linked to some of the most common types of cancer. For example, heavy drinking or even long-term moderate drinking can lead to an increased risk of liver, esophageal, breast, and colorectal cancers.
If you stop drinking, you can reduce your risk because the more you drink and the longer you drink, the higher the risks.
4. Improved Mood
You may feel temporary as if your mood is elevated when you’re drinking. But eventually, drinking can cause your mood to be worse than it would normally.
There are a lot of reasons for this, including the effects alcohol can have on your brain.
If you drink too much, you’re less likely to get exercise. And if you don’t get enough exercise, it can cause you to feel like you’re in a bad mood.
If you stop drinking, you can elevate your energy levels and your mood.
5. Better Sleep
One of the huge benefits of giving up alcohol is that it helps you get better quality sleep. And this can also indirectly affect your mood positively.
When you drink alcohol, you may fall asleep faster than you would otherwise, but you don’t get as much restorative, deep sleep.
Alcohol can also cause your circadian rhythms to be out of whack.
6. Healthier Skin
When you drink alcohol, it dehydrates your skin and that makes it look dryer, more tired, and older.
When you cut alcohol out, it can help your skin look plumper and healthier.
7. More Equipped To Deal With Problems And Stress
When you rely on alcohol to get you through difficult periods or to mask your feelings and problems, then you’re just pushing the issues aside rather than dealing with them.
It’s important to be mentally healthy as well as physically healthy. And a big part of mental health is finding ways to cope with hard emotions.
If you cut alcohol out of your life, then you can take more control of your mental and emotional health and learn coping mechanisms that will help you feel better over the long term.
Taking the alcohol out of your life can shed light on why you were using it in the first place as well.
8. A Healthier You
Finally, eliminating alcohol can help improve your health overall. For example, it can improve your heart health and strengthen your immune system.
You can reverse liver damage, and you’re more likely to stick with healthy routines in your daily life without the distraction of alcohol.
As you can see, the benefits of giving up alcohol consumption are long-term in comparison to the short-term “benefits” of drinking.
So whether you want to lose weight, have glowing skin, sleep better, and get healthy overall (mentally, spiritually, and physically), you NEED to quit drinking alcohol.
Reap the health benefits of giving up alcohol starting today!
