Giving yourself a break from drinking alcohol can be great for more reasons than you may think, it can bring many surprisingly good benefits. No one is talking about leaving it entirely, as a matter of fact, moderate alcohol consumption can bring you some benefits too. However, a complete break from it can do a lot of great things for you. If you happen to be someone who drinks on a regular basis, read these 6 Amazing Health Benefits You Get When You Stop Drinking Alcohol.
1. Improved Mood
One of the pleasant feelings alcohol, or any mind altering substance brings is the “happy feeling” and this is a strong reason many people share a drink. It occurs due to the alcohol causing your brain to release dopamine, the chemical responsible for all the feelings of euphoria and warmth you get while drinking.
The problem comes when the need to feel that dopamine release in your body grows and you start drinking more and more just to get it, building at the same time resistance to alcohol effects. This is why so many people feel sad and miserable the next day. Putting a halt on your active consumption will allow your body to reset its dopamine levels and put your overall body chemistry back to normal. The added bonus is that you will soon realize how your mood improves drastically and your mind become clearer and focused.
2. Better Sleep
A lot of people think that buzz makes them sleep faster because of the drowsiness it induces. But rather, they are confusing that with just falling flat out after a night of heavy partying.
When sleeping, alcohol produces alpha waves in the brain, which are the waves present when you are resting but not sleeping, like sitting on a couch after a heavy lunch, this causes a disrupted sleep state and prevents the brain and the body to fully recover. This is why many people experience very vivid nightmares in their sleep after a night of heavy drinking. If you stop drinking for a while you will notice a great deal of improvement in your sleeping state, you will feel more rested and fresh because your skin also has a chance to restore and moisturize itself at night. Speaking of which…
3. Look Better Overall
Alcohol, much like coffee, is a diuretic and that basically means you urinate a lot, this causes the skin to dehydrate, look parched and even begin to crack; your eyes will feel dry and the bags around them will increase with time. Putting a stop to active consumption will allow the skin to rehydrate and the parched-looking areas will disappear. It can also cause the red color on your nose and cheeks to fade away and help prevent other skin conditions like rosacea, eczema, and dandruff.
4. Get in Shape
This one is no mystery, drinking alcohol will make you gain weight. Alcohol on its own packs a ton of calories, almost as much as pure fat; also, when you consume large quantities your body will process it first, leaving all the fat and sugar in your system for a longer time than it should be. As a result, you tend to gain weight at a rapid pace. This combined with bad habits/consequences such as disrupted sleep and lack of motivation you are also unlikely to get out and make exercise to burn all those extra calories.
Giving alcohol a break will help stabilize your metabolism and return your body to a natural state, not you mention you will look better!
5. Improve Your Immune System
The immune system helps to keep all kinds of nasty things at bay, including outside intruders when they penetrate our body and try to attack it. It is fair to say that the immune system is a support and offense system, defending and protecting at once.
So, have you noticed that after a night of drinking and partying you don’t feel good?
While hangover certainly contributes to that feeling, the truth is that alcohol turns your body more vulnerable to germs and viruses. To top it off, your body is not ready to repel the germ army now trying to invade you.
Why is that? Turns out the immune system is rendered weak after only 20 minutes of alcohol ingestion. You’ll think it twice now before going for those peanuts in the shaky bar down the street.
Stop drinking for an extended period of time so your immune system can get back on its feet.
6. The 30 Days No-Drinking Challenge
Known as “Dry January” because many people engage it to help detox their bodies after all the holiday’s festivities and culinary mayhem. It is essentially just 30 days where you do not ingest alcohol at all to help you get back into optimal shape both physically and mentally. Many find that after completing the challenge the alcohol cravings have diminished greatly or are gone completely.
Drinking can be fun in social situations, but alcohol overuse can lead to accidents, permanent health damages or just plain hurt, remember that nothing in excess is good, keep these health benefits in mind every time you decide to get a break from alcohol to help you keep focused and motivated.