Everyone enjoys an alcoholic beverage from time to time. Drinking alcohol is very common in society. However, it is also no secret that drinking alcohol can be an attack on your body and mind. It is addictive and bad for your general health. That is why you can get many benefits from drinking less alcohol.
What benefits? We have researched that. And luckily for you, we’ve listed these neatly. Of course ‘Dry January’ has already passed, but maybe it’s not wrong to drink less alcohol for another month. You will soon notice that you become fitter if you drink less alcohol.
Drink less alcohol?
This article is not written to tell you what to do or not to do. Of course you also want to enjoy life and the occasional beer or wine is ‘just’ part of that for many. There is nothing wrong with that either. The benefits you will find below are simply meant to make you aware of some of the benefits. You can decide for yourself what to do with this information.
1. You sleep better
Alcohol has an impact on your night’s sleep. Many people believe they sleep better with a sip. There is also something to be said for that, because drinking alcohol ensures that you become drowsy faster. Sometimes you lose the battle and fall asleep on the couch after a night out. Then a few hours later you wake up fairly absent-minded.
Because of all that toxin in your body, the quality of your night’s sleep is poor after a night out. If you stop drinking, you will generally feel better rested. Your concentration also increases. It may be nice that you fall asleep immediately with alcohol, but that does not mean that you also rest well.
2. You can lose weight more easily
If you regularly drink alcohol, you can gain a lot of weight. That famous ‘beer belly’ comes from somewhere. Many people forget how many calories alcohol contains: 7 kcal per gram. Add to that the calories of the carbohydrates (and sometimes fats in cocktails). If you drink heavily for an evening, you can just get a lot of extra calories.
In addition, alcohol in your body also boosts the production of cortisol. Also known as the stress hormone. A well-known consequence of a lot of cortisol in your body is that it causes your body to break down muscle faster and store fat faster. The most disadvantageous combination, shall we say, because this also makes your visits to the gym less effective.
However, it does not stop here. Alcohol also ‘triggers’ other hormones. For example, alcohol consumption will cause your body to produce more ghrelin and less leptin. This makes you more hungry during the evening and the next day (mainly junk food). That is why you want to eat a frikandel or hair salon at the end of the evening.
3. Better resistance
Alcohol affects your immune system. When you drink, the amount of blood cells in your body decreases. And it is precisely those cells that are essential to ward off viruses and bacteria. If you decide to drink less alcohol, then scientifically speaking you have less chance of contracting the flu, et cetera. You are also better rested, as you have read above, and that is also good for your resistance.
4. Better skin
Your liver has a hard time when you drink alcohol. This traps a lot of toxins. Sometimes your liver cannot fully process those toxins and then some of them end up in your skin. That creates impurities that in turn cause inflammation and the like. Alcohol also has a dehydrating effect. You can see that in your skin. In other words, alcohol causes bad skin. Drinking less alcohol can therefore do wonders and bring back that radiant skin.
5. Better mood
Alcohol enhances the production of the stress hormone cortisol, as you could read above. This not only has an impact on the breakdown of muscle tissue and the production of abdominal fat. An excess of cortisol can also make you feel chronically stressed.
Research shows that there is even a link between excessive alcohol consumption and depression. That’s why after a while without alcohol you can quickly feel calmer and happier. That’s worth a try, we think.
Bonus
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, we also have two bonus benefits for you. This way you will experience no to less hangovers when drinking less alcohol. That is ‘of course’ super chill, unless you enjoy a splitting headache. Well, everyone has their own thing!
And finally, you save a lot of money, because alcohol is quite expensive. Especially a cocktail on the terrace can be a big damper for your wallet. You can then use the money you save for other fun things.
2023-07-17 16:11:23
#major #benefits #drinking #alcohol
