Effects of alcohol on health can be broken down into short term and long term effects. Drinking alcohol can cause health related problems over a short time span, while other long term health conditions may effect you years later.
Alcohol will usually come into direct contact with your mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach and intestines and of course will be rapidly absorbed into your blood stream. Initially health complications usually start out as headaches, sickness, irritated of the throat or heartburn/digestion problems. This is just the beginning, if you continue to consume alcohol these symptoms can quite easily develop into more serious and sometimes life threatening illnesses.
Short Term affects of alcohol on health
Vomiting. Most people, at some point in their lives, have consumed too much alcohol and then proceeded
to vomit it back up. Being sick is actually your bodies safety mechanism designed to get rid of excess alcohol in the stomach, which is why most people say they feel better after they have thrown up.
The dreaded hang over. One way to lessen your hangover would be to stay hydrated while you drink alcohol, so for every alcoholic drink you have you would also have a glass of water. This lessens your hangover, as for the most part your hangover is actually sever dehydration.
Loss of muscular control - Speaking with a slur and impaired coordination. I'm sure you have experienced this. This can lead to falls, accidents and general embarrassment.
Long Term affects of alcohol on health
Inflammation of the Liver leading to Cirrhosis - Symptoms include but are not limited to yellowing of the skin, eyes and urine, sever stomach pains and general feeling of being unwell. In sever cases some people will develop Cirrhosis of the liver. Alcohol destroys liver cells, and also destroys the livers ability to develop new cells.
Cancer - Long term alcohol use will increase the likelihood of developing certain forms of cancer including mouth, throat and colonic cancer.
Heart Disease - alcohol greatly increases the chances of developing high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease.
Brain/nerve damage - alcohol damages the way brain cells communicate, slowing down the passing of information between cells effectively making you stupider. Fortunately this damage is largely reversible.
3 Options to reverse the negative effects of alcohol on health
1. Give it up completely - This is obviously the safest option. Your damaged organs will need plenty of time to recover.
2. Increase your exercise regime and go out less - Exercise will help your body to recover and going out less will result in consuming less alcohol
3. Take a supplement which naturally increases the release of adult stem cells into your body. Adult stem cells help with your bodies natural renewal process. When an adult stem cell comes into contact with an organ (liver, heart, brain) it will transform into a much needed cell of that organ and replace the damaged cells, effectively renewing the organ. In short, the more adult stem cells released into your system the faster your body and brain will be able to renew and repair. Stem Enhancer products have been proven by scientists to increase the amount of circulating adult stem cells by up to 25-30%!
I hope this article on Reversing the negative effects of alcohol on health has been helpful to you. Health Benefits of Drinking Alcohol
The benefits of alcohol consumption have long been known. The Bible refers to alcohol's medicinal properties no less than 191 times. Alcohol is beneficial in controlling the following conditions: hypertension or high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, angina pectoris, liver disease, hepatitis A, pancreatic cancer, duodenal ulcer, gallstones, kidney stones, digestive ailments, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, bone fractures, hearing loss, macular degeneration, poor cognition and memory, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stress and depression, and erectile dysfunction.
Even more significantly, innumerable studies have proven beyond any doubt that alcohol consumption leads to a decrease in the rate of heart attacks and strokes. The results of studies conducted on hundreds of thousands of men and women from several countries and continents have consistently shown that alcohol consumption reduces death from heart disease and a host of other ailments.
Huh?!! So why does alcohol consumption keep getting such bad press?
Well, it's not the alcohol that's to blame, but the consumer of it. For these beneficial effects to take effect, the key is for the alcohol to be taken in MODERATE doses.
Ahhh!! There's the rub.
Alcohol consumption has wondrous effects if, and only if, the consumption is MODERATE. Listen to just a minuscule portion of the findings.
* The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that moderate drinkers have the greatest longevity. Moderate drinking results in a sharp decrease in heart disease risk (40%-60%). (This is a pretty major effect considering that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, responsible for one million deaths in America each year.)
* A study of 12,000 male physicians done in the U.K. over a 13-year period found that moderate drinkers had the lowest risk of death from ALL causes.
* The Italians did a study of 1,536 men aged 45 to 65. The study found that the moderate drinkers among them gained about 2 years of life compared to occasional and heavy drinkers.
* China also did a large-scale study of middle aged men. It too found that those who drank moderately had a nearly 20% lower mortality rate compared to men who abstained from drink.
The studies are not confined to male subjects. Alcohol does not discriminate between the sexes.
* The Harvard Nurses study of over 85,000 women reported reduced mortality among the moderate drinkers.
* Harvard researchers did a study of over 5,000 women with type 2 diabetes. The moderate drinkers among them had significantly lower heart disease rates than those who didn't drink. In fact, the women who drank about half a glass of alcohol a day reduced their risk from coronary heart disease by more than half.
And the list goes on. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism did an extensive review of recent research from over 20 countries and the findings were quite consistent. Moderate drinkers live longer than those who either abstain from alcohol or who drink heavily. This is largely due to a decrease in diseases such as coronary heart disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. Moderate drinkers enjoy better health than abstainers or heavy drinkers. It's been found that abstainers have double the risk of stroke as moderate drinkers.
Okay. So what's considered moderate drinking?
Different countries have different standards. But generally, for non-pregnant women, it's one to two drinks a day, for men it's two to three drinks.
Now, what constitutes a drink?
A medium glass of wine, a can of beer or a .5 ounce shot of whiskey or other spirit generally have the same amount of pure alcohol in them and would be considered as a drink or one alcoholic unit.
Many of the beneficial effects of moderate drinking reverse if a person drinks too much. The amount is a key factor but so is consistency and regularity. Five drinks in one night do not equal - and produce a totally opposite effect from - five drinks spread out over five nights.
So take heed. Moderation and consistency are key to getting the health benefits that alcohol offers.
