What Alcohol Does to the Human Body

You might not realize it, but even just a small amount of alcohol can have an affect on your body. This is because it is absorbed into your bloodstream, which sends it throughout your entire body. Only a small amount of it makes it back out of your body through breathing and urination. Drinking more alcohol than your body can process is what makes you drunk. However, even drinking a little can still hurt you.

Consuming alcohol can damage you both physically and emotionally; if you drink long term it can be even worse. However, you don’t even need to be a heavy drinker to have a drinking problem. Here are just a few of the things that alcohol consumption does to you:

Heart Health

If you are a heavy drinker, your alcohol consumption can cause numerous heart issues. This includes a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and even high blood pressure. You may notice your cheeks turning red as you drink. This could be a sign of your blood pressure raising. That pounding in your head after a bender is also caused by this.

Liver Health

Your liver gets the worst of all alcohol consumption because that is the part of your body that tries to clean it out. Heavy drinker or not, alcohol damages your liver. While it can normally work to heal itself, excessive drinking can lead to fatty liver and more.

Brain Health

If you drink a lot, enough to give you blackouts, you could potentially be causing yourself brain damage, which is irreversible. Alcohol also messes with your reaction time and can cause issues with your driving and functioning in general. Ever been so drunk your speech was slurred. What do you think alcohol is doing to your brain when it causes that?

On top of those things you can also be causing damage to your life in general. Alcoholism can break up marriages and friendships. You could lose your job. You could even have your children taken away from you if you are an excessive drinker.

If you are a heavy drinker, or even just a social drinker, and your family is being hurt because of your drinking, you should consider seeking alcohol rehab treatment. This is the first step in learning to live without alcohol and helping your body heal from its negative effects on your mind and body.

Getting help by a professional is really the only way that you are ever going to heal and get over your addiction. Yes, alcoholism is a life threatening addiction. You risk a slow and painful death as your liver shuts down under the pressure your alcohol consumption puts on it.

If you drink on a regular basis, drink more than 3 or 4 drinks at a time, or feel the need for a drink every day, it may be time to talk to a doctor or counselor. It’s not too late to stop your addiction and get healthy again.