What’s most important is looking at your drinking habits and finding a way to cut back that works for you. Becoming more aware of your alcohol triggers and reasons for drinking can help you plan ways to help manage the urge to drink. When you drink too much alcohol, it can throw off the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. With continued alcohol use, steatotic liver disease can lead to liver fibrosis. Eventually, you can develop permanent and irreversible scarring in your liver, which is called cirrhosis. Your liver detoxifies and removes alcohol from your blood through a process known as oxidation.
Moderate and Excessive Drinking Defined
And in rare, extreme cases, if left unaddressed these side effects can also lead to fatality. In a domestic setting, the presence of chlorine in water can https://ecosoberhouse.com/ impact various home water treatments like water softening. While chlorine doesn’t significantly affect these processes, it can have some adverse effects.
A new study could change what’s considered moderate drinking
A final way alcohol affects weight is by increasing an individual’s propensity towards more caloric foods. This content references scientific studies and academic research, and is fact-checked to ensure accuracy. Altogether, a first-time DUI offense can you be an alcoholic and not drink everyday could potentially cost an individual anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 when all is said and done. If you’re concerned that you or a loved one meet several of these criteria, it’s a good idea to talk to a hotline representative about your situation.
Your gut health can be negatively affected
For healthy adults, sipping a glass of wine or drinking a single cocktail every day probably won’t cause irreparable physical damage. Then again, neither might the occasional alcohol binge—though drinking to the point of blackout (unconsciousness, however brief) is never a good health choice. Economically, binge drinking costs America more than other forms of excessive alcohol use, such as heavy drinking. Because your brain is very sensitive to damage, chronic alcohol abuse may increase your risk of dementia and cause brain shrinkage in middle-aged and older adults (12, 13, 14, 15). They also looked at specific genetic variants that track closely with how much alcohol a person drinks.
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Your liver’s role
Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits
- But such studies can’t prove that alcohol was responsible for the benefit.
- Like many who have struggled with addiction, Markie’s journey to sobriety was no straightforward path.
- But if you drink too much alcohol (especially at inopportune times), there may be significant harms as well.
- Some research suggests that continuous exposure to chlorinated water (such as in swimming pools) can exacerbate asthma symptoms, increase food allergies, and even lead to congenital abnormalities.
