Alcohol comes into direct contact with the mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach and intestines as well as being absorbed into the bloodstream. Health problems can begin as headaches, feeling nauseated, sore throat or indigestion. However, if alcohol abuse continues, these and other alcohol and health symptoms can develop into more serious illnesses and diseases.
Here are examples of short term health effects of alcohol on the body:
? Nausea, Vomiting, Dizziness, Hangovers - excessive alcohol consumption can result in the body trying to protect itself by getting rid of the alcohol and vomiting. Alcohol and health and the central nervous system are related since alcohol affects a person's sense of balance and orientation, leading to a feeling of nausea and/or dizziness. Hangovers are partly due to the body's dehydration caused by alcohol consumption, and hangover effects of alcohol on the body may be felt a few hours after consuming alcohol.
? Loss of Muscle Control - slurred speech is one of the effects of alcohol on the body. Impaired judgement and poor coordination are alcohol and health effects that can lead to falls and accidents.
? Adverse Interactions with Medications - alcohol is known to interact negatively with at least 100 medications. For example, antihistamines taken with alcohol can increase the drowsiness that this medication by itself can cause. Large doses of the painkiller acetaminophen taken together when consuming alcohol increases the risk of liver damage.
? Pregnancy Risks - alcohol can cause numerous birth defects, the most serious being fetal alcohol syndrome. Babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome will have physical abnormalities, mental impairment and problems with behavior. To avoid negative alcohol and health effects during pregnancy, do not drink alcohol during pregnancy as no one knows exactly how much alcohol causes birth deffects.
Because alcohol and health effects can involve many organs in the body, long-term heavy drinking puts you at risk for developing serious health conditions and illnesses. Here are examples of long term effects of alcohol on the body:
? Liver Inflammation and Cirrhosis of the Liver - liver inflammation symptoms include abnormal yellowing of the skin, eyeballs and urine, fever and abdominal pain. And in the case of cirrhosis, as many as one in five heavy drinkers will develop cirrhosis of the liver. Alcohol is especially harmful to the liver since the liver is needed to metabolize alcohol. Alcohol destroys liver cells, and it destroys the ability of the liver to regenerate new cells.
? Cancer - long term heavy drinkers increase their risk for certain forms of cancer such as cancer of the mouth, throat and esophagus and colon.
? Heart disease - long term heavy drinking increases a person's risk for developing high blood pressure and heart disease.
? Pancreaitis - long term heavy drinking can result in developing inflammation of the pancreas, called pancreaitis. The pancreas are needed for food digestion, and pancreaitis symptoms include severe abdominal pain and weight loss. Pancreaitis can be life-threatening.
Additional long term negative alcohol and health effects on the body include damage to the brain, nerve damage, bleeding in the esophagus, erectile dysfunction in men, insomnia and depression. If you'd like to learn more about alcoholism stages and warning signs, there are proven resources available that can help. It is never too late to begin recovery from alcohol addiction.
Copyright 2006 InfoSearch Publishing
Many of us associate the effects of alcohol on the body with the heart, lungs, liver, brain, memory, etc. Furthermore, if asked about effects of drinking alcohol in terms of our fitness goals, most people will let you know about the infamous beer belly.
You know what I'm talking about right?
Drink too much and you end up storing too many calories as fat.
Many people will choose low calorie alcohol drinks or low carb alcoholic beverages in an attempt to avoid the fat storage issue. They feel that by making this choice the only bad effects of alcohol - increased fat storage - will be minimized.
But what you didn't know is that only about 5% of the calories from alcohol are stored as fat! [14]
Then it hit me as it should hit you right about now...
The effects of alcohol on the body are far more damaging than can be predicted by the number of empty calories in some alcoholic beverage.
The truth is...
1- Alcohol really affects the amount of fat your body can and will burn for energy!
In a study done by the American Journal of Clinical Research [4] they concluded that just a mere 24g of alcohol consumption showed whole-body lipid oxidation ( the rate at which your body burns fat) decreased by a whopping 73%!
When alcohol goes thru the liver, the by-product is called Acetate. It would appear that acetate puts the proverbial brakes on fat burning.
Your body can use many types of fuel. Protein, carbohydrates and fat. In many cases, the fuel used is dictated by it's availability.
Trouble is...
Your body tends to use whatever you feed it for fuel right? As your acetate levels increase, your body burns more acetate as fuel.
What this means is...
Fat burning takes a back seat!
What it all boils down to is this...
a) You consume a couple of alcoholic drinks or more. b) Your liver metabolizes that into acetate. c) Your body uses the acetate for fat as fuel.
2- Increase in appetite
In another American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, there was evidence to suggest that consumption of alcohol lead to an increase in appetite over that of any other carbohydrate type drink. [5]
Researchers over in the Research Department of Human Nutrition and Center for Advanced Food Studies in Denmark [8] concluded that consumption of alcoholic beverages, and wine in particular, may enhance total energy intake at a meal relative to a soft drink, when served with no restriction.
3- Decrease in Testosterone and an Increase in Cortisol
A study of 8 healthy male volunteers observed that after drinking alcohol, the effects of a significant decrease in testosterone and an increase in cortisol (a muscle destroying hormone) lasted up to 24 hours! [6]
The only real question to ask yourself is this...
If you are serious about building muscle and burning fat, you want all the free testosterone levels you can get and you want to reduce cortisol in any way you can. That means go lite on the drinking because it does affect your hormones.
What more...
Is that the effects were even worse if you exercise before drinking. [1] This means that if you are going out and will be drinking more than a small amount of alcohol, you might as well skip the gym.
Not shocking is a study done by the Department of Radiology, Sahlgrenska Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden [2] that determined increased waist to hip ratio of alcoholics may include not only changes in adipose tissue, but also in muscle tissue distribution.
In layman's terms.. that means more fat around the waist and less overall muscle mass.
Look for Part 2 of this article to learn the other 4 reasons why excessive alcohol might destroy your muscle gains and hinder your fat loss.
Both Olinda Rola & Marc David are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Olinda Rola has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Pregnancy Problems and Bathroom Home Improvement. Learn about the alcoholism stages that everyone should know at - David Bust. Olinda Rola's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
Marc David has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gym, Fitness and Get Ex Back. Do you suffer from any of these ? Who else. Marc David's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.