What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain, Heart, and Muscles
See how drinking affects every part of your body. (Image: Thinkstock)
Just
one sip of beer, wine, or whisky hangs out in your body for about 2
hours. Once it quickly enters your bloodstream, it touches down on
nearly every organ and system in your body.
Thanks
to its job breaking down toxins, your liver bears the brunt of heavy
drinking. But even if you don’t imbibe enough to cause cirrhosis—the
dangerous liver scarring that marks the final stage of alcohol-induced
liver disease—your bar nights may start taking their toll on your
health.
Now,
we like alcohol, so we’re not finger-wagging. Moderate drinking—about
two servings per day for men—brings a slew of health benefits, from
lowering your risk for diabetes to boosting your creativity. (And for a
book filled with how to achieve all of your healthy-living goals, check
out The Better Man Project.
It’s jam-packed with genius strategies for losing your belly fat,
sharpening your mind, and getting everything you want out life.)
But
if you start to overdo it, alcohol can certainly have negative effects.
Here’s what happens in your body when you throw down more than a few.
1. Your Brain
Contrary
to popular belief, alcohol doesn’t actually kill your brain cells, says
David Sack, M.D., CEO of addiction-treatment company Elements
Behavioral Health.
But
hooch does alter levels of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers
that control your mood, perception, and behavior, he says.
Related: 12 Scientific Ways To Look Smarter
Alcohol
impairs brain areas such as the cerebellum—the control site for your
balance and coordination—and your cerebral cortex, which is responsible
for thinking, memory, and learning, says Kimberly S. Walitzer, Ph.D.,
deputy director of the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on
Addictions.
Plus,
University of Michigan researchers found the amygdala—an area of the
brain involved in fear and anger—showed less of a reaction to
threatening faces after a single drink, potentially explaining why
you’re prone to risky behavior (like fighting a bouncer) under the
influence.
2. Your Skin
Sure,
beer goggles may make other people appear hotter—but booze doesn’t do
your own mug many favors. Alcohol dilates blood vessels on your face,
making them more prone to breakage.
Related Video: How Beer Goggles Work
This
gives you bloodshot eyes and worsens a ruddy-skinned condition called
rosacea, says dermatologist David E. Bank, M.D., of Columbia
Presbyterian Medical Center.
Your
heart pumps more fluid into surrounding tissues to balance out those
alcohol-widened arteries and veins, leaving you with a bloated, puffy
face.
3. Your Muscles
Hit the gym as hard as you want—if you hightail it to the bar afterward, you may never get the arms you want. (And by the way, here’s 25 Ways To Build Your Biceps.)
Alcohol
tinkers with your hormonal and inflammatory responses to exercise,
making it more difficult for your body to repair damaged proteins and
build new ones (essential steps in getting ripped), according to a
recent review in the journal Sports Medicine.
You’ll
compound this effect if you reach for a beer before a recovery snack or
shake, says study author Matthew Barnes, Ph.D., of Massey University in
New Zealand.
So
take the time to get some protein, carbohydrates, and non-boozy fluids
into your system post-workout before cracking open your first cold one.
4. Your Heart
Moderate
drinking might protect your ticker due to the blood vessel-relaxing
polyphenols that alcohol contains or by raising your levels of HDL,
(“good” cholesterol), says researcher Kirsten Mehlig, Ph.D., of the
University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
But her recent study in the journal Alcohol
suggests these effects may only benefit the 15 percent of the
population with a certain genetic profile affecting HDL levels. It’s too
soon to recommend genetic testing to guide your alcohol consumption,
she points out.
Meanwhile, those same two drinks per day can raise your risk of atrial fibrillation by 17 percent, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
This type of irregular heartbeat approximately quadruples your risk of having a stroke and triples your risk of heart failure.
5. Your Stomach
Just
one night of bingeing—that’s five drinks or more for guys in about 2
hours—increases what’s called your gut permeability, according to
University of Massachusetts Medical School researchers.
Harmful
toxins and bacteria leak from your digestive system into your
bloodstream, prompting a dangerous imm
At
lower doses, alcohol irritates your stomach, increases acidity, and
relaxes the muscle at the end of your esophagus, causing heartburn, Dr.
Sacks says.
(Too much drinking can also lead to a beer belly. But you can enjoy alcohol and drop your dead weight with The Lose Your Spare Tire Program.)
6. Your Penis
Having
as few as five drinks a week decreases your sperm count and percentage
of healthy swimmers, perhaps by affecting levels of sex hormones like
testosterone, Danish researchers recently reported in the journal BMJ Open.
And
while you may find a glass of vino sets the mood, anything more than
that could wreck your performance in the bedroom, Dr. Sacks says.
Almost
three-quarters of men with alcohol dependence have at least one sexual
health issue, such as low desire, erectile dysfunction, or premature
ejaculation, say Indian researchers. (Find out the other Weird Things That Can Wreck Your Erection.)
