Effect of Drinking Alcohol on Your Daily Activity
Alcohol is a fun drink when you keep it down within its limits. We all join in for the New Year Eve bash or chip in with a bottle on a birthday of the quarterback. However, there is a danger in ‘loving too much’ if you do not mind that trite saying. Drinking alcohol in excess affects metabolism and daily routine. Since the levels of damage are low, you don’t notice it. Alternatively, it caught your attention, but you decided to ignore it. It is better to pay attention to detail. Keep a watch on how much you drink. This way, you will not commit too many big blunders.
How alcohol affects your body
Going about your daily activities, you notice small changes that creep in. These are so small that you decide they are nothing.
Your sleep quality becomes low
- Sleep the full 7-8 hours and sleep it well. Sleep is the time when your body undertakes the repair process. The carbon dioxide is sent out and for this metabolic process, you must remain within a state of complete rest. If you are excited (as it happens when you are drunk), the metabolism thinks you are awake, and so it does not start the process of sending out the waste carbon dioxide. It results in the accumulation of the toxic waste inside your body. It also does not carry out the repair process where it rectifies body tissue that has been destroyed. This leads to sleep apnea, which is a precursor to many dangerous diseases like stroke and diabetes. Check out the Huffington Posts article about how alcohol affects sleep and what you can do about it.
A small degree of dehydration sets in
- Alcohol has a diuretic effect upon the body. It makes you pass urine more. This depletes the body of the water store it has. Many of the athletes combine exercise with drinking alcohol. This leads to excessive sweating. It also contributes to the water loss. When one drinks alcohol, one does not want to drink water. We tend to avoid consuming water thinking that water will lower the level of our intoxication. Dehydration affects performance because our body is 65% water. When the level of water decreases, the working of our organs slows down. Over time, this could cause in the wearing down of the organs.
Effect on Performances
- We need energy for moving around and carrying out our duties. The activities of metabolism now point towards the filtration of excess alcohol on the body. So, more energy is diverted towards this process. Other activities like digestion and circulation drop down.
Cardio performance drops
- Cardio performance means the way the heart and lungs combine to produce oxygen-rich blood to the muscles throughout the body. If you do cardio exercises regularly, it will strengthen your heart and lungs. Alcohol acts in the other way; it drains your energy. After you have taken alcohol, it moves through the stomach and small intestines and then enters the body cells. Here, it disrupts the water balance causing a decrease of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) you produce. The body uses this fuel for energy. Your muscle can no longer contract, you lose your endurance.
Your strength limits drop
- By drinking alcohol, you deprive the muscles of the strength it needs. You become tired fast and do not have any strength. Mood changes set in because of the lower energy level. You often mistake these mood swings for depression and very often it is. Depression is a state of hopelessness that is associated with lowered energy levels. When you become depressed, you no longer take initiative. So, people keep away from you, and this makes you unhappy. Alcohol, thus, makes you sad and tired.
Slows down the reflexes
- Due to lower production of ATP, your muscles do not have the energy to move fast. So, when you get an impulse, you tend to react slower. Instead of moving instinctively, you have to think about moving in order to move. Alcohol affects the functioning of the hippocampus adversely. This is the place where you store new memories. When you cannot make any new memories, it affects your learning process because you can no longer develop any new information. Memory needs a foundation of peace and quiet that happens when one sleeps. Drinking before you go to sleep, and you disrupt the sleep process.
Negative Effects of Drinking Alcohol
- Though the alcohol contains sugar, the body cannot use it straight away. The body cannot even convert it into glycogen, which is the stored form of sugar. So, the alcohol gets converted into fatty acids. You can see how the faces of heavy drinkers turn pink and plump.
Affects muscle development and recovery
- The protein synthesis gets slow on using the alcohol for a long time. When the muscle growth slows down, there is reduced strength in the body. Moreover, when there is an injury, the recovery process does not proceed fast. So the person will suffer more.
Cramps occur more often
- Due to improper sleep, the body has a lesser amount of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is important in the muscle recovery and growth. If you drink large amounts of alcohol, the testosterone levels drop. This decreases the lean muscle mass. Due to inadequate muscle support, you develop cramps.
Having an occasional round of beer or a glass of wine is arguably good for people who are non-addicts. Half a pint of beer is a standard drink and recommended. It helps to improve the circulation and flushes out the toxins inside. It also improves the sleep quality. However, do not let it get ahead of you. The moment it gets the upper hand, you lose your life or at least a part of it.
If you or a loved one is suffering from addiction, call our team at Atlanta Sober Living! We will be happy to get you sorted and on the right path! Please feel free to read our previous post about healthy foods to help restore you.
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