Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum.
Alcohol slows the immune system, making bacteria-fighting white blood cells sluggish and much less efficient. Heavy drinkers may be more likely to succumb to illnesses such as tuberculosis or pneumonia, and increased risk of numerous forms of cancer.
Any type of alcohol can play a role in the formation of a beer belly, according to MayoClinic.com. Straight shots of hard liquor, such as vodka, rum, tequila and whiskey contain about 64 calories per ounce, so it'll take longer for the calories to cause a beer belly, but it is possible.
Alcohol makes it harder for the brain areas controlling balance, memory, speech, and judgment to do their jobs, resulting in a higher likelihood of injuries and other negative outcomes. Long-term heavy drinking causes alterations in the neurons, such as reductions in their size.
If you drink alcohol every day, health experts recommend you do not drink more than 0.6 ounces (for women) or 1.2 ounces (for men) of pure alcohol. Due to vodka's high alcohol content, this comes out to 1 or 2 shots of vodka per day.
Long-Term Health Risks. Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems.
Some sources claim that alcohol is converted into sugar by the liver. This is not true. Alcohol is converted to a number of intermediate substances (none of which is sugar), until it is eventually broken down to carbon dioxide and water.
What do you mean by heavy drinking? For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week.
Drinking alcohol is related to the incidence of stroke. In general the more alcohol that is consumed on the excessive side the greater the risk for the development of a stroke. This is true of both types of stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic).
When average alcohol consumption climbed from one to two units daily — about one pint of beer — brain volume reductions amounted to an additional two years of aging. And going from two to three units of alcohol was the equivalent of aging the brain by 3.5 years.
Drinking alcohol can slow down a person's metabolism. Alcohol can affect the organs in several ways. For instance, the main role of an individual's liver is to act as the “filter” when foreign substances enter the body, such as alcohol or drugs.
Red Wine. Red wine is widely recognized as one of the healthiest alcoholic drinks out there. Poon notes that it's "relatively low in calories and also offers some health benefits."9 She adds that red wine is rich in antioxidants such as resveratrol and proanthocyanidins and can promote cardiovascular health.
"The main effect of alcohol is to reduce the amount of fat your body can burn for energy," Maurin explained. "You are basically shutting down your metabolism, which then leads to weight gain."
Excessive Drinking
Alcohol use disorders. High blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke. Depression and anxiety.
Essentially, there are two toxins in alcohol that the body needs to work hard to eliminate. These are acetaldehyde and acetic acid. Acetaldehyde is a colorless liquid created by oxidizing ethanol. And alcohol is a colorless, flammable liquid that comes in various forms.
Brain benefits of moderate drinking
A large Harvard study in 14,000 middle-aged women found that women who drank between ½ an ounce and 1 ounce of alcohol per day were more likely to remain free of chronic illness and memory loss as they aged.
Heavy alcohol consumption can lead to cardiomyopathy. A change in heart rhythm is called an arrhythmia. Arrhythmias can occur because of changes to the heart's electrical system, which can be caused by blocked signals, abnormal pathways, irritable heart cells, medicines and stimulants.
Liver damage due to too much alcohol can stop the liver from making substances that help your blood to clot. This can increase your risk of having a stroke caused by bleeding in your brain.
What is Alcohol-related 'dementia'? Alcohol-related 'dementia' is a type of alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD). If a person has alcohol-related 'dementia' they will struggle with day-to-day tasks. This is because of the damage to their brain, caused by regularly drinking too much alcohol over many years.
Consumption of more than 28 standard drinks per week for men or 14 standard drinks for women is considered hazardous. More than 42 standard drinks per week for men or 28 standard drinks for women is considered harmful. Problem drinking includes: alcohol consumption at levels that are harmful or potentially so.
Drinking copious amounts of vodka every day is in no way advisable, nor is it good for your health, especially your liver. However, drinking a moderate amount of vodka every day is good for your heart. It increases the blood circulation in your body and helps you keep your cholesterol levels down.
Heavy drinking, particularly in diabetics, also can cause the accumulation of certain acids in the blood that may result in severe health consequences. Finally, alcohol consumption can worsen diabetes-related medical complications, such as disturbances in fat metabolism, nerve damage, and eye disease.
When you look at the overall picture, any alcohol that has added juices and mixers is going to be loaded with sugar and therefore higher in calories. If you are comparing alcohol that is straight up, vodka has zero grams of everything: carbs, sugar, fat, sodium, etc., whereas wine does have sugar and carb content.