Alcohol is something that is accepted widely amongst most within society as something that we can all have in moderation as a way to have fun and even to relax.
However, it’s important to remember alcohol is also a drug, albeit a legal one, and it can also lead to problem drinking if taken in excess and used for the wrong reasons.
Alcohol also has a lot of negative side effects on the mind and body, so even if you’ve been thinking of cutting back or giving up completely for whatever reason even if it’s just for a year to see what difference it makes to you, then in this post we’re going to share with you what happens to your body when you stop drinking alcohol for a full year.
You lose weight
Alcohol is very high in calories, carbohydrates, and sugar, and for this reason it means that when you give up alcohol one of the first things that happens to your body is that you lose weight, and although this may not be a desirable effect for everyone, it’s important to remember that the weight loss that you achieve with alcohol reduction is something that is not going to be permanent if your lifestyle is not a healthy one in general, so you need to be making sure that you’re always looking to maintain a healthy weight that’s within your own comfort level, and not rely on giving up alcohol solely as a way to lose weight. However, if you are looking to lose weight, then giving up alcohol is definitely going to speed this process up.
You sleep better
Many of us know that when we have had a few glasses of wine or beer before bedtime that it can help us relax and feel like you’re getting a good sleep and although this is fine to do once in a while, it’s also important to remember that if you’ve ever been out and had a lot to drink and then come home to sleep, you may think that you’re getting a deep sleep, but actually you’re not getting the proper sleep that you need, and what is actually happening to your body is that you’re having an alcohol-induced unconsciousness.
This means that your body is not getting the complete rest it needs and this is one of the main contributing factors for why you wake up feeling so groggy and hungover the next day. When you give up alcohol or even drastically reduce your intake, you find that you sleep far better than you ever did and you will even find that you’ll wake up earlier without prompting.
You’ll crave sugar (but only for a while)
A very interesting side effect for people who give up alcohol is that they almost immediately start to crave things like sugar, and this is even more strange for people who have never been a sweet tooth before, who all of a sudden find themselves unable to get enough of things like gummy bears and sweet tasting treats. The good thing is that this doesn’t last forever – it lasts a few weeks maximum and is just your body’s way of adjusting to the sudden change in the amount of sugar that you’re not getting from the alcohol.
Your skin will improve
Alcohol is something that causes the body to be dehydrated, so it makes sense that once you give it up your skin starts to improve, and if you’ve ever noticed that your complexion looks slightly discoloured or that you’re having more breakouts when drinking alcohol, then giving up is really going to make a big difference in how your skin looks overall.
