There may be some health benefits to some minor alcohol consumption, but the truth is that alcohol is a psychoactive, toxic substance. Studies have shown that women drinking one drink daily and men two increases the possibility of developing cancer.
So, the risks of consuming alcohol often outweigh its possible benefits. Read on if you’d like to know what can happen if you indulge in a drink or two daily.
Reduced Quality of Sleep
Although a glass of wine may help you unwind, alcohol is a sedative-like depressant that will help you fall asleep but possibly reduce your sleep quality. It can interrupt your body’s REM cycle and respiration, causing snoring, restless sleep, and labored breathing.
Reduced Brain Volume
Daily alcohol consumption negatively affects your brain. Studies have found that a single alcoholic drink may be linked to changes in brain white and gray matter volume. More significant decreases in brain matter volume were seen in people who drank more alcohol daily.
A Decline in Your Oral Health
Alcohol can cause dehydration because it’s a diuretic, which directs water and salt out of your body. You’re probably dehydrated when you wake up with a dry mouth and feel like you desperately need water after a night of drinking. This, in turn, increases the chances of tooth decay.
Low Immune System
You need a healthy immune system to fight off sickness, and high alcohol consumption affects your immunity negatively. Most of your immune system is dependent on your gastrointestinal tract health. Too much alcohol can cause the parts of the immune system specific to the digestive system to penetrate the gut lining, spiking inflammation in your body. Alcohol also kills the good bacteria in your gut and damages immune cells in your gastrointestinal tract.
