WHAT DOES GOING TONE SOBER FOR 21 DAYS DO FOR YOUR HEALTH?
10 Healthy Things That Happen to Your Body When You Stop Drinking for 21 Days (or More)
Here are some science-backed perks of taking a break from alcohol!!!!
1. After 3-4 weeks of not drinking, your blood pressure will start to reduce. Reducing your blood pressure can be crucial as it can help to lessen the risk of health problems occurring in the future.
2. After two weeks of no alcohol, you will continue to enjoy the health benefits of better sleep and hydration. Alcohol is an irritant to the stomach lining, so after two weeks, you will also notice a reduction in symptoms like reflux. This is where the stomach acid burns your throat.
3. Weight loss------Again, depends on what the baseline alcohol consumption is. If heavier drinkers remove alcohol for a longer period of time, they might see weight loss, improvement in body composition, less stomach fat, improvement in triglycerides (one of the fat particles in the blood)!
4. Cutting out alcohol for 21-30 days or more can lead to a "reduction in things like joint pain, headaches, and body aches!" In fact, alcohol use can actually cause arthritis by increasing inflammation in your joints. Plus, alcohol can dehydrate you, contributing to the headaches.
5. Increased Mental Clarity!!!! YES!!!! I can personally vouch for this one!!!
Alcohol and heavy drinking can cause long-term, negative impacts on the brain, including poor memory and slower reflexes. Over time, the brain can actually get used to the effects of alcohol, causing it to work harder and cause unpleasant or even dangerous withdrawal symptoms like tremors and heart palpitations. This can lead to burnout, which can make you feel foggy.
6. Improved Mood-----
Although we often turn to a glass of wine or a stiff martini to feel better, the irony is that drinking can have both short- and long-term negative effects on mood. Since alcohol floods the brain with dopamine, which influences how we feel pleasure, the "rush" of this feel-good chemical can cause anxiety to flare up as soon the levels begin to drop. Over time, this can turn into a detrimental cycle of drinking, feeling anxious, and then drinking more to reinstate a feeling of calm. That's why alcohol consumption can lead to reduced mood, increased anxiety, and even depression. "There's a high correlation between alcohol use disorder and other mental disorders, including depression and anxiety," Dr. McGrath (HEALTH EXPERT) explains. "When you stop using alcohol, it really benefits your overall mental health."
7. Stronger Immune System----
Did you know alcohol use can actually make you more prone to getting sick by undermining the immune system? That's because alcohol use disrupts communication in our immune system, the body's way of safeguarding against viruses and bacteria. Alcohol causes a "steady depletion of the vitamins and minerals that our body needs to feel our best!
8. Hormonal Balance
Drinking can send your hormones into a frenzy—it impacts our endocrine system, which allows our body to respond appropriately and cope with changes in our environments. Severe alcohol-induced hormone dIs-regulations can sometimes cause serious issues like reproductive deficits, thyroid problems, and behavioral disorders over time.
9. Healthier Liver Function----
It's no secret that alcohol plays a significant role in your liver health. Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption can destroy liver cells, which are necessary for filtering out harmful substances in our body (the liver is our built-in detoxifier).
10. Reduced Risk of Certain Cancers-----
Since alcohol can damage your cells, it may lead to DNA changes that increase your risk for certain cancers, particularly liver, colon, and rectal cancer. In fact, alcohol use accounts for 6 percent of all cancers and 4 percent of all cancer deaths in the U.S. While it's not a guaranteed magic bullet for cancer prevention, "when an individual abstains from alcohol for an extended time the risk of developing these certain cancers is markedly lower in the long-term
