Hammered and Harmed: This Is How Alcohol Affects Your Body

Does merely hearing about ‘happy hours’ perk you up? Do you prefer sipping some beer when you’re chilling out or taking tequila shots on a fun party night? While a mellow buzz is no doubt relaxing, not many are aware of the short- and long-term effects of alcohol on the body.

Alcohol is the oldest and most prevalent addictive in the world and continues to take centre stage. With increasing awareness about the immediate and long-term effects of alcohol, health aficionados are slowly waking up to the benefits of quitting alcohol. Perhaps learning about the very serious effects of drinking may soon change the way people view their drinking habits.

The effects of alcohol on the body are both immediate and long-term. You may claim to feel nothing after the first sip, but alcohol's influence starts right away. Alcohol dissolves in both water and fat, making it super easy to get absorbed.

Alcohol, essentially a purified ethanol, degrades to acetaldehyde in the liver, which then converts to acetates. With alcohol overload, acetaldehyde accumulates, damaging the body. The conversion demands profound energy, overworking the liver.

The immediate impact of alcohol includes the effects you feel while drinking or shortly after. Of course, all of this also depends upon the amount and percentage of pure ethanol content in your drink. Read the following list and match the outcomes to what you experienced the last time you boozed.

• Felt high and euphoric
• Dropped your guard, became chatty, or had major mood swings 
• Became slightly tipsy (dizziness and disrupted thinking)
• Had slurred speech and a wobbly gait
• Maybe you vomited, felt acidic, and dehydrated soon after
• Slept like a baby through the night, only to wake up with a splitting headache
• Was sluggish and fatigued the next day with nausea and poor appetite

The acetaldehyde is toxic to the body. It enters the brain, affecting the prefrontal cortex — your control centre for thinking and impulse control. Altered memory, mood, and awakeness are some of the direct consequences of alcohol consumption. Although eating while drinking may reduce alcohol absorption, it will not sober you up if you are already inebriated.

Why does drinking turn into a chronic issue?

Alcohol's influence is a vicious cycle. It affects the brain, suppressing one’s feelings and stress — kicking in immediately. The effects vanish as quickly as they appear, prompting the next drink and getting you hooked.

The effects of chronic alcohol consumption are various and far-ranging. They include disrupted brain pathways that alter moods and behaviours. Having 1-2 drinks per day, which could be considered ‘low amounts’ (by your whiskey-enthusiast friend), may result in the weakening of the neocortex — the brain section responsible for the senses, action, cognition, and consciousness.

The chronic impacts of alcohol consumption on both the liver and pancreas are widely documented. The digestion and processing of alcohol occur in the liver, resulting in fatty liver and cirrhosis and eventually an inflamed pancreas and digestive problems.

Alcohol kills the good bacteria in the gut, causing gut-lining inflammation and loss of cohesiveness in gut cells. A leaky gut spreads metabolic byproducts (often toxic) to the whole body, affecting heart, brain, lung, intestinal, kidney, and bone-joint health. Such disrupted food digestion causes pseudo-hunger and binge eating, resulting in weight gain.

Alcohol messes with the body’s stress management system — the HPA axis (the connection of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenals). Chronic drinking also raises the baseline levels of cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), leading to increased anxiety and tension.

Drinking alcohol raises your risk of developing cancers of the head, neck, oesophagus, breast, liver, and colon. Too much alcohol also weakens the immune system, opening doors to infections like pneumonia and tuberculosis, even after one heavy session.

There are numerous benefits of quitting alcohol, and you will feel them immediately. Dr Vijay Kumar Goyal, MBBS, MD (Psychiatry), says, “Alcohol de-addiction is a journey with its highs and lows. You must be prepared for the withdrawal—the body's reluctance to lose the dependency.” He goes on to say that your immediate family and friends play a crucial role in your fight to remain sober. Learning to say no to alcohol needs support, patience, and care from all around.

He adds that a few things that work with hangovers or short-term effects of alcohol on the body are hydration (lemon-salt water) to replenish the lost potassium, sodium, etc.; munching carbs like bread with butter and bananas; and sipping coffee (the caffeine acts as an instant stimulant).

For alcohol addicts, it is best to visit a rehabilitation facility with a supervising psychologist who can help tailor an alcohol de-addiction plan for you to break free from the grapples of alcohol dependency.

Reversing alcohol’s effects takes time and determination. Knowing about its short and long-term ill effects reinforces and highlights most things you already know. The goal is to help you get to the decision of slowly tapering alcohol dependency (in case you are hooked) without judgements and prejudices.

• What are the four types of drinkers?

We usually see four types of drinkers — social drinkers (who drink only with friends), conformity drinkers (who drink to fit into a professional/social circle), enhancement drinkers (who drink to experience excitement), and coping drinkers (who drink to confront stress).

• How much alcohol can I consume safely?

A WHO statement issued in January 2023 states that no level of alcohol is safe for the body. Alcohol-metabolised products are toxic to the body.

• How much alcohol can I consume safely?

A WHO statement issued in January 2023 states that no level of alcohol is safe for the body. Alcohol-metabolised products are toxic to the body.

• What are the common effects of drinking alcohol?

The common effects of drinking alcohol include dizziness, cognitive thinking, slurred speech, nausea, and eventually poor organ functioning.

• What is the safe amount of alcohol to consume daily?

According to a WHO declaration from January 2023, there is no safe amount of alcohol for consumption. The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans propose that individuals of legal age for alcohol consumption have the option either to abstain from drinking or to consume alcohol moderately, restricting themselves to a maximum of two drinks daily for men and no more than one drink daily for women.