Alcohol: Effects on the Skin and Body
Did you know that alcohol can have a significant effect on your appearance? Drinking less looks good on you!
The more often and the more alcohol you drink affects your body. Alcohol does affect the health of our gut, and the health of our gut can also affect our skin and cause acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin issues. Alcohol dehydrates our bodies, so when we cut back our skin clears up and becomes less puffy and red, but remember it can’t be a miracle: the key is sticking to a daily skincare routine with professional tools and products.
Alcohol effects on the skin
Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to skin redness and flushing due to the dilation of blood vessels. This happens as alcohol causes an inflammatory response in the body, impacting the capillaries and leading to a temporary but noticeable increase in facial redness.
Alcohol disrupts sleep patterns, leading to inadequate rest. Lack of sleep can result in dark circles under the eyes, accentuated by alcohol’s dehydrating effects, which make the delicate skin around the eyes appear more transparent and prone to discoloration.
One of the most significant impacts of alcohol on the skin is dehydration. Alcohol is a potent diuretic, causing increased urine production and subsequent loss of fluids from the body. Dehydrated skin appears dull, lacks elasticity and is more prone to irritation and inflammation. Dehydration also comes with puffiness in the face, particularly around the eyes, as the body retains water to compensate for the dehydrating effects of alcohol.
Chronic alcohol consumption accelerates the aging processes by depleting the body’s antioxidants and promoting oxidative stress. This oxidative damage, combined with alcohol’s dehydrating effects, can contribute to the formation of wrinkles and fine lines, prematurely aging the skin.
Alcohol can strip the skin of its natural oils, leading to overproduction of sebum to compensate. This excessive oil production, coupled with dehydration, can result in clogged pores and enlarged pores, making the skin more prone to issues like blackheads and acne. Alcohol disrupts the delicate balance of hormones in the body, particularly affecting androgens, which play a role in acne development.
Alcohol effects on the body
Alcohol keeps your glucose levels really steady, so if you drink a lot of it your glucose levels are going to be really flat: alcohol interacts with your liver and prevents your liver from properly releasing new glucose into your bloodstream. If you add a bunch of fat to a meal, the fat is going to slow down how quickly that meal is going to turn to glucose and lead to a glucose spike, so in that way you’ll be flattening your glucose curves and avoiding a spike. However, that would be a pretty unhealthy thing to do. When you exercise you might see a big spike as well, but that spike is not harmful because when we exercise we need a lot of energy for our muscles, so our body will release some extra glucose in our bloodstream to feed our working muscles.
Alcohol also dehydrates your hair, and it can inhibit nutrient absorption and production of keratin. So, cutting back leads to hair strength, growth and fullness.
Alcohol can make it harder for your body to burn fat, and it can also cause puffiness and bloating. If you cut back, you may naturally experience some healthy weight loss.
One of the really bad effects of alcohol is the fact that, because of the toxicity of acetaldehyde, it can alter DNA methylation and gene expression, and even increase cancer risk (breast cancer in particular).
