Health Effects Of Alcohol

Drinking alcohol is a very big problem in many social groups, such as college age kids. If you don't drink than you are considered 'not cool', so most kids give in to drinking alcohol just so they can fit into the cool crowd. As the years go by, there are many other social circles to be a part of, each also pressuring you to drink alcohol.

While you may think the best thing to do is drink like everyone else, maybe knowing the health risks involved with alcohol will help you realize you are better off on the outside looking in.

The first thing to keep in mind as you read on is the longer that you indulge in this unhealthy drink the more it will effect your health.

There are a lot of ways that alcohol will affect your health.

The first health effect of alcohol is a hangover. When you have had too much alcohol then you can count on having a hangover. Drinking more than your limit of alcohol will cause you to experience things like headache, nausea, vomiting and body aches. These problems are normal conditions of a hangover. Contrary to popular belief no amount of coffee will cure a hangover. The only cure for a hangover is time and sleep, as your body tries to repair the damage you have done through impairment.

Weight gain is another side effect of alcohol. Have you ever heard the phrase 'beer belly'. This came about because beer has a lot of calories and when you drink a lot of beer you will gain weight. Weight gain can also cause other problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Can drinking cause you to get sick more? The answer is yes. This is because alcohol weakens your immune system. That makes you susceptible to getting sick more frequently. With a weak immune system you can catch whatever is going around, whether it is just a cold or whether it is the flu, Once you have it you will make the rest of your family more vulnerable since you are carrying a contagious infection.

Believe it or not, when you drink a lot of alcohol over your lifetime you are at a higher risk of developing cancer. It is believed that two to four percent of all cases of cancer have been caused by alcohol (directly or indirectly). You may be saying you have never heard of alcohol being a carcinogen, and you would be wrong. While it is lesser known carcinogen, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has found enough evidence to prove that alcohol can have a carcinogenic effect on humans.

Additionally, alcohol is being called a cocarcinogen. That means alcohol seems to boost the properties of other carcinogens, such as nicotine, that are in your system.

Liver disease is a commonly know side effect of alcohol. Alcohol can eat away at your liver over time, as it tries to break down all those drinks you have been taking in.

While you may just think about the short-term effect of alcohol on your body, the morning after, when you have a few drinks, you should think beyond that, and consider what life-altering, and possibly life-ending risks you are taking

Rahul Nag is the London, England based former problem drinker who was drinking too much but gave up and now found he has an even better time than before. He has developed a resource to help other people achieve the same. He has written a free report on 'The Effects of Alcohol' which are available for you to download for free at http://www.alcoholfreesociallife.com

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