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Consuming alcohol can take a massive toll upon the human body when done frequently, or to excess. However, any amount of alcohol consumed on a regular basis negatively affects parts of your body such as your liver, your skin, your heart (due to the effect it has on your blood pressure), your immune system, and your brain.
When it comes to removing alcohol from your life completely, there are a whole host of sociological benefits; however, one of the most important benefits is the positive impact that it will have on your health — both mental and physical.
Not only can cutting out alcohol mean you have a reduced risk of serious diseases manifesting, but the emotional benefits of sobriety and the physical benefits of sobriety mean that you will be able to enjoy a better quality of life.
Let us look more closely at some of the benefits of sobriety — with a specific focus on the mental health benefits of sobriety.
You Will Experience No Hangovers
This might seem like quite an obvious statement, but the positive impact that not getting hangovers will have on your brain and body cannot be understated. Hangovers manifest due to a combination of withdrawal symptoms and dehydration. And, while this has a serious physical toll upon your body, a hangover is most dangerous due to the behavioural and emotional impacts that it has.
Hangovers can leave you feeling anxious, and will often lead you to want to spend the day lounging in bed eating nothing but junk food. Feelings of regret, self-loathing, and panic can also be massively exacerbated by a hangover, sometimes leading to actions of self-harm. By embracing a life of sobriety, however, you will no longer have to experience such a worry.
Improved Overall Mental Health
As mentioned previously, hangovers can contribute to feelings of self-loathing, anxiety, and depression. It is also important to remember that alcohol is a depressant, so by consuming alcohol you are exacerbating negative mental health symptoms. Therefore, cutting out alcohol can help you to start experiencing improved self-esteem and a better overall sense of wellbeing.
A lot of people associate drinking alcohol with having a good time, but the reality is that alcohol pulls you further into states of depression which can snowball out of your control.
You Will Have Better Sleep
In connection with the improved overall mental health notion, without alcohol, you will start to experience deeper, longer sleep. Drinking leads you to experience a poor quality of sleep. While people will often find themselves to be falling asleep quickly after a long night of drinking, the reality is that you will miss out on a key stage of the sleeping process.
REM sleep (which stands for Rapid Eye Movement) is not achieved when you fall asleep after a long night of drinking, and REM sleep is integral to the memory formation process in your brain. Ultimately, the next day you will find yourself still tired and struggling to remember the things that have happened to you.
People who are sober experience consistently better sleep on average. Consistent, high-quality sleep means that you will be prepared for the day ahead — and better sleeps is often linked to a better quality of mental health.
Losing Weight
When you are consuming alcohol, there are many ways to how you are putting on weight. Not only do alcoholic drinks contain incredibly high amounts of calories, but people who are drunk will often find themselves eating junk food and/or takeaways late at night in an attempt to sober themselves up.
Furthermore, as mentioned previously, when a hangover kicks on people tend to find themselves resorting to eating junk food again as a way to deal with the negative feelings associated with the hangover.
Therefore, removing alcohol from your diet will massively reduce your calorie intake for a multitude of reasons. It is worth bearing in mind that some bottles of red wine can contain up to 960 calories, and one beer can contain nearly 200 calories. So, combining sobriety with exercise can help you to lose weight healthily, effectively, and speedily.
Reduced Risk of Serious Diseases
Sobriety can help you to reduce your risk of developing a multitude of diseases, and a healthy body will help contribute to a healthy mind.
First of all, heavy alcohol consumption can massively increase your chances of developing cardiovascular diseases. Negative cholesterol can build up when you drink excessively and block the arteries in your heart.
Furthermore, there has been a multitude of studies into the association between alcohol consumption and high blood pressure. Over a prolonged period, high blood pressure and vasoconstriction of your blood vessels both being caused by alcohol consumption, you put yourself at high risk of suffering a stroke.
Living a life of sobriety also lowers your chances of developing certain types of cancers. Cancers such as that of the liver, bowel, colon, mouth, tongue, and throat can be developed in certain instances where alcohol has been consumed over a long period of time.
Overall, sobriety can help you to increase your life expectancy massively.
Improved Immune System
Individuals who suffer from alcohol abuse disorders are often also suffering from a cold, or at least the symptoms of a cold. This is due to the fact that alcohol suppresses your body’s immune system. As such, when you are clean and sober, you will be able to avoid succumbing to small illnesses quite so easily.
Achieve This Life Of Sobriety With Nova Recovery
Thanks to the resources that Nova Recovery have at our disposal, we may be able to. Help you find appropriate rehabilitation for alcoholism. Treatment at our private hospital would include a detoxification plan, various addiction treatments which you could benefit from, as well as an aftercare programme to help keep you sober.
We offer a whole host of relapse prevention treatments and mental health treatments to make sure you start enjoying life to the fullest. Simply call us today on 01475 303998.
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John Gillen
- Author
- Last updated: September 8, 2023
John has travelled extensively around the world, culminating in 19 years’ experience looking at different models. He is the European pioneer of NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) treatment to Europe in 2010; and recently back from the USA bringing state of the art Virtual Reality Relapse Prevention and stress reduction therapy. His passion extends to other metabolic disturbances and neurodegenerative diseases. The journey continues. In recent times, John has travelled to Russia to study and research into a new therapy photobiomudulation or systemic laser therapy working with NAD+ scientists and the very best of the medical professionals in the UK and the USA, together with Nadcell, Bionad Hospitals own select Doctors, nurses, dieticians and therapists. Johns’ passion continues to endeavour to bring to the UK and Europe new developments with NAD+ Therapy in preventive and restorative medicine and Wellness. In 2017 John Gillen was made a visiting Professor at the John Naisbitt university in Belgrade Serbia.