When you quit drinking, you look and feel better. But what's actually happening on the inside when you give up alcohol. Well, Internist and Gastroenterologist, Dr. Niket Sonpal is here. Welcome Dr. Welcome Dr. Sonpal.
Thanks for having me. Thank you, thank you. So let's get right into it. What happens when you quit drinking even just for a month? Quitting drinking for even just a month. The first thing that's gonna happen is your gut is gonna thank you for it. There's a lot of health benefits to it and a lot of great things that are gonna happen, but overall, it's just good for your stomach as a whole. Then after your stomach improves, your whole body is gonna enjoy these little breaks from drinking. And the first month is the most pronounced simply because everyone comes out of what I like to think of kind of like, a bit of a fog. And 2020 was one long fog. This is just for one month. Your body starts to reset because you're not getting as many empty calories. And so what ends up happening, first off, your energy levels go through the roof, you start noticing you becoming a little bit more regular. Your stomach doesn't hurt as much. And so you started off with the stomach. What else does it affect? Well, it's also gonna affect your appetite and cravings. So we'll start drinking other things because we're not consuming as much alcohol. We may crave more sugar but also you started drinking more water. You end up eating more healthy foods. And the reason why is because when we drink alcohol, we end up consuming a lot of calories and those calories pile up. As we all remember from the holidays. What's happening now is you're actually exchanging one type of calorie, for healthier calories, drinking water, salads, and with that increase in fiber, you become more regular. Then you start noticing your energy level goes up and you start sleeping better as well. In addition to just feeling better does it also help, tell us about common ailments Something like heartburn, for instance alcohol does in certain quantities and some people dilate the lower esophageal sphincter. That's the muscle between your esophagus and your stomach. Red wines really do this a lot. And you get heartburn after having it people start sleeping better also. The reason why is alcohol in general prevents you from getting into a deeper stage of sleep. That's why people, when they get a lot of sleep after drinking, they feel like, Oh, I slept well but they didn't sleep as deeply as they could have. What about specific organs? Absolutely. So I have a lot of medical students and they have exams on Fridays and Saturdays they always tell me, 'my stomach hurts.'' The reason why is alcohol directly hurts your stomach and your GI lining. So once you stop drinking, the internal lining starts to heal. If you have something known as gastritis, which is an inflammation of your stomach lining that can be chronic, it will start to improve. The small intestine also gets better. The reason why, because we have tiny little finger like projections known as Villi. They grow back as well. And when you become more regular, I mean, you're going to the bathroom more often. What ends up happening is alcoholic basically a diuretic. It dehydrates you, and you also don't consume a lot of water because you're feeling full. But when you give it up, you start drinking more water your bowel movements become more smooth. And like Shrek says, it's better out than in. Can you Expand on how this will actually improve your liver as well Absolutely. So the liver metabolizes alcohol and what ends up happening is as you consume large amounts the liver becomes overwhelmed and it can develop some inflammation. Low levels of inflammation will start to improve simply by cutting back. And those liver tests numbers that we see at the doctor's office, they'll start coming down as well. Abstaining from alcohol will help that for people who do have a bit more of a drinking problem, quitting will also help the liver regenerate also. And all of these are sort of long-term effects of quitting drinking and we all want to start to get better. But the other good news is when you start giving up alcohol on a regular basis, you also start eating more protein and you start to feel less puffy. People after they drink a lot the next couple of mornings, they feel like they've got a lot of edema, puffiness around the face that also improves as well. Your skin gets better and more importantly and the one that everyone's going to love all those empty calories are gone. You gonna lose weight You gonna lose weight, which helps everything. Thanks for getting the skin part in. I was waiting for Dr. Sonpal to have that in. I wouldn't leave that for you. I mean, we know it's a direct alcohol effect and that dehydration effect that you mentioned that is going to show on your facial skin, your overall outward appearance. Indeed. Well, thanks for the great info, Dr. Sonpal, for more information go to our website, THEDOCTORSTV.COM
