from the publishers of: Verywell, Real Simple, EatingWell, Shape, Parents, Health and Allrecipes
A glass of wine with dinner, a happy-hour beer after work, a cocktail (or three) on vacation: Alcohol is deeply ingrained in American culture, and for many people, it’s a part of daily life.
Experts agree: Most people shouldn’t feel guilty about enjoying the occasional drink—but keep these negative effects in mind if you’re tempted to overdo it.
Drinking alcohol alters the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, says Maria Pagano, Ph.D., an addiction researcher and associate professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University, in Ohio. These chemical messengers transmit signals throughout the body and play a large role in controlling behavior, emotion and physical activity.
“Alcohol slows down the neurotransmitter GABA, and that’s what drives the sluggish movement, slurred speech and slower reaction time in someone who’s intoxicated,” Pagano says. In addition, binge drinking affects the cerebellum (which helps regulate balance) and the cerebral cortex (which is responsible for taking in and processing new information).
The brain’s hippocampus region—which helps create new memories—is also affected by alcohol, resulting in the blackouts and short-term memory lapses that might occur while drinking. In addition, alcohol lowers inhibitions and clouds judgment, and can exacerbate symptoms of any underlying mental health conditions.
In the most extreme cases, drinking too much, too fast can cause loss of consciousness, which is a sign of cell death, says Lara Ray, Ph.D., a professor of behavioral neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles. “We also worry about brain damage—and with multiple episodes of heavy drinking, that damage can have long-term consequences for learning and memory.”
Most of these effects are caused by a spike in blood-alcohol content over a short period of time, says Ray. Taking breaks between drinks—and being sure not to imbibe on an empty stomach—can help reduce your risk.
According to a 2008 study in the Archives of Neurology, heavy drinking over a long period of time appears to shrink brain volume. The study found that people who had more than 14 drinks per week over a 20-year time-frame had 1.6% smaller brains (a measure of brain aging) than those who were non-drinkers.
In addition, “with chronic drinking, the wiring element to your brain’s reward system can get worn out and lose some of its normal functioning,” says Pagano. This can cause people to change their behaviors around alcohol. “Often when people start drinking, they drink to feel good—but as they drink more chronically, they have to drink to avoid feeling bad,” says Ray. This leads to higher and higher levels of consumption, which can cause greater damage to the brain and the rest of the body. Alcohol kills cells and damages cellular networks in the brain, for example, and it’s not entirely clear to what extent they can grow back.
“You might hear the classic term ‘wet brain,’” says Pagano. Technically known as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, this type of dementia is caused by a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1) in the brain due to over-consumption of alcohol.
Another common complication of long-term heavy drinking is cirrhosis of the liver, which can cause brain damage and symptoms like brain fog, as well.
In addition, alcohol consumption has been linked to various types of cardiovascular problems, including stroke—a potentially fatal blockage of blood flow to the brain.
After cutting back on alcohol, Pagano says, damaged regions of the brain can start to “light up” again on brain scans. “But there are certainly limits,” she says, “and we often see improvement only after months of complete abstinence and giving the brain time to heal.”
Whether or not to engage in drinking should be a decision you make on your own, or with the help of a doctor or mental health professional. For many people without a history of dependence or addiction, Pagano says, drinking at low or moderate levels—fewer than seven drinks a week for women, and no more than 14 a week for men—can be a perfectly healthy part of life.
However, if you have a response to alcohol that’s noticeably different from other people’s (you drink your friends “under the table” or you see someone leave beer in their glass and couldn’t imagine doing that), it may be time to reexamine your relationship with drinking, says Pagano.
For people who do decide to stop drinking, Pagano says there are many reasons to be optimistic. “A lot of people fear giving it up and not being able to drink,” she says. “But in reality, life can get better when you’re making better choices and you’re able to fully savor your experiences, rather than seeing them through a haze.”
