What Does Heavy Drinking Do to Your Body?

You may have heard alcohol has some health benefits, but you should read this before you pick up your next drink.

When it comes to your health, alcohol is a double-edged sword. Light to moderate drinking has been shown to potentially have some cardiovascular health benefits, but heavy drinking has detrimental effects. With drinking, the amount you consume makes all the difference — and you certainly shouldn’t start drinking for the health benefits. 

First, let’s define what a “drink” is. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) describes one drink of alcohol as containing 14 grams of pure alcohol. This is found in approximately:  

• 12 ounces of regular beer, which is usually about 5% alcohol  
• 5 ounces of table wine, which is typically about 12% alcohol  
• 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits, which are about 40% alcohol  

People tend to underestimate their alcohol intake, says Brian P. Lee, MD, MAS, a hepatologist with the USC Liver Health Center and liver transplant specialist with the USC Transplant Institute, part of Keck Medicine of USC.  

Moderate drinking, according to the latest dietary guidelines, is the consumption of no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. According to the NIAAA, heavy or “at-risk” drinking can mean either consuming a lot of drinks at one time (more than four for women and five for men) or consuming a lot of drinks over an extended period (more than eight per week for women and 15 per week for men). And many times, a cocktail at a restaurant will contain more than one shot of alcohol, or a glass of wine you pour at home will be more than five ounces, meaning people can end up drinking a lot more alcohol than they think. 

“There was a lot of press around this idea of moderate drinking in the past, about how a glass of wine per day could help with heart disease risk,” Dr. Lee says. “But the newest data shows that any potential benefit of low levels of drinking are counterweighted by your increased risk of cancer and liver disease. Any amount of drinking can be harmful.” 

So, why does drinking put you at risk? Here are some of the negative health effects on your body.  

1. Your liver gets damaged.  

The most well-known problems involving heavy drinking have to do with the liver. “The most common alcohol-related death used to be accidents, such as people falling or getting into car accidents, but now it’s liver disease,” Dr. Lee says. 

Because your body can’t store alcohol, it must metabolize it right away. So, the liver, which detoxes your body, must work overtime to process it.  

“As the liver breaks alcohol down and detoxifies it, many of the byproducts actually cause liver damage,” Dr. Lee says.  

This damage can lead to a condition known as fatty liver disease. This can then lead to cirrhosis, which is scarring that can cause your liver to stop working properly. The classic sign of cirrhosis is jaundice, or a yellowing of the skin and eyes, but many people with cirrhosis have no symptoms at all.  

2. Your brain doesn’t function at its best.  

Everyone knows that when you get drunk, you slur your speech, feel drowsy, have problems with your motor functions and sometimes can’t remember everything the next day. This is because too much alcohol can slow the communication of neurotransmitters in your brain.  

“Alcohol can lead to brain damage directly, and also through indirect ways, like through the cardiovascular system,” Dr. Lee says. “Alcohol can increase your blood pressure and your predisposition to oxygen damage and inflammation, which can lead to blood clots. That alone can also cause cell damage in the brain.” 

3. Your heart gets stressed.  

Alcohol can lead to stress on your heart, causing it to beat irregularly. Other cardiovascular problems caused by alcohol include high blood pressure and risk of stroke.  

“Having high blood pressure for a long time can cause heart damage,” Dr. Lee says. “And having inflammation in your blood vessels can predispose you to clots and cause a heart attack. Alcohol can also damage muscles in the heart, and that’s how you develop dilated cardiomyopathy.”  

4. Your risk of cancer goes up. 

Heavy drinking can lead to throat and mouth cancers. Research has also found a link between alcohol and breast and colon cancer.  

5. Your mental health can take a hit. 

Alcohol and heavy drinking have been linked to psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety. In addition, some people use alcohol to cope with stress. But this can backfire, Dr. Lee says. Since alcohol is an addictive substance, the more you drink, the more you come to depend on it.  

“Addiction is when your body needs a substance, and that happens when you develop a tolerance, which means that you need more and more of the substance to get the same effects,” Dr. Lee explains. “Then your body can truly start needing alcohol to release stress and anxiety, and when you aren’t able to drink, then it causes stress and anxiety and becomes a vicious circle of dependence.” 

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