Less indirect damage thanks to a break

You know that alcohol is harmful to you. It even increases the risk of some cancers. If you don't drink, you naturally reduce this risk. And do you know that an alcohol break also contributes to reducing indirect damage? Here you can read what we mean by this.

Because you don't drink alcohol, you smoke less. Because you don't drink alcohol, you don't get any extra calories and you snack less unhealthy. Because you don't drink alcohol, you are more active. This is clearly a domino effect. When you stop drinking alcohol, it sets in motion a lot of positive changes. Also finds doctor and owner of an addiction institution Sigrid Sijthoff.

Drinking and smoking

A drink and a cigarette belong together like mussels and fries. However pleasant it may be, the combination of alcohol and smoking results in an extra high risk of cancer. For example, the relationship between alcohol and oral and pharyngeal cancer is stronger for smokers than for non-smokers. Sigrid: “There is a link between smoking and drinking: people smoke more if they drink alcohol. There are a lot of times when you would start smoking if you stop or cut down on drinking.”

Drinking and weight

You should not be surprised that you lose weight if you do not drink alcohol for a period. There are several reasons for this.

– Alcohol is a toxic substance that your body would like to get rid of as quickly as possible. That is why your liver first starts breaking down the alcohol. Only then will the calories that you have taken in come into play. The substances that your body cannot get to are stored as fat for as long as possible. By drinking alcohol, you actually put your normal combustion process on pause every time.

-Sigrid: “A lot of people are aware these days that you should eat vegetables instead of chips, but once they've had a few glasses of wine, the inhibitions fall away and those chips are grabbed anyway.” And those "snack calories" add up quite a bit.

– Another reason why you get hungry after drinking alcohol is your hypothalamus. This part of your brain regulates your sleep rhythm, body temperature and your feeling of hunger. Alcohol causes the hypothalamus to falsely signal that you are hungry. That you get hungry after drinking alcohol is not necessarily a problem, if it means that you suddenly have an unrestrained grab in the bowl of raw vegetables. Unfortunately, in practice, especially carbohydrates and fat seem irresistible. This is because your body has to work hard to get the alcohol out of your body. The energy this takes results in a low blood sugar level. Your body responds to this by asking for carbohydrate-rich food.

Drink and move

Drinking alcohol doesn't make you more athletic. You often do the actual drinking on the couch or at the bar. The next day you are presented with the bill for your excess: headache, nausea and tiredness. Then you don't think about running around or playing a game of tennis. On the other hand, during an alcohol break, all signals are green to revive your lost sports career. Would you like to know more about alcohol and its effect on your sports performance? Then read this article.

This article is based on an interview with doctor Sigrid Sijthoff that appeared on radarplus.nl.