How Quitting Drinking Improves Your Appearance

Does Quitting Alcohol Affect Your Appearance?

Often patients who are embarking on their journey to recovery know that eliminating alcohol from your life will improve your overall well-being but, also, want to know if your appearance will improve once you are sober. The regular consumption of alcohol can impact your physical appearance due to the levels of dehydration that alcohol produces which impacts your skin quality and appearance. Alcohol use will dilate your blood vessels which, in turn, will cause your skin to turn red or create the onset of poor complexion from impaired skin textures. Alcohol use has been known to cause users to gain weight and increase the onset of wrinkles within patients. By quitting drinking, you will have the ability to repair the damage done to your physical appearance as your time in sobriety progresses. 

Benefits of Quitting Alcohol on Appearance

When you take the steps to remove alcohol from your life, you will not only begin to feel the healthy effects within your body and how you are able to function each day but there will be an improvement in your overall appearance. Patients who have quit drinking notice that their appearance begins to change in different ways such as:

Weight Loss

It is well known that alcohol contains a high volume of calories. The body is unsure how to process alcohol and turns it into sugar first and then will store it as fat. The fat that is produced is held within your abdominal area or as it is known in mainstream media having a “beer belly”. The more your body stores fat in the abdomen area, the harder it is for your body to metabolize the caloric intake you are consuming. Regular consumption of alcohol of over seven drinks a week dramatically increases your chances of weight gain. As you quit alcohol, your body will begin to metabolize at a regular rate and you will lessen the calories being consumed in your daily intake. 

Improved Skin

Alcohol impacts your skin functioning due to the levels of dehydration that alcohol produces which, in turn, makes your skin turn puffy, causes bloating, and increases wrinkles. Due to the depletion of vitamins that you are not receiving during your alcohol use, these skin conditions can worsen. Once you stop drinking, your collagen levels will increase, your organs will restore themselves to normal functioning, and you will flush out the toxins that have been impacting your skin quality. 

Healthier Hair

One aspect of regular alcohol use that is not always well known is that alcohol use can create significant hair loss. This is due to malnutrition and vitamin deficiency due to lack of proper diet and hydration when you are in your active addiction. Once you remove alcohol use from your life, you will begin to improve your vitamin intake through proper diet and hydration. This will increase your hair growth and hair volume levels. 

Less Bloating

When you drink alcohol, it can cause bloating within the abdominal area. This is often caused by gastritis which causes stomach acid to damage and affects the stomach lining causing inflammation. Once you quit drinking, this will begin to decrease and your stomach functioning will start to regain its normal functioning. If you add additional changes to your lifestyle habits that are conducive to a healthy diet and exercise, your bloating will be reduced at a quicker rate. 

Healthier Eyes

When you drink alcohol on a regular basis, it can impact your eye health and can lead to cataracts in your eyes or macular degeneration. Regular consumption of alcohol can impact your eye functioning through blurriness in vision, visual perceptions can change, and the visual look of your eyes will change. Once you quit drinking, your eyes will become whiter and clearer in appearance. You will begin to notice the blurriness will slowly improve as your blood vessels reduce to a normal level which also reduces redness in the eyes. 

Less Body Odor

Alcohol consumption affects body odor due to the alcohol that was unable to be processed through the liver. Your body is left to eliminate the alcohol through your body which, in turn, can create an increase in body odor. As you consume more alcohol, the more your body has to oxidize. As you go through a higher level of oxidation, the more it produces odor within the body. As you eliminate alcohol from your body and lifestyle, your body will become hydrated and decrease in the number of toxins that your body needs to process and oxidize. 

More Energy

Often when you are at the height of your alcohol addiction, your sleep pattern becomes affected by your drinking behavior. The less sleep you get, the more you look physically exhausted and depleted. When you remove alcohol consumption from your life, you will improve your cardiovascular functioning along with improvement with blood vessel functioning, as your physical body improves you will notice an increase in energy levels and sleep functioning. 

More Stable Emotions

Oftentimes, when someone turns to alcohol, they do so to avoid or push down unpleasant feelings of sadness, anxiety, or guilt. While the allure of alcohol can boast a momentary escape, what many users fail to remember is that alcohol can exacerbate these feelings. For some, it can lead to an increase in depressive moods and behaviors. Others may notice an increase in violent or acting out behaviors that pose a risk to themselves or others. Once you quit alcohol and do the therapeutic work in alcohol rehab, you will learn methods to heal and cope with unpleasant feelings in a healthy, functional way that will keep you on the path to sobriety. 

Alcohol Rehab and Detox at Resurgence

Resurgence Behavioral Health provides patients with an alcohol detox and rehab program that will help them heal from the psychological wounds of addiction while assisting them in finding their confidence and inner strength again. Through our comprehensive treatment modalities, you will regain your self-confidence and find your love for yourself again. Our team at Resurgence works with each patient to provide an individualized treatment program that will help you redefine your life and find your passion for life and yourself again. Contact one of our friendly staff at Resurgence Behavioral Health today to find out when you can begin the life-changing transformation into a life of recovery. 

Learn how quitting drinking helps improve your overall health and appearance! #alcoholrehab #quitdrinkinghttps://t.co/s8wL5DBd6s

— Resurgence Behavioral Health (@RBHRecovery) November 17, 2021

Alexa Iocco