Effects of Alcohol on the Brain: Understanding the Impact

Alcohol and the Brain

Any of the 84% of UK adults who have drunk alcohol in the last week can tell you what it feels like, but understanding what is happening in your brain when you drink is more complex. 

While the short-term impact of alcohol might be obvious, many people are completely unaware of the long-term effects of drinking too much regularly.

Prolonged periods of excess or binge drinking can impact our brains, causing deficiencies that can have significant effects on our day-to-day lifestyles. 

But let’s start with the effect that alcohol can have on the body before we go straight to the brain because, after all, the two are unavoidably linked.

Alcohol and the Body

Once ingested, the stomach lining absorbs alcohol and enters the bloodstream. It then disperses throughout the body, reaching vital organs such as the liver, heart, and brain. Within five minutes, alcohol reaches the brain and starts to impact cognitive functions.

The impact of alcohol can be experienced in as little as 10 minutes after drinking, influenced by variables like the quantity consumed, your weight, and whether you’ve eaten recently.

As alcohol remains in your system, it can cause various physical and mental limitations that impact your ability to coordinate tasks, make decisions, and behave appropriately.

It’s crucial to be aware of the rapid effects alcohol can have on your body to make sensible decisions and steer clear of the dangers linked to overconsumption.

How Alcohol Affects the Brain

Although your entire body may absorb alcohol, it can have a significant impact on the brain, causing long-term effects, including brain damage. 

Consuming any amount of alcohol disrupts the brain’s communication pathways and can alter information processing.

Alcohol intoxication progresses through various stages, including:

Mild Intoxication

When we reach the initial phase of intoxication, which, depending on our body weight, usually happens when we have had one drink, our reflexes, actions, and decision-making skills could be slightly affected. Typically, individuals reach this stage after consuming one alcoholic beverage, depending on their body weight.

Euphoria

At the tipsy stage, your brain produces higher dopamine levels while increasing the pleasure-related neurotransmitter, leading to a sense of relaxation and increased self-assurance. However, it may also affect your cognitive functions and memory.

Excitement

By now, we have had quite a few drinks and would be considered drunk. This level of intoxication impacts the occipital lobe, temporal lobe, and frontal lobe of your brain. Consuming excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to various side effects associated with each lobe’s functions, such as impaired vision, slurred speech, auditory disturbances, and diminished self-control. You may experience decreased fine motor skills and slower reaction times at this stage, all the while increasing the chance of mood swings, which include impaired decision-making and possibly nausea or vomiting.

Senselessness

When we have crossed the line of drunkenness into a state of senselessness bordering on unconsciousness, it can be alarming not only for our body and ourselves but for anyone around us, as it can be a sign of alcohol poisoning. Mental, physical, and sensory abilities are significantly impaired, increasing the likelihood of unconsciousness, breathing difficulties, and accidents.

Coma

If you have surpassed a state of stupor, you may be in danger of slipping into a coma. Problems with breathing, blood flow, movement, and reflexes cause this state. A person in a coma is in danger of passing away.

Fatality

The final stage of excessive alcohol consumption often leads to fatal consequences such as alcohol poisoning or the inability of the brain to regulate essential bodily functions.

The stages of merriment to death are an example of how alcohol can tamper not only with our brains but also our physiological state. But the list above does not include other factors when consuming alcohol, like environment, activity, such as driving.

GABA and Alcohol

The neurotransmitter responsible for calm and happy feelings is GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid). Alcohol uses the receptors for GABA by tricking them into thinking you have high levels of relaxation and satisfaction. The upside of this is the initial feelings of euphoria and calm from drinking. The downside is that your body reacts to this false sense of pleasure and happiness by dropping the real levels of GABA in your body. This means that you pay the price later in the night or the next day when your ability to feel happy and calm naturally is impaired.

Alcohol and Driving

By now, we all know that alcohol and driving are not a good mix because of how severely it can affect our fine motor skills as well as our reaction times and memory function, all of which come in handy when going for a drive. 

Unfortunately, there are some of us who, when drunk, find it easy to justify stepping into our cars drunk as it comes with the convenience of getting from A to B when one needs to get home to their bed or someone else’s, go out on a cruise with friends for a change of environment or a buzz. 

If you find yourself toying with the idea of making that quick trip home in the car after a few drinks or are around anyone else who may be showing signs of doing so, then please remember, the feelings of confidence alcohol can bring can also bring thoughts that believe you can drive safely. However, statistics show that drunk drivers are 11 times more likely to die in a crash compared to sober drivers.

While drunk driving may be a common way to acquire life-changing consequences, there are many other ways in which we can endanger the lives of ourselves and others; for example, it can all too easy to go overboard when drinking and find ourselves unconscious in the street exposed to the elements leading to hypothermia (especially after those Christmas nights out). There is also the chance of being robbed or sexually assaulted. Fights can lead to manslaughter or murder. Having a cigarette before bed could be your last. 

It is essential to consider all of the possible scenarios that can come from the overconsumption of alcohol, as it could help minimise the risk of danger. 

How Do I Know if I’m Drinking Too Much?

Such a question doesn’t have a straight-up answer. The most accurate answer is that it depends, which is why it is so important to keep an eye on how you feel whenever you drink alcohol. 

Whenever you decide to consume alcohol, your body’s reaction comes from various factors such as age, sex, general well-being, weight, consumption amount, duration of drinking, and regularity of drinking habits.

The next time you drink, pay attention to how you feel after one drink, two drinks, or three. Observe how you talk, move, and interact with the world. 

Regarding health, drinking any alcohol, no matter how infrequent, will affect your body, both short-term and long-term. Again, the extent of the effect will depend on the factors mentioned above. 

Ways to Curb Your Drinking

There are many ways to curb your drinking habits. If you wish to reduce your drinking, then looking at supplements such as Desistal to help reduce cravings is an excellent place to start.

If, on the other hand, you are addicted to alcohol and show intense symptoms of withdrawal when attempting to stop, we recommend you seek medical assistance before doing so. 

How does Desistal work?

Desistal is a unique product created to help you reduce your alcohol intake by enhancing the absorption of acetate in the brain. 

Acetate is a substance that can help alleviate the adverse effects of alcohol withdrawal. 

Desistal also enhances the NAD+/NADH ratio in cells, potentially revitalising the mind and restoring equilibrium in the body by substituting the energy source the brain has grown reliant on, in this instance, alcohol. 

It is crucial to remember that each person’s physiology is unique, and it is advisable to seek advice from a healthcare professional before incorporating any new dietary supplements into your regimen.

So, if you have any questions regarding Desistal, please contact our support team for more information.