Quitting Cold Turkey: Side Effects of Giving Up Beer

If the idea of cracking open an ice-cold beer on a hot summer day sounds refreshing, you may want to hit pause on the beer commercial running through your brain. Kicking the beer can (or bottle or draft) could have remarkable health benefits. You do not have to be in the habit of doing keg-stands to reap the benefits.

This is probably nothing new to you. There are numerous bad side effects of drinking alcohol regularly. It is common knowledge that drinking less could do your body and brain some good.

What happens after a few days of sobriety?

There might be an expectation that a few days following quitting drinking, you will feel brand new and refreshed. You will get more energy, a clearer head, lose weight, and sleep better, right? Such things will transpire, but perhaps not quite in the way you think, reported Vala.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), one out of every 12 adults in the US suffers from alcohol dependence. This makes alcohol the most regularly used addictive substance in the United States, reported American Addiction Centers.

Sugar or Carb Cravings

Your body is not getting the empty calories it used to get from booze.

According to Mita Johnson, an addiction educator and president of NAADAC, the Association of Addiction Professionals, "When you stop using alcohol, your sweet tooth still kicks in, so be careful of which foods and beverages you replace it with," reported Fatherly.

Delirium Tremens

A serious type of alcohol withdrawal is named delirium tremens (or DTs). It could occur anywhere from two to four days until a week after one has his or her last drink. DTs are more likely to happen if one is malnourished. DT could be life-threatening: an estimated one in 20 people who develop the condition die from it.

Flatter Belly

"Body by Bud" was never meant to be an inspirational slogan as regular beer drinking could cause weight gain. It is easy to reverse weight gain by choosing to abstain from a drink.

"Cutting out beer from your diet can help to flatten your belly for a few reasons: it reduces your calorie intake, it can help prevent you from overeating since alcohol spikes your appetite, and because it prevents the carbs in beer from bloating you," according to Dr. Josh Axe, DNM, CNS, DC, founder of Ancient Nutrition and writer of the best-selling book Ancient Remedies.

Better Sleep

While a glass of wine appears to be the right way to relax and get a good night's sleep, in reality, alcohol could disrupt your sleep. Due to the way the alcohol metabolizes, its digestion could disturb your sleep.

Digesting the alcohol could disrupt your REM cycle. It causes your deep sleep cycles to merely last 40 minutes long rather than 90 to 120 minutes long during a normal evening. This is the reason you will feel likely feel groggy and exhausted when getting up in the morning upon a few drinks.