Looking for Ways on How to Stop Drinking Alcohol? Here are 5 Easy Ways!By Michaela

Most people agree that drinking is a social activity and a way to deal with stress, but it’s more than just a temporary way to feel better. There are many reasons why you might want to stop drinking alcohol. It could be because of your health, your relationships, or just because you want to. No matter why you want to stop, the good news is that anyone can. And if you’re thinking of giving up alcohol, you’re not the only one.

If you drink too much, it could hurt your health. From 2015 to 2019, people who drank too much alcohol caused more than 140,000 deaths and lost 3.6 million years of possible life every year in the United States. This cut the lives of those who died by an average of 26 years.

Also, one in ten deaths among adults aged 20–64 who were working were caused by drinking too much. In 2010, it was thought that drinking too much cost the economy $249 billion, or $2.05 per drink.

The Good Things About Giving Up Alcohol

It’s safe to say that drinking alcohol has been a normal part of many cultures and has been highly encouraged. From sayings like “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere” to work-related cocktail events, it seems like there’s more pressure than ever to drink alcohol.

This means that when you stop drinking, you get a lot of health benefits. Several media campaigns have been started by people who care about our health to get us to stop drinking.

Your body is made up of many different systems and organs that are all meant to work together. To be at your healthiest, all of your organs and systems need to work at their best. When alcohol hurts one part of the body, it can spread to other parts and make things worse.

Good thing the opposite is also true. When you stop drinking, one part of your body often gets better, which helps other parts do their jobs better. So, here are some good things about giving up alcohol.

Better Memory and Thinking Skills

There is a link between moderate to heavy alcohol use and brain shrinkage, especially in the parts of the brain that help with thinking and learning.

The brain has a hard time moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory when it has been drinking. Even just a couple of drinks is enough to mess up your memory, and the more you drink, the worse it gets.

Changes in the structure of the brain caused by drinking often take several months or longer to start to get better in heavy drinkers.

But taking away the extra effects that alcohol has on the brain can help people with cognitive symptoms feel better.

Cancer Risk Goes Down

Some types of cancer, like head and neck cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer, are more likely to happen if you drink a lot.

Experts have thought of several possible reasons for this, but many of them think that alcohol hurts the antibodies that keep our bodies safe from cancer cells.

Even though it may take years for a person’s body to completely lower their cancer risk, it is still important to stop drinking alcohol to lower their overall cancer risk.

Improved Digestion

There is a strong link between drinking alcohol and digestive health in general. Alcohol stops the small intestines from absorbing vitamins and nutrients, which can lead to chronic diarrhea, nausea, and loss of appetite in people who drink a lot of alcohol.

Alcohol can also cause inflammation in the stomach, which can lead to acid reflux and heartburn. Once someone stops drinking, their stomach can quickly get back to normal.

Within a few weeks, your overall digestive health may get better. This could include a change in stomach ulcers and a decrease in heartburn and acid reflux.

Better for the Liver

The liver is an organ that weighs 3.3 pounds and is often thought to do the most work in the body. One of the most important things it does is filter out harmful things from the bloodstream.

This includes bacteria, fungus, food additives, alcohol and its poisons, and so on. Over time, drinking too much alcohol can cause the liver to get too full of toxins and fat. This is called steatosis, or “fatty liver.” Hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis can all be caused by a liver that is too fat.

These include the amount of damage and whether or not there are other things to worry about, such as being overweight. A badly damaged liver may never get better, but not drinking alcohol is the best way to keep it from getting worse.

Stronger Immune System

The immune system gets weaker when you drink too much alcohol. This makes it harder for the body to make enough white blood cells to fight off bacteria and other illnesses.

Many people already know that people who drink a lot are more likely to get diseases like pneumonia or tuberculosis.

But even one drinking session can leave the body open to infection for up to 24 hours. The immune system is made to be able to get better.

As soon as someone stops drinking, their body can quickly start to make more white blood cells. This makes it easier for the body to fight off infections, colds, and the flu, among other things.

Better Sleep

You might think that having a drink before bed will help you sleep. After all, drinking often makes people sleepy. When someone drinks alcohol, they often feel sleepy at first, but a few hours later, they feel fully awake.

Alcohol makes it harder to get into REM sleep, which is the deepest and most helpful part of the sleep cycle. When you don’t get enough sleep, you may feel tired the next day.

People who drink every day can have trouble sleeping, and over time, not getting enough good sleep can lead to a wide range of physical and mental health problems.

When you stop drinking, one of the first things you may notice is that you sleep better. Read this blog if you want to learn more about how alcohol affects sleep.

Betterment of Mental Health

Alcohol is seen as a fun way to deal with stress or calm down. At first, you may feel calmer, but over time, you may be able to handle more.

Then, more alcohol is needed to get the same results. People with long-term mental health problems like depression and anxiety often drink to feel better.

Drinking gets in the way of how these health problems are treated and makes it harder to deal with the symptoms.

After giving up alcohol, you may find that you are calmer and less angry and that you are better able to deal with family problems or mental health issues.

5 Ways on How to Quit Drinking

Now that you know how much better you’d feel if you stopped drinking, you may be wondering how to give up something easily.

The answer is that if you want to stop drinking, it won’t be easy, but here are some easy things you can do to get started:

Think About How You Feel About Alcohol

The first step in giving up something is to figure out why you want to give it up.

You might not think you are dependent on alcohol, but you still wonder if you drink too much.

Say you don’t want to drink when you don’t have any. Still, “just a quick drink” usually means three or four drinks.

When you’re having fun, it’s hard to stop, especially if your friends are also having a good time.

Maybe you’re worried about why you drink rather than how much you drink. A lot of people drink to ease emotional pain or deal with stressful situations better.

People often drink on a first date or before a tough conversation to ease the tension.

But when it’s hard to face problems without drinking, you should think about whether drinking keeps you from finding better ways to deal with your feelings.

Learning more about what makes you want to drink and why can help you plan ways to deal with the urge to drink.

Open Up

Letting other people know about your decision to stop drinking may help you stay true to it, although that isn’t for everyone. If you prefer to keep your commitment to yourself, you can.

Switch Your Group

When drinking is a regular part of your life, it can feel like a reflex, especially when you’re stressed or feel like you have too much on your plate.

To stop drinking, you may not have to completely change your life, but making a few changes to your environment can help you avoid things that make you want to drink.

When you’re trying to stop drinking, having alcohol at home can be a temptation. If you want to drink, the fact that you’ll have to go out and buy something can stop you long enough for you to find something else to do. When your mindset has changed and alcohol is not an issue for you anymore (this is the goal – ALWAYS), then it won’t bother you to have alcohol in your home.

Choosing the right drink to drink instead of alcohol can help you stick to your plan to quit.

Plain water might be good for your health in many ways, but it’s not the most exciting choice.

Think About Yourself

It can be pretty hard to stop drinking. If you drink to deal with your emotions, the extra stress can make you want to drink, which makes success seem even further away. The way to overcome this is to see through the illusions of alcohol, change your belief system, and break free.

When making big changes, it’s common to have a hard time, but self-care practices can help you deal with overwhelming feelings and take care of your mind and body.

Feeling your best physically can help you be more resilient and emotionally strong, giving you the tools you need to deal with things that make you want to drink.

By not drinking, you are taking a big step toward getting healthier. As you start to feel better about your health, you’ll probably feel more motivated to keep going.

Think About Your Plan

You might be sure that you want to give up all alcohol. But maybe you’re not sure if you want to quit for good and don’t want to force yourself to do so.

That’s not a problem at all. The most important thing is to think about how much you drink and find a way to cut back that works for you.

Takeaways

Whether your goal is to stop drinking completely or to drink with more awareness, you’re doing your brain and body a big favor.

If you’re seeking help cutting back on or quitting drinking, online our expert coaching programs are here for you. The Alcohol Coach can help. 

We offer science-based and inspiring coaching programs. You may also sign up for the free masterclass and have access to free resources that will aid you in your quest toward alcohol-free life!

Please note: Although we refer to ‘alcoholism’ and ‘recovery’ in our articles, this is because these terms are often used by others. 

The Alcohol Coach services come from a viewpoint of empowerment, mindset shift, and high-powered transformational change. 

When this happens there are no lifelong labels, no counting days, and pure unbounded freedom and discovery!