The risks of drinking too much (2024)

FAQs

The risks of drinking too much? ›

Increased risk of certain cancers, stroke, and liver diseases (e.g., cirrhosis), particularly when excessive amounts of alcohol are consumed over extended periods of time. Damage to a developing fetus if consumed by pregnant women. Increased risk of motor-vehicle traffic crashes, violence, and other injuries.

Long-Term Health Risks. Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum.

Drinking water has numerous benefits. Water is crucial for many bodily functions, such as lubricating the joints, delivering oxygen throughout the body, preventing kidney damage, and more. Around 60 percent of the body is made up of water, and around 71 percent of the planet's surface is covered by water.

When you drink too much water, your kidneys can't get rid of the excess water. The sodium content of your blood becomes diluted. This is called hyponatremia and it can be life-threatening.

Heart and circulation

Alcohol can cause high blood pressure, which increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Alcohol also weakens heart muscles, which can affect the lungs, liver, brain and other body systems, and also cause heart failure.

To reduce the risk of alcohol-related harms, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink, or to drink in moderation by limiting intake to 2 drinks or less in a day for men or 1 drink or less in a day for women, on days when alcohol is consumed.

If you're a healthy adult: To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.

Getting enough water every day is important for your health. Drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, result in mood change, cause your body to overheat, and lead to constipation and kidney stones.

The Eatwell Guide recommends that people should aim to drink 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day. Water, lower-fat milk and sugar-free drinks, including tea and coffee, all count. You may need to drink more fluids if you're: pregnant or breastfeeding.

Drinking too many fluids can cause water toxicity by diluting your body's sodium and other electrolytes, which may cause your cells to swell, including the cells in your brain.

What is the healthiest water to drink? ›

Mineral water and alkaline water may be some of the healthiest types of water because they provide your body with essential nutrients, but simply drinking safe, uncontaminated water should be your number one priority.

We grab a bottle of water and guzzle it down, often in one go, to satisfy that thirst. But that's not really the best way to hydrate, says Lindsay Baker, PhD, a senior principal scientist at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. “In general, it's best to sip a little bit throughout the day,” Baker says.

Drinking too much alcohol over a long time can: Lead to some kinds of cancer, liver damage, immune system disorders, and brain damage. Worsen some health conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, ulcers, memory loss, and mood disorders.

Alcohol affects your brain first, then your kidneys, lungs and liver. The effect on your body depends on your age, gender, weight and the type of alcohol.

No "safe" drinking level

It's called "low risk" rather than "safe" because there's no safe drinking level. The type of illnesses you can develop after 10 to 20 years of regularly drinking more than 14 units a week include: mouth cancer, throat cancer and breast cancer.

For men, consuming 5 or more drinks on any day or 15 or more drinks per week. For women, consuming 4 or more drinks on any day or 8 or more drinks per week.

However, high consumption decreases one's heart rate and blood pressure and can cause heart rhythms to become irregular. Long-term effects of alcohol include high blood pressure, enlarged heart, and damage to heart muscles.

Drinking six beers a day can overload our liver, leading to alcohol-induced liver disease. This condition presents itself in three stages: fatty liver, alcohol-induced hepatitis, and cirrhosis, each more severe than the previous.