What just ONE heavy drinking night can do to your health will shock you, especially if you’re a woman.
Excessive alcohol consumption is bad for our health and, even if we hear this frequently, we’re still not considering the implications seriously enough. What we don’t hear that much is what binge drinking is exactly doing to our bodies.
Binge drinking researched by scientists
Latest research has suggested that even the occasional indulgence can permanently and severely damage the body.
Scientists from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, found out that one night of excessive drinking can provoke the leaking of bacteria from the gut. In other words, this will cause the increase in toxicity levels from the blood. The toxins will lead to the production of immune cells which are involved in fever, tissue destruction, and inflammation.
The lead author of the study, also a professor at the University, Gyongyi Szabo, can’t underscore enough the fact that only one night of excess can trigger an immune response from the body, resulting in a hard impact on the health.
Alcohol binge turned out more dangerous than it was previously believed to be. In 2016 only, there have been 8,532 alcohol-related deaths, according to Alcohol Concern.
The actual effects of binge drinking
In the short term, heavy drinking will substantially increase the risk for injury. But, over the long term, it will cause liver damage and disease, having the potential to severely affect vital organs.
The latest research provides even more evidence regarding the dangerous effects of one single alcohol binge. The study involved 11 men and 14 women who consumed enough alcohol to get their blood alcohol levels to a minimum of .08 g/dL in 60 minutes.
When a cell is destroyed, the toxins and endotoxins from within are released and the study found out evidence of bacterial DNA in the blood, which means that bacteria entered the gut. Women had higher levels of alcohol in their bloodstream, and also higher endotoxin levels.
Binge drinking vs. normal drinking
Binge drinking is more dangerous because the body is able to process only one unit of alcohol in an hour. Even if two glasses of wine (six units of alcohol) don’t seem pretty much, drinking them in less than an hour will raise the blood alcohol concentration and induce the drunken state very quickly. The solution is drinking that certain amount in a longer period of time.
Stay safe while drinking!
Follow the advice below:
- It is recommended that you limit the amount of alcohol that you’re planning on drinking during a night.
- Drink slower, alternate one glass of alcohol with a glass of water and, if possible, eat while drinking.
- Avoid places and activities that pose all kinds of risks and threats.
