To Drink or Not To Drink
How drinking alcohol can affect your immune system
It’s no secret that drinking alcohol isn’t the best thing for your health. Alcohol is to be considered one of the most psychoactive substances in the world. Your mental state can be altered. Your liver is the primary organ responsible for regulation of toxins within your body. But, your liver isn’t the only part of your body that is affected by alcohol, your immune system can be affected as well.
How alcohol affects your gut
The gastrointestinal system is the first point of entry for alcohol as it is making its way through your body. Within your gut you have microorganisms that regulate gut function. With the addition of alcohol in your system, the communication between these organisms and the immune system can be negatively impacted. These disruptions to the microbes can impact the function of the liver down the line which can also lead to severe cases such as liver disease.
How alcohol affects your lungs
Health officials have been increasingly worried about alcohol consumption as it can impact a person’s vulnerability to Covid-19. Since quarantine started, alcohol sales and consumption have increased. Covid-19 is a respiratory disease and alcohol can have an affect on the lungs susceptibility. “If the cells lining a person’s airway are damaged from alcohol, then viral particles, such as COVID-19, more easily gain access, causing immune cells, which fight off infection, to not work as well, leading to increased overall risks of more severe diseases as well as complications,” said Dr. Alex Mroszczyk-McDonald, a practicing family physician in Southern California.
Is it all that bad?
Not all alcohol consumption can lead to these consequences. If you drink moderately and responsibly these deficits will be less likely. In some cases, moderate drinking may be linked to a lower risk of several diseases such as: heart disease, diabetes and gallstones.
Alcohol consumption all together does not have to come to a screeching halt. But, by drinking more responsibly can pose greater benefits for the future of your health.
