What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Drinking Alcohol
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Immediately after we stop drinking is rarely when we feel our best. But how long is it before we can expect to see benefits, instead of just suffering?
Timeline
After stopping drinking alcohol for…
- Seconds: the liver starts making progress filtering out toxins and sugars; ethanol starts to leave the system
- 1 hour: fatigue sets in as the body uses a lot of energy to metabolize and eliminate alcohol. However, sleep quality (if one goes to sleep now) is low because alcohol disrupts the brain patterns required for restful sleep
- 6–12 hours: the immune system starts recovering from the suppression caused by alcohol
- 24 hours: immune system is back to normal; withdrawal symptoms may occur in the case of heavy drinkers
- 3–5 days: resting blood pressure begins to drop, as stress levels decrease (alcohol may seem anxiolytic, but it is actually anxiogenic; it just masks its own effect in this regard). Also, because of insulin responses improving, appetite reduces. The liver, once it has finished dealing your last drinking session (if you used to drink all the time, it probably had a backlog to clear), can now begin to make repairs on itself.
- 1 week: skin will start looking better, as antidiuretic hormone levels neutralize, leading to a healthier maintenance of hydration
- 2 weeks: cognitive abilities improve as the brain begins to make progress in repairing itself. At the same time, kidneys start to heal.
- 3–4 weeks: the liver begins to regenerate in earnest. You may wonder what took it so long given the liver’s famous regenerative abilities, but in this case, the liver was also the organ that took the most damage from drinking, so its regeneration gets off to a slow start (in contrast, if the liver had “merely” suffered physical trauma, such as being shot, stabbed,
or eaten by eagles,it’d start regenerating vigorously as soon as the immediate wound-response had been tended to). Once it is able to pick up the pace though, overall health improves, as the liver can focus on breaking down other toxins. - 1–2 months: the heart is able to repair itself, and start to become stronger again (dependent on other lifestyle factors, of course).
- 3 months and more: bodily repairs continue (for example, the damage to the liver is often so severe that it can take quite a bit longer to recover completely, and repairs in the brain are always slow, for reasons beyond the scope of this article). Looking at the big picture, at this point we also see other benefits, such as reduced cancer risks.
In short… It’s never too soon to stop, but it’s also never too late, unless you are going to die in the next few days. So long as you’ll be in the land of the living for a few days yet, there’s time to enjoy the benefits of stopping.
Most importantly: the timeline for the most important repairs is not as long as many people might think, and that itself can be very motivating.
For more detail on much of the above, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
- Can We Drink To Good Health?
- How To Reduce Or Quit Alcohol
- Addiction Myths That Are Hard To Quit
- How To Unfatty A Fatty Liver
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Edamame vs Mung Beans – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing edamame to mung beans, we picked the edamame.
Why?
In terms of macros, edamame has a little more protein while mung beans have a little more fiber for notably more carbs, so all things considered, we’ll call this category either a tie, or a subjective win for edamame.
In the category of vitamins, edamame has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while mung beans have more of vitamins B3 and B5; a clear win for edamame.
When it comes to minerals, edamame has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, while mung beans have more selenium. Another easy for edamame.
Looking at phytochemicals, edamame has more polyphenols of various kinds (mostly isoflavonoids), so wins this round too.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for edamame, but do enjoy either or both; mung beans are great too; they just don’t look it when standing next to edamame!
Want to learn more?
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How Your Brain Chooses What To Remember
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During the day, your brain is simply too busy to encode memories without interfering with normal processing. At night, however…
The filing system
The brain decides which memories to keep based on significance, using sharp brain wave ripples as an internal bookmarking system. Everyday memories fade, while important events are tagged in this manner for consolidation during sleep.
How does it do this? It starts in the hippocampus, which records experiences during wakefulness and replays them repeatedly at high speed during sleep, preparing them for transfer to the neocortex.
How do we know? Uniform Manifold Approximation & Projection (UMAP) for dimension reduction is a tool that condenses 400-dimensional neural activity data into 3D for visualization. Mice navigating a maze showed hippocampal activity encoding location and learning progression; it also showed neural patterns reflecting maze layout and task mastery.
What this means in practical terms: you need to get good sleep if you don’t want to lose your memories!
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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You might also like to read:
How To Boost Your Memory Immediately (Without Supplements)
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10% Human – by Dr. Alanna Collen
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The title, of course, is a nod to how by cell count, we are only about 10% human, and the other 90% are assorted microbes.
Dr. Collen starts with the premise that “all diseases begin in the gut” which is perhaps a little bold, but as a general rule of thumb, the gut is, in fairness, implicated in most things—even if not being the cause, it generally plays at least some role in the pathogenesis of disease.
The book talks us through the various ways that our trillions of tiny friends (and some foes) interact with us, from immune-related considerations, to nutrient metabolism, to neurotransmitters, and in some cases, direct mind control, which may sound like a stretch but it has to do with the vagus nerve “gut-brain highway”, and how microbes have evolved to tug on its strings just right. Bearing in mind, most of these microbes have very short life cycles, which means evolution happens for them so much more rapidly than it does for us—something that Dr. Collen, with her PhD in evolutionary biology, has plenty to say about.
There is a practical element too: advice on how to avoid the many illnesses that come with having our various microbiomes (it’s not just the gut!) out of balance, and how to keep everything working together as a team.
The style is quite light pop-science and, once we get past the first chapter (which is about the history of the field), quite a pleasant read as Dr. Collen has an enjoyable and entertaining tone.
Bottom line: if you’d like to understand more about all the things that come together to make us functionally 100% human, then this book is an excellent guide to that.
Click here to check out 10% Human, and learn about how we interact with ourselves!
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Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan – by Dr. Mark Williams & Dr. Danny Penman
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The authors, with their PhDs in psychology and biochemistry, respectively, bring the science that you might expect (and some that you might not!) to this book about mindfulness meditation and mindfulness in everyday life.
The book’s realism comes not just from studies, though, but also from a realistic perspective on modern life, in which many of us have sufficient responsibilities to afford us only limited downtime, and we certainly cannot all take time off for a mountaintop retreat.
What we can do, however, is enjoy this eight-week program for finding peace in a frantic world, while still going about our necessary business in that frantic world on a daily basis.
The eight weeks go as follows:
- Waking up to the autopilot
- Keeping the body in mind
- The mouse in the maze
- Moving beyond the rumor mill
- Turning toward difficulties
- Trapped in the past or living in the present?
- When did you stop dancing?
- Your wild and precious life
…with meditations, as well as reframes and other tools, for each.
The style is very easy-reading, with neither scientific jargon nor spiritual arcana, just clear explanations, instructions, and guidance.
Bottom line: if you’re the sort of person who tries to take each day as it comes, but sometimes several days gang up on you at once, then this book can help get things into order.
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7 Mistakes Women Make Trying To Lose Fat Or Gain Muscle
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Here’s how to not sabotage your progress:
Traps to watch out for
Seven top common errors are…
- Not allowing your body to recover properly: you can only train as hard as you can recover from. Focus on sleep, hydration, and proper fueling instead of just workouts. Exercise is a good stressor, but you need recovery to handle intensity, otherwise your body won’t get stronger; it’ll just break down.
- Following restrictive diet trends: severely cutting macros (usually: very low carb or very low fat) can cause hormonal imbalances (including thyroid issues), inflammation, and low energy. Fuel your body based on your goals and activity level instead of demonizing carbs or fats.
- Neglecting high-intensity intervals: sprint work should be included weekly alongside zone 2 training. Short, intense intervals improve cardiovascular health and body recomposition, so they remain important no matter what else you’re doing.
- Creating too large a calorie deficit: eating too little slows your metabolism, reduces your energy, and thus causes plateaus. Aim for only a small deficit (if any) and make sure to fuel muscle repair (that takes calories; your body cannot break the laws of thermodynamics for you!)
- Failing to get enough protein: higher protein intake supports muscle retention, fat loss, and recovery. As we age, larger portions per meal are needed to trigger muscle-building responses.
- Avoiding low-rep, high-load strength training: lifting heavy builds muscle, strengthens metabolism, and helps long-term health. Fear of “getting bulky” holds many back from real progress.
- Relying mainly on steady-state cardio: cardio alone can burn calories short-term, but won’t build muscle or metabolic health as effectively as strength training. Balance is key.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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You might also like:
Body Recomposition: How To Get Toned Quickly
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Feel The Difference: Mobility Mistakes That Are Making You Tighter
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Marina Sarenac, mobility coach, shows us how to do it better:
It makes a big difference
Some common mistakes and their solutions:
- Stretching too aggressively: forcing a stretch can trigger your body’s protective response so your muscles tighten instead of relaxing.
- Frog hip rock: sounds like a music genre, but instead is an exercise whereby you sit on the floor in a frog position with your knees aligned with your hips and your feet turned outward, lower onto your elbows with a natural spine, slowly push your hips backwards without rotating them or rounding your lower back, pause briefly at your deepest stretch, then return.
- Foam roller thoracic extension: lie on your stomach with a foam roller in front of you and your hands resting on it, move your hands closer towards your body to lift your chest into a back extension while maintaining pressure on the roller, then raise one arm near your ear and then the other without letting your torso collapse, before lowering and relaxing.
- Only passive stretching: holding stretches without activation doesn’t teach your nervous system to use that range, so your body doesn’t maintain the mobility.
- Seated hip activation with kettlebells: sit with your feet close to your hips and let your knees fall outward, place kettlebells on your legs, keep your posture upright, then slowly lift and lower your legs to activate your hips (while maintaining the stretch).
- Lunge rotation with kettlebell: step into a lunge with both knees at about 90° and a neutral spine, place a kettlebell on the shoulder opposite your front leg, rotate your torso while pressing the kettlebell upward with your arm close to your ear, keep your hips stable, and move slowly.
- Skipping progression levels: jumping directly into advanced stretches can make your body defensive because it isn’t prepared for the range.
- Start at “too easy”: it’s fine to do something that’s too easy first, just progress little by little, and you’ll find where it stops being easy; work onwards from there.
- Ignoring strength: tight muscles sometimes reflect weakness rather than shortness, so your body resists relaxing in positions where it doesn’t feel strong.
- Dumbbell hip hinge: hold dumbbells in front of your body with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your spine neutral, push your hips backwards while your torso leans forwards with a slight knee bend, go only as far as you can without rounding your back, briefly hold the bottom position, then return to an upright position.
- Cable lunge rotation: step into a lunge with both knees around 90° and a neutral spine, hold a cable handle in the same hand as your front leg, rotate your torso towards that side while keeping your hips and front leg stable, and keep your elbow close to your body throughout the movement.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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You might also like:
Why Stretching Doesn’t Work After 50 (Unless You Fix These 3 Mistakes)
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- Stretching too aggressively: forcing a stretch can trigger your body’s protective response so your muscles tighten instead of relaxing.
