Medically Reviewed by Carmelita Swiner, MD on November 04, 2021 
Alcohol can affect your body in different ways, depending on how much you drink. In general, experts say it’s OK to have up to one drink a day if you’re a woman or two if you’re a man. Overdo it, and you raise your odds for short-term risks like falls and car crashes. 
If you drink heavily for a long time, alcohol can affect how your brain looks and works. Its cells start to change and even get smaller. Too much alcohol can actually shrink your brain. And that’ll have big effects on your ability to think, learn, and remember things. 
Alcohol’s slow-down effect on your brain can make you drowsy, so you may doze off more easily. But you won’t sleep well. Your body processes alcohol throughout the night. Once the effects wear off, it leaves you tossing and turning. You don’t get that good REM sleep your body needs to feel restored. 
Alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach and makes your digestive juices flow. If enough acid and alcohol build up, you get nauseated and you may throw up. Years of heavy drinking can cause painful sores called ulcers. It can also lead to irritation of the lining of the stomach, called gastritis. 
our small intestine and colon get irritated, too. Alcohol throws off the normal speed that food moves through them. That’s why hard drinking can lead to diarrhea, which can turn into a long-term problem. It also makes heartburn more likely because it relaxes the muscle that keeps acid out of your esophagus, the tube that connects your mouth and stomach. 
Your brain helps your body stay well-hydrated by producing a hormone that keeps your kidneys from making too much urine. But when alcohol swings into action, it tells your brain to hold off on making that hormone. That means you have to go more often, which can leave you dehydrated. When you drink heavily for years, that extra workload and the toxic effects of alcohol can wear your kidneys down. 
Your liver breaks down almost all the alcohol you drink. In the process, it handles a lot of toxins. Over time, heavy drinking makes the organ fatty and lets thicker, fibrous tissue build up. That limits blood flow, so liver cells don’t get what they need to survive. As they die off, the liver gets scars and stops working as well, a disease called cirrhosis. 
Normally, this organ makes insulin and other chemicals that help your intestines break down food. But drinking too much alcohol jams that process up. The chemicals stay inside the pancreas. Along with toxins from alcohol, they can cause inflammation in the organ over time, which can lead to serious damage. 
That cotton-mouthed, bleary-eyed morning-after is no accident. Alcohol makes you dehydrated and makes blood vessels in your body and brain expand. That gives you your headache. Your stomach wants to get rid of the toxins and acid that alcohol churns up, which gives you nausea and vomiting. 
One night of binge drinking can jumble the electrical signals that keep your heart’s rhythm steady. If you do it for years, you can make those heart rhythm changes permanent and cause what’s called arrhythmia. And alcohol can wear your heart out. Over time, it causes heart muscles to droop and stretch, like an old rubber band. 
Alcohol widens your blood vessels, making more blood flow to your skin. That makes you blush and feel warm and toasty. But not for long. The heat from that extra blood passes right out of your body, causing your temperature to drop. On the other hand, long-term heavy drinking boosts your blood pressure. 
You might not link a cold to a night of drinking, but there might be a connection. Alcohol puts the brakes on your body’s defenses, or immune system. Your body can’t make the numbers of white blood cells it needs to fight germs. So for 24 hours after drinking too much, you’re more likely to get sick. Long-term heavy drinkers are much more likely to get illnesses like pneumonia and tuberculosis. 
These powerful chemicals manage everything from your sex drive to how fast you digest food. To keep it all going smoothly, you need them in the right balance. But drinking alcohol may have an impact. For example, some studies suggest that moderate alcohol drinking can affect fertility for some women. 
Alcohol impacts your hearing, but no one’s sure exactly how. It could be that it messes with the part of your brain that processes sound. Or it might damage the nerves and tiny hairs in your inner ear that help you hear. However it happens, drinking means you need a sound to be louder so you can hear it. 
Heavy drinking can throw off your calcium levels. Along with the hormone changes that alcohol triggers, that can keep your body from building new bone. Your bones get thinner and more fragile, a condition called osteoporosis. Alcohol also limits blood flow to your muscles and gets in the way of the proteins that build them up. Over time, you’ll have lower muscle mass and less strength.
Why am I so cold after drinking alcohol?
Slowed Circulation – Alcohol is a depressant which means it slows down our entire system. It slows down circulation, which prevents oxygen from getting to the brain. This is why people die suddenly from drinking too much alcohol ; their breathing becomes suppressed, their circulation slowed, and their brain becomes starved of oxygen.
A slower circulatory system also means that the blood is kept from making it to and warming extremities. In cold weather, we want to keep as much blood pumping to our hands and feet as possible in order to prevent frostbite and damage to our extremities. In any cold weather, a person who drinks alcohol will feel warm at first, but before long will cool off quickly.
They may notice that their hands and feet get especially cold. In extreme cold, people are advised not to drink alcohol, as it can slow circulation and cool the body enough to cause serious damage.
Can alcohol make you hot and cold?
Effects on the heart and blood vessels – Alcohol affects the body in many ways, and this includes its effects on the heart. It can cause the heart rate to become too fast or the heart rhythm to become irregular, With alcohol intake, the blood vessels in the skin tend to widen when the heart rate speeds up.
- This process is called vasodilation,
- Dilated blood vessels cause the skin to feel warm and flushed, which can trigger the release of sweat.
- This sweating could occur at any time of day.
- However, as many people drink alcohol in the evening, night sweats are common.
- While many people feel warm after drinking alcohol, the core body temperature drops as blood moves from the core to the skin through dilated blood vessels.
Sweat also removes heat from the body. People may not realize that because of this, they are at risk of hypothermia in cold weather. During hot weather, they may begin to experience nausea and dizziness with dehydration in addition to sweating.
How do you get rid of chills after drinking?
– A hangover usually begins a few hours after you finish drinking, as your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) begins to fall. Generally, symptoms peak when BAC hits zero, but can continue for up to 24 hours afterward. In the meantime, you can try to find some relief by sticking with the basics of nursing a hangover:
Stay hydrated. Fluids are key after a night of drinking. Try sipping on a sports drink for some added electrolytes. Eat something. Some people swear by eating a big, greasy breakfast after drinking, but that’s not always a wise idea, especially if you’re already feeling a bit queasy. Instead, try eating some bland, easy-on-the-stomach foods like crackers, broth, or toast. This will also help to increase your blood sugar. Rest up. All the quick hangover “cures” in the world can’t compare to taking it easy. If you’ve got the hangover shakes, chances are you’ve also got a headache and a few other symptoms. Allow your body to rest as much as you can, whether that means spending the day in bed or catching a ride to work instead of walking.
Wondering how long it will take to ride the whole thing out? We’ve got you covered.
Can a hangover last 2 days?
Typically, hangovers tend to go away within 24 hours. This is known as an all-day hangover, and will usually resolve on its own. That said, some hangovers can last even longer. Some hangovers, known as a two-day hangover, last anywhere from 48 to 72 hours.
Which country drinks alcohol the most?
Alcohol has played a significant role in the leisure time of many in today’s society, and its usage dates back centuries. For many, it plays a crucial part in their social engagement, allowing individuals to bond more easily. Alcohol consumption, however, holds many risks regarding health, both physical and mental, and can also play a part in society’s ills, such as crime.
- In various countries across the world, alcohol has a different meaning and placement in society; basically, it is more common for people to drink regularly in some countries than in others.
- Looking at the a mount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data ; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
Second place on the rankings list is Uganda with about 15 litres per year, followed by the Czech Republic with 14.45 litres, and Lithuania with 13.22 litres per year. To account for the differences in alcohol content of various drinks (e.g. wine or beer), the values are reported in litres of pure alcohol per year,