Three reasons to drink less alcohol

We all know that drinking alcohol to excess leads to problems both emotionally and physically. It can even affect your life with your family and your work.
 

Here are three valid reasons to drink less alcohol:

Weight

Alcohol, when broken down by the digestive system, breaks down into sugar. Lots of sugar. This excess sugar cannot all be used for energy, so it is therefore stored as fat. Regular consumption of alcohol and added sugar and calories leads to weight gain, particularly stored around the midsection. It is called a "beer gut" for a reason. To put it in perspective, one light beer has an average of 99 calories. Three or four light beers is the equivalent of a small meal. If you ate an extra meal every day, you would expect to gain weight. The same applies to alcohol.
 

Emotions

Alcohol is a natural depressant. When consumed, alcohol greatly affects mood and can even produce mood swings in certain people. This altering of mood on a regular basis is not healthy, nor is it easy for people to be around.
 

Relationships

Both at home and at work, maintaining relationships is important. Consuming alcohol to the point of altering your mood and behavior can have negative consequences with your spouse, children and boss or co-workers. Showing up to work after a night of hard drinking causes you to be mentally foggy, unfocused and much less productive than if you had a clear head. This affects not only your decision-making process; it can cause resentment from employers or co-workers who have to pick up the slack when you cannot meet expectations at work. Spouses and children notice the change in you when you drink, also. The shift in mood and behavior affects them negatively as well; they begin to know you as two different people, and that can destroy the trust and cohesiveness between you as a family unit.

There are ways to drink responsibly. The occasional social drink does not do much harm to anyone. But if you find that your alcohol consumption is affecting other important areas of your life, it is perhaps time to consider cutting back. If you need help getting your drinking under control, you do not have to do it alone. There are many resources that offer support for people who wish to drink less or quit drinking altogether.