Beer Drinking: Daily Habits And Their Health Impact

Drinking beer every day can have a range of effects on your health, both positive and negative.

On the positive side, drinking beer in moderation (one drink a day for women, and up to two drinks a day for men) may offer some health benefits, including a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Beer is also an abundant source of dietary silicon, which can increase bone mineral density.

However, excessive drinking (more than three 12-ounce servings or about three cans daily for women, or more than five drinks within two hours for men) is linked to a range of negative health consequences, including unintentional injuries, violence, risky sexual behaviours, memory and learning problems, early and permanent dementia, chronic diseases (including liver disease, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and cancer), ulcers, gastrointestinal issues, a weakened immune system, and a higher risk of obesity.

In addition to the health risks, excessive drinking can also lead to problems in your personal and professional life, including decreased productivity at work, job loss, financial issues, and strained relationships.

So, while the occasional beer or two may not be harmful for most people, heavy and binge drinking can have serious negative consequences.

May disrupt sleep

Drinking beer every day can have a detrimental effect on your sleep. Even light drinking can impair your sleep, with a 2018 study finding that men who drank two or fewer servings of alcohol and women who drank one or fewer servings experienced a 9.3% decrease in sleep quality. When you drink alcohol, your liver metabolises it, which can result in a restless night's sleep.

Alcohol affects your brain's communication pathways and impairs your brain's ability to process information. This can slow down your reflexes and affect your balance, memory, and sleep. While drinking beer or other types of alcohol might make you feel relaxed and even euphoric, the intoxication can have long-term effects on your brain's health.

Drinking beer daily can also increase your risk of developing insomnia. According to WebMD, drinking three or more alcoholic drinks per day can worsen insomnia. Additionally, alcohol can interact with certain medications, such as sedatives, leading to excessive sleepiness and slowed breathing.

If you are drinking beer to help you fall asleep, it is important to know that while it may help you fall asleep faster, it can disrupt your sleep later in the night. Alcohol can fragment your sleep, causing you to wake up multiple times throughout the night.

In summary, drinking beer every day can disrupt your sleep by impairing your sleep quality, affecting your brain's functioning, increasing your risk of insomnia, and interacting with certain medications. It is important to be mindful of your beer consumption and how it may be affecting your sleep.

May cause weight gain

Drinking beer every day may cause weight gain. Beer is high in carbohydrates and alcohol but low in almost all other nutrients. The calorie content of beer depends on its strength—the more alcohol it contains, the more calories it contains. Beer also contains small amounts of micronutrients, including sodium, potassium and magnesium. However, it’s not a particularly good source of these nutrients, as you would need to drink large amounts to satisfy your daily requirements.

Beer can increase your calorie intake, as it contains as many calories as a soft drink. Studies have also shown that drinking alcohol can increase your appetite in the short term, causing you to eat more than you otherwise would. Furthermore, people don’t always compensate for the calories they consume from alcohol by eating less of other foods. This means that drinking beer regularly could contribute a significant number of calories to your diet.

Drinking alcohol can also prevent your body from burning fat. This is because your body prioritises the breakdown of alcohol over other sources of fuel, including stored fat. In theory, regular drinking could therefore contribute to an increase in body fat.

Beer also contains phytoestrogens, which are plant compounds that can mimic the action of the female sex hormone oestrogen in your body. It has been suggested that the hops in beer might cause hormonal changes in men that increase the risk of storing belly fat. However, it is not known how these plant compounds affect weight or belly fat.

May increase risk of chronic diseases

Drinking beer every day can increase your risk of developing chronic diseases. Excessive drinking is defined as drinking more than three 12-ounce servings (about three cans) daily for women and 15 drinks per week for men. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks within two hours for men and four or more drinks within two hours for women. Binge drinking and excessive drinking can increase your risk of developing chronic diseases such as liver disease, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and cancer.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excessive drinking can increase your risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy, a disorder that affects the heart muscle. The CDC also states that drinking alcohol has been linked to an increased risk of certain types of cancer, such as mouth, throat, voice box (larynx), esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, and breast cancer for women. The American Cancer Society reports that alcohol consumption accounts for 6% of all cancers and 4% of cancer deaths in the United States.

In addition to the increased risk of chronic diseases, excessive drinking can also lead to unintentional injuries, violence, risky sexual behaviors, memory and learning problems, early and permanent dementia, inflammation and damage to tissues and organs, ulcers and gastrointestinal issues, malnourishment and vitamin deficiency, a weakened immune system, higher risk of obesity, depression, and anxiety.

While moderate drinking may offer some health benefits, such as a reduced risk of heart disease, lowered risk of diabetes, and increased bone density, it is important to note that heavy drinking can reverse these benefits. Heavy drinking is defined as drinking more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. Therefore, it is crucial to drink in moderation and be mindful of the potential risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

May cause digestive issues

Drinking beer every day may cause digestive issues. Alcohol is first broken down in the stomach, promoting an increase in digestive juices. It also irritates the small intestine and colon, where it is further broken down and absorbed. This can affect the normal speed at which food moves through the digestive system, which may result in abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhoea.

When consumed in large amounts, alcohol can cause intestinal inflammation and issues within the gastrointestinal tract and the liver. It can negatively alter the bacteria in your gut and permeate the lining of the intestine (leaky gut syndrome), making the body even more susceptible to alcohol-related diseases, including alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Contradictory to the above, some research, such as a 2020 study, suggests that due to beer's fermented compounds, this alcoholic beverage could potentially benefit your gut health.

Additionally, alcohol can cause dehydration, as it can disrupt hormones that affect kidney function, which can, in turn, affect the body's ability to regulate fluid and electrolytes.

May cause vitamin deficiency

Drinking beer every day can have several adverse effects on your health, one of which is vitamin deficiency. While beer contains vitamins such as B vitamins, excessive drinking can lead to a higher demand for certain nutrients, including B vitamins, which help the body process alcohol.

Heavy drinking can cause inflammation in the stomach, which in turn inhibits the production of the "intrinsic factor", a substance that aids the absorption of B vitamins. This can lead to a deficiency of vitamin B12, which is normally found in dairy, eggs, and beef. A lack of vitamin B12 can result in a build-up of homocysteine, a compound that, in the long term, could lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Additionally, excessive drinking can cause malnourishment and a weakened immune system, further increasing the risk of vitamin deficiency.

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