Alcohol is linked to 7 types of cancer and more than 60 diseases. Earlier this year, Canada reduced its “low risk” guidelines to just two drinks a week. The WHO states that to be healthy we should not drink any alcohol at all.
But what about our looks? What about the vanity argument?
Celebrities like Jane Fonda, Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep are proving that we can look great into our 70s and beyond. I’m not sure how much alcohol these ladies consume, but I’m guessing it’s not a great deal.
Many of us non-celebs do our best to follow a healthy lifestyle. We exercise daily, we eat organic, we do yoga and have regular facials.
Then we drink wine.
An alcohol-free lifestyle has many benefits, including improved mental health and increased energy levels, but it can also provide some unexpected beauty benefits.
5 Ways Sobriety Improves Your Looks
Here are five ways that sobriety can help you look and feel your best.
Better Skin
The diuretic effect of alcohol will lead to dry skin and premature wrinkles, leaving your skin looking dull and grey. Facial redness and broken veins are common in drinkers. Americans spend an average of $1,754 a year on beauty products and treatments when a cheaper and more effective strategy would be to simply eliminate alcohol!
Within just a few weeks of not drinking, your skin will improve. Your complexion will be more hydrated, and any redness will fade. Body skin will plump up, and you’ll find you need less body lotion.
Without the negative impacts of alcohol, toxins don’t have the same chance to build up in your system, leading to healthier-looking skin. Taking this step away from drinking not only helps with skin health but also gives your complexion a natural and healthy glow – setting you up for looking your best!
Better Sleep
We need 7 cycles of REM sleep each night to feel refreshed and energetic the next day. A drinker will get only 2 or 3 cycles, and if you drink every night, the fatigue will build up over the years. Quite simply you are never getting a decent night’s sleep. That fatigue will show up in your face however skilfully you apply your make-up.
You may feel that alcohol helps you to feel sleepy, but even if it helps you get off to sleep, you will experience poor quality sleep. Not only will you miss out on REM sleep, but you may wake-up at 3 a.m., feeling anxious as the alcohol leaves your system.
Admittedly, it can sometimes take a while to get off to sleep if you are used to drinking in the evening. Hang in there and your normal sleeping patterns will reset, and you’ll soon be sleeping like a baby!
Getting better quality sleep at night is a great way to boost your energy levels. Ditch the booze and you can ensure that you’ll get the restful and uninterrupted sleep you deserve.
Better Shape
Alcohol hampers our efforts to lose weight in several ways. Not only is it full of sugar, but it stimulates our appetite and can lead to snacking on unhealthy foods. An experiment showed that a group of people drinking wine with their meal consumed far more calories than the control group who were drinking water.
Exercising and dieting to stay slim is a losing battle if we are drinking. Alcohol is a poison, and the body’s job is to remove it from your system as soon as possible. That’s why your body will not even begin to burn calories from food until it has metabolised those glasses of wine that you drank with dinner.
Alcohol is high in calories which provide no nutritional benefits, so replacing this calorie intake with healthy food options will make a significant difference to your general health and your figure.
Better Face
The effects of alcohol on the skin go beyond an immediate flush or puffiness – it can also cause premature aging over time. If you’re a drinker, you may suffer from chronic inflammation which can worsen wrinkles. You’ll also increase your risk of developing rosacea, an inflammatory skin condition that causes redness and swelling in some regions of the face.
Within just a few weeks of sobriety your skin will look clearer and more hydrated, and your face will lose its dryness, redness and puffiness.
Once you become aware of the effects drinking has on the face, it’s quite easy to spot the heavy drinkers when you look round a room full of people!
Better Hair… and Brighter Eyes
The diuretic effect of alcohol can dehydrate our hair as well as our skin. Damage easily occurs to dry hair such as split ends, hair breakage and hair loss.
So, alcohol contributes to dry and brittle hair. Sobriety will lead to improved nutrient absorption which will benefit hair health and promote shinier, stronger hair.
Excessive drinking can result in bloodshot or tired looking eyes. Alcohol causes bloating and puffiness, and of course, the fact that our sleep patterns are disrupted leads to dark circles around our eyes.
Within a couple of alcohol-free weeks, your eyes will become brighter, clearer and regain their sparkle!
Try the 100-Day Selfie Test!
Not convinced that an alcohol-free lifestyle will improve your looks? Then put it to the test.
When people join Tribe Sober, we recommend they take a selfie and then another one after 100 alcohol-free days.
The results are amazing!
Clearer skin, sparkling eyes and no sign of puffiness.
Try it and see.
Alcohol and Our Mental Health
Our mental state also has a big impact on our looks, of course. Just think about the way that you can assess most people’s mood by a quick glance at their face!
Anxiety, depression and anger all show in our facial expressions.
Some of us spend years in therapy, discovering ways to deal with our social anxiety and low moods, and we drink wine…
Yet what’s the one thing we can do to improve our looks and our mental health?
The simple (if a little scary) answer is that we need to stop or at least moderate our wine habit.
Even a couple of glasses of wine a night will add up to more than the so called “safe” limits of alcohol which works out at just one and a half bottles of wine a week.
Getting older is tough enough without pouring ethanol on our symptoms.
So many of us self-medicate with wine. Using it to numb our feelings of depression and anxiety. Well, here’s the thing. Alcohol is a depressant so, although you may experience a brief chemical high, there will be a price to pay, whether it’s a 3 a.m. wake-up call or a hangover the next morning.
As for anxiety… drinking alcohol is like pouring gasoline on your anxiety.
Sobriety is the secret to staying younger longer – it’s the best thing we can do for our health, happiness and appearance as we age.
So, ditch the drink and let sobriety be your springboard to a healthier and happier (and better looking) future.
Ready to Try an Alcohol-Free Lifestyle?
When we make a major lifestyle change, we need to connect with others on the same path. We need a Tribe! Tribe Sober has an international community of 400 members – all supporting and encouraging each other as they build their beautiful alcohol-free lives. Use the coupon code “sixty” for a 20% discount on Annual Membership. More info here.ac
Listen to the weekly Tribe Sober podcast – available on Apple & Spotify.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
How many years have you been drinking? Do you drink consistently – a glass or two of wine most evenings? Have you ever tried to take a break to test your dependence? Have you noticed an impact on your looks after a taking a break? Do you ever worry about your drinking? Are you aware of the health dangers of alcohol as you get older?
