What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Drinking Alcohol

By now, it’s clear that Americans are drinking less. You see it in grocery stores and bars, where zero-proof cocktails and non-alcoholic beers are more available than ever. You also see it in the data: A recent Gallup poll found that the drinking rate in the United States is the lowest it’s been in 90 years, with only about 54% of American adults reporting that they consume alcohol.

The shift comes amid mounting research on the negative health effects of alcohol, as well as growing warnings from public health experts about the long-term risks tied to nightly glasses of wine or regular weekend binge drinking.

As drinking falls out of favor, you might be asking what cutting back—or quitting entirely—might do to your body. Here’s what three doctors told Health.

Most immediately, skipping alcohol is likely to improve your sleep. “With less alcohol, you will feel better rested and less cognitively slow in the morning,” said Joseph Schacht, PhD, an associate professor in psychiatry who specializes in substance dependence at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

While alcohol may help you drift off, staying asleep is another matter. “You will often wake up either because you have to go to the bathroom, to get some water because you are dehydrated, or because the alcohol has disrupted your sleep cycle,” said Keith Humphreys, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine. 

Research shows that alcohol can delay, shorten, and prevent rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the phase associated with improved creativity, well-being, and longevity.

Alcohol may make you feel relaxed and uninhibited in the short term, but as a depressant, it can ultimately worsen your mental health. In fact, many people experience anxiety or panic attacks the day after drinking, according to Schacht.

There are a few reasons why this can happen. For one, studies have found that drinking can cause abnormalities in the amygdala, the brain region that regulates negative emotions, and those changes may impair how people respond to stress. Furthermore, alcohol can affect the production of brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, all of which play roles in mood regulation.

“Reducing the amount you drink will help your brain better regulate these neurotransmitters and make you feel more even-keeled,” Schacht said.

Furthermore, poor sleep—another problem triggered by alcohol—is linked to various mental health issues. Because cutting out alcohol can improve sleep, it may also lower your risk of developing a mental health condition.

“Of the factors that we can control, reducing your alcohol intake can significantly reduce your risk of developing cancer over time,” said Edward DaVeiga, MD, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

That’s because, even in moderation, drinking alcohol can increase your risk of many types of cancers, including those of the head and neck, esophagus, liver, breast, colon, and rectum, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Alcohol raises the risk of cancer because our body converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen, said DaVeiga.

Additionally, alcohol can damage DNA, impair the body’s ability to absorb important nutrients, including vitamins A, C, D, E, and some in the vitamin B complex, and make it easier for the mouth and throat to absorb harmful chemicals. Over time, all of these changes can contribute to cancer.

Alcohol has been linked to many heart problems, including stroke, heart attack, and heart failure. According to DaVeiga, this is because alcohol triggers inflammation that can tax your cardiovascular system.

Alcohol also contains calories and can contribute to weight gain. Schadt said excess weight can reduce metabolism, increase your appetite for high-calorie foods, and interfere with hormones that regulate weight. That, in turn, can lead you to develop cardiovascular risk factors such as dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.

On the flip side, many people lose weight when they stop drinking, which helps lower those risk factors and reduce strain on the heart. “Most people who drink regularly will lose at least a few pounds if they eliminate alcohol from their diets,” Schacht said.

When you drink less, you may also find that you experience fewer harmful events. According to Humphreys, alcohol is linked to not just a higher risk of both serious accidents, such as car accidents, but also more minor mishaps, such as tripping, spilling your coffee on yourself, or forgetting to take medication. A recent report found that roughly 4.5 million people worldwide died from injuries in 2019, of which 7% were alcohol related.

Alcohol is a neurotoxin and a central nervous system depressant. As such, it can impair balance, judgment, behavior, and reaction time, research shows. “Alcohol both reduces physical coordination and impairs concentration and memory,” Humphreys said.

As for the negatives of quitting drinking, they are few and far between. Some people may worry that being the only non-drinker in their social circle could feel lonely or isolating. But with the rise of alcohol-free wines, beers, and cocktails, staying social and sober is much easier than it used to be, Humphreys noted.

In fact, people who quit or cut down often find that their social lives actually improve because they feel less anxious, better rested, and more confident with their bodies, according to Schacht.

“One of the single best things you can do to improve your health,” he said, “is to cut down on or stop drinking alcohol.”