Love chugging beer? 9 things that can happen to your body if you indulge in it daily

We know you’re already aware of how bad it is to drink alcohol. Now we aren’t speaking about occasional drinkers, but those who indulge in alcohol regularly. And most of them include regular beer bingers. 

If you love binging on booze, especially beer, then it is very important that you understand how bad it is to drink every single day. Of course, you must have heard a lot of beer drinkers say that a beer a day can help you get rid of kidney stones. But what about the other health problems that can happen? No one talks about those!

According to Dr Anjali Hooda, MBBS, MD (Internal, obesity, functional medicine, USA) and director at LiveNutrifit and Center for Obesity and Longevity, when we drink beer every day, there are a few things that can happen because of daily alcohol consumption. This is irrespective of the type of alcohol.  Any amount of alcohol, which is not used for medicinal purposes, is a toxin.

“Beer is basically a carbohydrate, since it has an insulin-spiking effect, due to which fat storage happens, and eventually leads to weight gain,” says Dr Hooda. 

Beer is fermented and can be beneficial for the body, as one might think, but the carbohydrate content of this alcohol doesn’t really work well with fitness enthusiasts. Though one pint of beer doesn’t really spike insulin, it’s only a matter of time when one pint turns to several mugs. Alcohol doesn’t let protein convert to glucose, and therefore, it can cause low blood sugar.

If you are insulin-resistant or diabetic, then all types of alcohol will cause a spike in blood glucose or can cause hypoglycemia, which is a condition marked by very low blood sugar. Light beer is higher in sugar than regular beer. 

Here are nine things that can happen if you drink beer every single day 

1. Weight gain

Beer is basically a carbohydrate, and spikes your insulin levels, thereby leading to weight gain.

2. Alcohol tolerance/dependence

The more you drink, the more the tolerance effect of any alcohol, and hence increased usage.

3. Neuropathic pain

Alcohol depletes many nutrients in the body, including magnesium and B vitamins, leading to nerve pain called neuropathy.

4. Deficiency of magnesium and B vitamins

Alcohol has no nutrients — in fact it can deplete many nutrients, not only magnesium, B vitamins, also folic acid and zinc.

5. Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar)

6. Hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar)

High consumption of carbohydrates can lead to an increase in blood sugar.

7. Loss of muscle

Non-nutritional calories from alcohol leads to less consumption of proteins or a balanced diet, which eventually causes muscle loss.

8. Increases fat percentage

Because beer is a carbohydrate, it can spike insulin and can cause fat storage. This is because insulin deposits fat.

9. Any alcohol will cause a host of gastrointestinal issues

Alcohol disturbs the gut microbiome, and enhances the growth of bad bacteria, causing changes in the gut barrier. This increases the permeability, due to which the toxins that were supposed to be expelled in your stool are reabsorbed, leading to autoimmune issues. Moreover, this also increases inflammation in the gut as well as the rest of the body

Therefore, it is very important to understand how much beer you can consume. Here’s what Dr Hooda has to say, “There is no quantity. As I said, all kinds of alcohol are considered toxic. There is no upside of drinking a pint of beer, and no significant downside of one pint, except tolerance to alcohol.”