Alcohol: What drinking does to your skin

Why is alcohol bad, and what does drinking do to my skin?

As much as alcohol can add to a situation, like helping you to relax or otherwise enjoy a social event, there are many reasons why it isn’t great for your skin. I wouldn’t classify alcohol as “bad” per se, but it certainly isn’t helping to keep your skin hydrated and healthy-looking. Depletion is the operative word for what alcohol does to your body in general and specifically to your skin.   

First of all, alcohol is a diuretic, so drinking it depletes your body’s supply of water. A good rule of thumb is to drink two glasses of water for every alcoholic drink. Then you are helping to replace water you will lose from drinking.

Next, alcohol depletes vitamins and minerals, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, choline, inositol, magnesium, and potassium at the very least. Vitamin C and B-complex are both water-soluble vitamins, meaning they are easily flushed out of your system, especially by alcohol. If you are drinking alcohol on any kind of a regular basis, be aware you may be lowering the vitamins stored in your body. I’m not saying never have a glass of wine. But if you drink, I think it would be beneficial to know what it is doing to your body, which ends up affecting your skin.

Alcohol takes the mineral calcium from bone and reduces your body’s ability to metabolize iron; both of these processes are especially bad for women. According to Dr. Christiane Northrup in her book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, alcohol increases the amount of free-floating estrogens in the bloodstream and has been linked in some clinical studies to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Alcohol is toxic, so when you drink it, your eliminating organs swing into high gear. You may be feeling tipsy from your libation, but your kidneys and liver are hard at work trying to filter out and release the toxins found in that glass of whatever you are drinking.

Finally, alcohol impairs your judgment. Without going into great detail, making poor choices can be catastrophic, like getting behind the wheel. If you drink, don’t drive. Poor choices can also be as minor as not washing your face before going to bed. Better choices? Drink lots of water when you are drinking alcohol and drink a lot of water the following day to help your body (especially your kidneys and liver) process the alcohol.

I like to live my life by this saying: Everything in moderation, including moderation. If you want to have some wine with dinner after a hard day’s work or at a party, don’t stress out about it. Your skin isn’t going to be ruined by a few drinks. But if you drink regularly or even infrequently, I highly recommend taking supplements and other health-producing measures when you do indulge.

Hangover? I’ve written a few articles on things you can do to help keep a hangover to a minimum. Even if you only have one glass of wine, try the suggested cures to help your body recover from the toxic effect of (even a little) alcohol. 

For more information, see:

• Holiday Hangover Helpers
• Hot water and lemon to the rescue
• Emergen-C—a little effervescence for your health 
• Sugar, wine, and breakout