6 reasons to stop drinking beer
There are enough beer lovers in our country. According to statistics, for every average Russian citizen (including women and children) there are about 60 liters of foamy drink per year. This is not as much as in the Czech Republic or Germany, but the figure is still impressive. There is nothing to be happy about: despite the assurances of the producers that beer is absolutely harmless, the consequences of its active consumption cannot be considered positive. Let's talk about the negative effects that a popular drink has on the body.
Injury to the stomach
Beer is not a strong drink, but some varieties contain up to 14% alcohol. This means that when consuming 1 liter of beer, a person receives the amount of alcohol contained in 100 ml of vodka - and this is combined with the liquid in the process of active fermentation. Such a "cocktail" eats away at the gastric mucosa, while simultaneously poisoning the body with alcohol breakdown products.
It has been clinically proven that in a person who constantly consumes beer, the gastric juice first becomes thick and slimy, and then ceases to be produced at all in the proper amount, as a result of which food in a partially digested form enters the intestines from the stomach. The classic symptoms of alcoholic gastritis appear: a feeling of heaviness and pain in the abdomen, problems with stool, a feeling of bitterness in the mouth. As a result, working capacity decreases, general weakness and depression appear.
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Liver blow
The danger of drinking beer is that it is usually drunk in large quantities. At the same time, the liver receives a serious overload, especially since a specific snack is usually added to a decent dose of alcohol, consisting of dried or smoked fish, or (even worse) crackers, chips and other products, which include synthetic flavors, preservatives, flavor enhancers and a huge amount of salt. If these episodes are repeated regularly, the liver can no longer cope with the elimination of toxins from the body.
Beer drinkers often experience chronic hepatitis, which is asymptomatic for a long time. The result can be the development of liver cirrhosis. The popular drink inflicts no less harm on the pancreas: under its influence, the release of enzymes is disrupted, on which the processes of food breakdown and absorption of nutrients depend.
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Excessive stress on the kidneys
Everyone knows that beer has a diuretic effect. But it's not just the problems associated with the need to empty the bladder frequently. With such active urination, the substances necessary for vital activity are washed out. In addition, when drinking "beer" snacks, the body receives excess salt, which has the ability to bind and retain water. As a result, the mechanism for maintaining the water-salt and acid-base balance begins to malfunction. This leads to pain and weakness in the legs, increased susceptibility to colds, and dysfunction of the heart.
Organic lesions can also be the result of beer alcoholism: vascular sclerosis, hemorrhages and kidney infarction, the death of kidney tissue.
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Development of heart disease
When drinking beer, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly, causing immediate vasodilation. Constant exposure of this kind provokes not only the development of varicose veins, but also the expansion of the heart chambers. At the same time, a characteristic picture is observed on the roentgenogram, which experts call "bovine (beer) heart syndrome" ("nylon stocking syndrome"). The heart wall becomes flabby and swollen with fat on the outside.
Beer alcoholics often complain of cardiac arrhythmias, weakness, shortness of breath, exercise intolerance. The risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart attacks and strokes is very high for them.
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Instability of hormonal levels
In the production of beer, hop cones are used, the extract of which gives the drink a pleasant bitter taste. However, phytoestrogens are also part of this plant - substances that act on the body in much the same way as female sex hormones. Drinking beer in excessive quantities causes a hormonal disruption in a man, leading to a change in the timbre of his voice and appearance. The notorious "beer belly" appears, as the body begins to store fat, depositing it in the "female" zones, the volume of the mammary glands increases, the body hair becomes less hairy. Suppression of testosterone production causes a decrease in libido and a weakening of potency.
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Addictive
Many beer drinkers claim that it is impossible to become an alcoholic by drinking beer. Experts express exactly the opposite opinion: beer alcoholism develops 3-4 times faster than vodka, and it is much more difficult to treat. The problem lies in the wide availability of the drink, as well as in the fact that its use is allowed in more places and situations.
Beer alcoholics almost always fall into the hands of narcologists at the moment when the disease is already thoroughly neglected. Usually, it turns out that the patient has been experiencing various ailments for a long time, but does not associate them with his habit of drinking 2-3 bottles of beer daily.
In fact, we can talk about the onset of an illness even when a person has the following symptoms:
- regular consumption of more than 1 liter of beer per day;
- frequent visits to "beer" companies;
- irritability and anger, if necessary, to refrain from the next libation;
- trouble falling asleep, using beer as a sleeping pill;
- the growth of the "beer belly";
- problems in the sexual sphere;
- attempts to drink beer in the morning to relieve withdrawal symptoms;
- complaints of constant fatigue, malaise, inability to concentrate.
If someone in your family has these symptoms, they need urgent help. It is important to explain to him the reasons for this condition and try to persuade him to stop drinking beer on his own or contact a specialist in drug addiction. Otherwise, a person close to you can completely undermine your health and become the owner of a "bouquet" of ailments, which will very quickly lead to disability.
Source: depositphotos.com
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Maria Kulkes Medical journalist About the author
Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenov, specialty "General Medicine".
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