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What Happens When You Stop Drinking Alcohol?Jose A. Bernat Bacete – Getty Images<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re thinking about joining the #SoberCurious movement<\/a>, you\u2019re not alone. There are currently more than 939,000 uses of the hashtag on Instagram. More and more people are considering giving up alcohol as an experiment (think: Dry January<\/a>, but any time of year)\u2014or for good. A 2025 Gallup poll found only 54% of U.S. adults drink alcohol<\/a>\u2014the lowest number since Gallup began tracking drinking habits in 1939. Plus, the booze-free beverage market is booming, giving you tons more options than just club soda with lime.<\/p>\n So what actually happens to your body when you stop drinking alcohol? We asked experts to break down everything you might notice immediately, as well as the effects that can continue long after you\u2019ve had your last sip.<\/p>\n What does alcohol do to your body?<\/p>\n You\u2019d be hard-pressed to think of something in your body that isn\u2019t impacted by alcohol. Alcohol affects three main systems in your body, says Matthew Mosquera<\/a>, MD, a board-certified addiction psychiatrist, regional medical director at Lumin Health, and instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School:<\/p>\n Liver<\/p>\n Light drinkers tend to be mostly spared from the effects on the liver, but for heavy drinkers, the liver becomes inflamed, which can be dangerous over time,\u201d says Dr. Mosquera. According to The National Institute for Health, light drinking is defined as seven drinks per week for women, with no more than three in one day, and no more than 14 drinks per week for men, with no more than four in one day<\/a>. That said, your liver has to work hard to process and filter alcohol, no matter the quantity. When you\u2019re drinking heavily on a regular basis, it can overwhelm the liver\u2019s capabilities, causing a cascade of health issues, including liver disease, liver cancer, and acute alcohol-related hepatitis<\/a> \u2014 all of which can be deadly.<\/p>\n Cardiovascular System<\/p>\n \u201cAlcohol is a monkey wrench in our homeostasis,\u201d says Dr. Mosquera. \u201cBoth light and heavy drinking dehydrates you, so your heart compensates by elevating your blood pressure and your heart rate.\u201d In fact, an analysis of seven studies<\/a> in the journal Hypertension, found that people who had just one drink per day showed elevated blood pressure <\/a>when compared to non-drinkers.<\/p>\n Cognitive Function<\/p>\n Drinking increases anxiety levels and impairs your memory\u2019s ability to function, adds Dr. Mosquera. But we\u2019re not just talking about one night of \u201cblacking out\u201d and forgetting what happened. The compound effects of drinking on your brain can be serious. One study found that even moderate alcohol consumption can cause changes to the brain\u2019s structure<\/a>, leading to cognitive decline in areas associated with memory and reasoning. In the study, more excessive drinking translated to more rapid cognitive decline.<\/p>\n While these areas may take the greatest hit from regular drinking, they aren\u2019t the only ones affected. Alcohol\u2019s inflammatory properties don\u2019t just affect the liver\u2014the stomach can also become inflamed, which, along with the dehydration, can affect digestion and lead to constipation<\/a>. While your liver and stomach can usually rebound if you stop drinking, chronic inflammation<\/a> can increase the risk of cancer over time.<\/p>\n Alcohol can also impair your ability to get restorative rest because you\u2019re less likely to enter REM sleep, which has been shown to increase your risk of dementia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Frequent drinking can raise estrogen levels<\/a> and reduce testosterone<\/a>. For women, it can increase the risk of breast cancer, impair bone health, and lead to mood changes. For men, this can look like lowered libido and erectile dysfunction, as well as decreased muscle mass.<\/p>\n And, emotionally, alcohol can make you not only more anxious but also more irritable, more impulsive and less inhibited\u2014not just after a drink, but compounded over time, says Dr. Mosquera. These effects can also be exacerbated if you have a mental-health diagnosis, like bipolar disorder, he says.<\/p>\n What happens to your body when you stop drinking?<\/p>\n That anxiety you feel from drinking? It’s often the first to go. \u201cAnxiety is the most common thing people notice upon stopping,\u201d says Dr. Sharone Abramowitz<\/a>, MD, a psychiatrist and immediate past president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine.<\/p>\n Dr. Abramowitz also notes that it’s not unusual for people to crave alcohol once they stop, which can produce some unpleasant side effects in the short term:<\/p>\n The good news? These effects will subside as your body adjusts to the absence of alcohol.<\/p>\n Alcohol withdrawal timelineThe first few days: <\/p>\n
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