Skin docs reveal how fast you’ll look better after you quit alcohol

The other day, I walked up to the grocery store checkout and got a blast from the past.

I noticed that the woman ahead of me seemed relatively young but had a bit too much grey hair for her age and a red, puffy face.

“She must be a heavy drinker,” I thought to myself as I looked at what she had on the belt to confirm.

Sure enough, she was only buying two items … and one was a huge box of white wine.

I wasn’t observing any of this in a judgmental way.

I was a curious observer of a life I used to live.

That puffy, red, dry face?

I had it … every day.

And any time I need a reminder of why I quit, look back at a picture of my swollen mug that I took the day I stopped for good.

Alcohol is skin poison

Alcohol is poison, and it destroys your skin in myriad ways, including:

• As a diuretic, it dehydrates every part of you, making your skin dry and flaky
• It dilates your blood vessels and worsens existing skin conditions, causing redness and puffiness
• It wrecks your sleep, giving your body less time to rest and recover

The good news is, your skin will bounce back — and you can start looking younger almost immediately after quitting.

Just listen to what some skin doctors have to say about it.

Quit alcohol to save your skin

Seeing the woman with the box of wine came at an appropriate time, given I was already planning to write this week about how alcohol destroys your appearance.

It returned top-of-mind for me after I saw a HuffPo article this week talking to skin docs about just how destructive booze is to your health and looks (and what you can do to reverse the effects).

Here’s what Dr. Teo Soleymani, a California dermatologist, told the site:

“When you’re systemically dehydrated, one of the first places you see it is in the skin.

“People may feel like their skin gets oilier after a night of binge drinking or notice that they tend to have oilier skin as a result of long-term drinking.

“Within several days (of quitting), patients may notice a difference in their skin hydration and that their skin appears smoother, brighter and stronger.”

That’s right.

Recovery happens not in weeks, or months, or years … it only takes days.

Little wins in the quit alcohol battle

I think it’s important to focus on quick little wins like this when you’re trying to do something like quit alcohol, which can feel overwhelming and long-term.

The fact of the matter is, your body is an amazing, resilient thing.

All you have to do is quit wilfully punishing it.

This is further illustrated by another piece I wrote recently about how quickly your brain bounces back from alcohol abuse.

The same goes for your skin.

I know that the first day I peered in the mirror and noticed how much younger I looked was extremely encouraging.

It only took about 5 days for me.

So if you’re looking for a great reason to quit alcohol that’ll also bring big, almost immediate returns, do your skin a favor.

One day very soon, you may find yourself spotting those heavy drinkers with their red, puffy, flaky faces and thank your lucky stars that you’re no longer one of them.

What’s your favorite physical benefit of quitting alcohol? Let me know in the comments!

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Looking for something to else read? I really enjoyed this Bo Muchoki piece about being sober and vegetarian.