How alcohol affects the skin

Yesterday or maybe early today I was out at a bar with some people, and I could not help to think how bad alcohol is for the skin, I personally did not have anything to drink yesterday, drinking is just not something I find enjoyable, so I stuck to alcohol-free stuff, which I am really glad I did, I did not have less fun by not drinking. However, if you do enjoy a drink, I just want to share what alcohol does to the skin because I just came to wonder it all of a sudden. I remember when I was in college how some girls would say if I had so much to drink yesterday and my skin really paid the price for it, and I just had no idea what it meant, because I have never been a drinker, so since then I have been wondering what it does and I have been researching it, and now I am here to share with you what it does and what you can do to prevent it as much as possible.

The body metabolizes the alcohol from an enzyme in the liver, which releases a byproduct called acetaldehyde. This byproduct is toxic to the body tissues. And this makes the body and your skin dehydrated which sadly causes premature aging of the skin, such as getting wrinkles early. Dry skin is also a step towards a post-bingeing breakout.

The alcohol is causing inflammation to the body tissue, releasing histamine that dilates the blood capillaries, so that the net effect is redness on your skin.

Alcohol also dilates the pores on your skin which leads to getting whiteheads and blackheads, and if you don´t treat this it can cause cystic acne later on, which can lead to permanent scarring.

Also, a little side note alcohol consumption impairs your sleep and the dehydration compromises the regenerative cycle your body enters while you are asleep, and what does this mean? It means it decreases the cell turnover and it will lead to you having an unhealthy dull complexion.

Now which kind of alcohol is the worst for you, I am not sure you will be surprised about this one, but it is beer, beer has the most additives, such as salts and sugars, which will add even more stress to your liver to metabolize, as well as beer is overly dehydrating.

Now should you quit drinking to get nice skin? I mean if you want to do so then yes, but if you want to keep drinking there are a few things you can do to not stress your skin too much while drinking. Make sure you eat a healthy and balanced meal before and after drinking, also between every alcoholic beverage, have a glass of water, this will minimize the dehydration of your skin. Of course, this will not completely remove the damage alcohol does to your skin, but it will lessen it a bit.