A night in the pub resulting in a pounding headache and nausea. This unpleasant hangover confirms how unhealthy excessive consumption of alcohol is for you. Both for physical and mental health, alcohol is not a joke. But what are the consequences of alcohol for your skin? We found out a few facts for you.

Excessive alcohol consumption

You wake up after a night out, look in the mirror and notice a few pimples. Pimples that weren't there yesterday. Possibly these blemishes are not caused by the unhealthy snack you shoveled into yourself in a hurry at 4:30 in the morning. No, excessive consumption of alcohol can affect the appearance of the skin after just one day. But also in the long run, there can be damaging effects on your skin. Alcohol drinkers develop skin problems or skin diseases way more quickly. By skin problems we mean: dry skin, eczema, acne and premature skin aging.

What does alcohol consist of?

Alcohol is a toxin with little nutritional value. It has a negative effect on your liver function, immunity, hormones, cells and insulin. All of these factors affect the quality, appearance and aging of your skin.

Our body converts alcohol in the liver. In this process, the by-product acetaldehyde is released which is toxic to our body tissues. This leads to dehydration of the skin and premature aging of the skin which increases the chance of developing wrinkles earlier. In addition, inflammation can occur in the body tissues, releasing a histamine. This histamine dilates the capillaries of the blood. What happens then? Redness of the skin occurs. People who regularly consume large amounts of alcohol may experience permanent redness of the skin.

Acne

Another substance found in alcohol is sugar. This sugar activates the hormone IGF-1 which causes overproduction of oil in our skin. So what can be an effect of alcohol on your skin? Definitely your acne getting a lot worse!

Bruising

Consuming a lot of alcohol is more likely to lead to vitamin C deficiency. This vitamin C deficiency can lead to bruising. I guess we want to avoid looking like bruised apples, right?

Dull skin

Dull skin can also be a consequence of consuming a lot of alcohol for your skin. This is also the case because there is a lot of sugar in alcohol. In addition, alcohol causes a shortage of vitamin A. Why is that bad, you may ask? Because vitamin A is precisely what makes your skin, hair and eyes function properly and look fresh.

Dry skin

Alcohol dehydrates. This is because alcohol is a diuretic and you lose a lot of water. Therefore, excessive consumption of alcohol results in dry and flaky skin. Dehydration also causes people who have eczema to experience an outbreak more quickly.

Sprung red capillaries

What else does alcohol do to your skin? It can even lead to burst, red capillaries. This happens because alcohol consumption dilates the blood vessels. When you consume a lot of alcohol on a regular basis, it can result in permanent damage to the red blood vessels. This leads to poorer blood circulation, which ultimately also causes skin problems.

Psoriasis

People who suffer from eczema experience more rapid eruptions when consuming a lot of alcohol. This also applies to people with psoriasis and unfortunately the peoples ́ symptoms will only worsen from this.

Rosacea

People who suffer from the skin disease rosacea are also better off avoiding the use of alcohol and should especially keep their hands off red wine. Why? Because this skin disease is linked to drinking alcohol and its symptoms - a red face, pimples and visible blood vessels - will worsen.

Skin aging

Alcohol inhibits collagen production. Why does that affect my skin you may think to yourself? Because collagen creates supple and young-looking skin. This means that excessive consumption of alcohol can cause more visible wrinkles and fine lines way quicker than when you’re not consuming alcohol. Of course, we would rather avoid that and look young for as long as possible, right? So watch out for consuming too much alcohol. One tip is to drink a glass of water after each glass of alcohol so that you stay hydrated. In addition, never drink alcohol on an empty stomach.

References:

• https://mens-en-gezondheid.infonu.nl/aandoeningen/196810-de-invloed-van-drinken-vanalcohol-op-de-huid.html
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11450334/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21611681/