Women and Alcohol: Why They Are More Affected By Alcohol and How It Can Harm Their Body

There are various myths about alcohol consumption floating around. However, one common belief about alcohol is true: women are affected by alcohol much more so than men. You may be thinking… yeah right! But it’s true. Women feel more effects than men do when it comes to drinking alcohol.

So, you may be wondering why women have an adverse effect to alcohol. There are actually four reasons why this happens.

1 – Women don’t have near the amount of water in their body has a man does. When men consume alcohol, the water dilutes it more. When women consume alcohol, a bigger percentage of alcohol stays in the body.

2 – Women’s hormones are affected by the amount of alcohol she has consumed. Women who are taking birth control pills or are experiencing premenstrual systems may be affected more by alcohol since there are higher levels of estrogen in the body. Keep in mind that women already have copious amounts of estrogen.

3 – Women generally don’t weigh near as much as men do. Thus, a woman who drinks the same amount as a man but weighs less will have more alcohol coursing through her body.

4 – Women don’t have as much alcohol dehydrogenase in their body compared to men. This enzyme is needed to break down alcohol or else excess pure alcohol gets into the blood stream.

Due to all these factors, alcohol is much worse for women than men… in terms of their health. Studies have concluded that women experience damage to various body systems from alcohol consumption such as:

1 – Women will have liver complications quicker than men do and have a higher chance of dying from alcoholic hepatitis or cirrhosis.

2 – Moderate level drinkers can reduce their heart disease risk. Women who consume a good deal of alcohol can suffer from an array of heart problems.

3 – Women who have more than one alcoholic drink a night can put themselves at a high risk for breast cancer.

4 – Women drinkers are less likely to be able to drive under the influence than men, which means they are at an increased risk from dying in an alcohol related accident even if they have the same blood alcohol concentration as a man.

5 – Women who drink have a tendency to be victims of domestic violence or a sex crime.

Most people understand that consuming alcohol in moderate amounts has some health benefits and nothing has been linked to have occasional drinks. Still, there are some great misunderstandings about how much a person can drink for being in moderation.

The most widely accepted rule is no more than two drinks a day. However, there are experts who believe women should not have more than one drink every day. And, for those women who drink every now and then, it’s advised they not have more than four drinks in one day.

No doubt alcohol has risks for both men and woman. However, the female body’s characteristics make it extremely bad for women to drink. The best way to protect themselves is to either drink in moderation or not drink at all.