How Long for the Immune System to Recover from Alcohol?

Hi, there. It’s me, Rod Jong! How many cups of vodka did you drink on New Year’s Eve? Did you know that drinking alcohol affects your immune system? But the main question really is how long for the immune system to recover from alcohol.

When we drink alcohol, our bodies enter into what is known as the digestion phase of consumption. This means that your stomach gets busy breaking down the alcohol so it can be absorbed through your digestive system.

Your body also starts producing special chemicals to help regulate inflammation in your body.

How Long for Immune System to Recover from Alcohol? Will It Last a Few Hours? Days?

The truth is that a night of drinking can suppress your immune system for up to 24 hours.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol can slow down the absorption of nutrients in your diet, which may lead to nutritional deficiencies. To avoid it, you may take this supplement to boost your immune system.

Effects of alcohol on the immune system

Your body breaks down or metabolizes some of the nutrients in food and beverages. These include carbohydrates, lipids (fatty substances), and proteins.

Many of these nutrients play an important role in keeping your immune system functioning properly.

When you drink too much, however, some of these nutrients are not absorbed.

Healing takes time, and you don’t want to put excessive pressure on yourself by making unnecessary demands on your health and fitness.

Dangers of alcohol and the immune system

Although drinking moderate amounts of alcoholic beverages is not harmful, excessive drinking can be!

When you drink liquids, there are two main things that happen: dehydration and intoxication. Hydration occurs when you drink enough water so that your blood does not dry out.

Intoxication happens when you drink alcohol (or other substances) and your body begins to metabolize it by breaking down some of its components.

This usually takes hours and sometimes days depending on how much you drank and what type of alcohol you consumed.

What Affects Recovery? 

The length of time that it takes your body to rebound from alcohol depends on how much you drank, what kind of drink you consumed, and whether or not you were drinking with food.

All parts of the immune system may suffer due to alcohol’s suppressive effect.

This is because alcohol depletes the liver of important nutrients and cells. Nutrients such as zinc and vitamin B help keep the immune system in top shape.

Zinc levels drop after alcohol ingestion, while vitamin B drops can impair wound healing. Both contribute to making it more difficult to restore internal balance and heal external wounds.

When there is an imbalance in internal chemistry, the immune system cannot function properly. This includes lowering inflammation and preventing infection and disease.

It takes about two weeks for your liver to work through everything. This process is called detoxification. During this time, your liver can release certain chemicals to help flush out the toxins in your blood.

These chemicals are sometimes referred to as natural antidepressants or mood-enhancing agents. Examples include adrenaline, cortisol, and serotonin.

Serotonin acts like a feel-good chemical. It helps regulate emotions and sleep. Cortisol aids in stress management. And adrenaline boosts energy and activity levels.

All three hormones affect your mental state and influence how you feel physically. So when your body is trying to eliminate the alcohol, it also needs adequate supplies of one or more of these hormones to succeed.

Seek help immediately

Even one or two drinks can impair your health, so if you feel sick after drinking, it is important to get medical attention as soon as possible.

A lot of people believe that alcohol has no effect on our immune systems, but this isn’t true.

Alcohol does have an impact on the body’s natural defenses against infectious agents like bacteria and viruses.

But how long these effects last depends on the amount drank and whether you are healthy before you drink.

If you are in need of urgent care because you think you may have drunk too much then don’t hesitate to visit a hospital or primary care clinic.

Fortunately, most cases of alcoholic poisoning do not require intensive treatment beyond ensuring adequate oxygenation and supportive care until the patient recovers.

Alcohol kills

When you consume alcoholic beverages, some of the liquid is absorbed through your stomach and intestines and into your blood. This happens immediately after drinking and up until about one hour later.

After that time frame, the liver function begins to degrade due to alcohol’s direct toxicity towards it. As well, other organs such as kidneys begin to shut down due to fluid loss caused by dehydration.

All this takes place around three hours after consumption!

Because alcohol depletes antioxidants and nutrients from your body, it creates an unhealthy environment for healing.

That is why it takes longer than normal for your skin, muscles, bone, and internal organs to heal from exposure to alcohol. Even small amounts of alcohol may not be totally flushed out of your body for several days- if ever!

Making matters worse, repeated exposures to alcohol can negatively affect how your body responds to certain infections.

Stop Drinking 

How long for the immune system to recover from alcohol? With all the diseases and infections spreading anywhere, you need your immune system to function properly. Because alcohol affects your immune function, it’s best for you to just stop drinking altogether.