It’s not just the digestive system and liver that suffer from alcohol consumption. The skin too.
We often hear that alcohol consumption aggravates skin problems such as dehydration, acne, rosacea or psoriasis, and that it accelerates cellular aging. True or false ? Alcohol has inflammatory effects on the skin and can actually aggravate certain skin diseases. How ?
► Alcohol has a powerful vasodilator action, that is to say it has the ability to dilate the small vessels of the face.
► Add to this that the sugar contained in certain alcoholic beverages causes blood sugar levels to rise too quickly, preventing the skin cell regeneration process.
However, although alcohol can be a contributing factor to certain skin diseases, it is not the cause. Alcohol as such does not cause pimples, they are simply a consequence of damage to the liver or pancreas which will lead the appearance of skin signs. Furthermore, we must not neglect the psychological causes which can link alcohol to skin problems. “Since alcohol is an inexpensive antidepressant, people use it because they feel bad about themselves or have a presenting illness. For example, the psoriasis is not linked to alcohol but the fact of having it alters the quality of life and can encourage people to consume more alcohol, which will have a more limited effect of the medications that may be prescribed. informs our interlocutor.
Alcohols worse than others?
Now that we know that alcohol is bad for the skin, it’s interesting to know if some alcoholic drinks are worse than others. To this question, Dr. Marc Perrussel, dermatologist reminds that “regardless of the alcohol or the consumable that contains it, in the arrangement of the glasses, a beer glass contains as much alcohol as a glass of cognac and as much as a glass of wine. The consequences of alcohol do not depend not necessarily nature drunk alcohol or edibles containing alcohol“. On the other hand, the sugar level of alcohol is important. The sweeter the alcohol, the more it increases blood sugar, leading to hormonal disruption and promoting the appearance of spots. Among the alcohols to avoid, include sweet white wine which contains a lot of sugar, cider, kir (composed of wine and crème de cassis) or even Champagne because its bubbles tend to retain sugar.