Four key health benefits of drinking less alcohol

Reducing the risk of cancer

One of the most serious effects alcohol has on our health is its ability to cause cancer.

Cancer Research UK reports that all types of alcohol can cause cancer and whilst drinking alcohol doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely get cancer, the risk is higher with the more alcohol you drink.

There are three main ways alcohol can cause cancer:

• Alcohol can damage our cells and stop cells repairing the damage
• Alcohol affects chemical signals which makes cells divide more often
• Alcohol makes it easier for cells in our mouth and throat to absorb harmful chemicals

The main cancers that can be caused by alcohol include: breast cancer and bowel cancer, mouth cancer, some types of throat cancer and liver cancer.

Alcohol causes around 11,900 cancer cases in the UK each year, with mouth and throat cancer being the most common cancer caused by alcohol.

Reducing the amount you drink now will still reduce your risk of cancer in the future. 

All health insurers offer cancer cover as part of their core offering, meaning you have excellent support available if you need it.

Having health insurance with cancer cover can also give you access to the latest cancer treatment, as well as medication and procedures that don’t tend to be obtainable on the NHS.

Health insurance can also help with prevention and being more proactive about protecting your health. All health insurers provide support to encourage healthier lifestyles.

Lowering blood pressure

High blood pressure is the most common alcohol-related health problem. Drinking a lot of alcohol can cause the muscles in your blood vessels to narrow.

High blood pressure is dangerous and a cause for concern as it can increase risks of stroke, heart disease, chronic kidney disease and vascular dementia.

Another reason alcohol can cause high blood pressure is due to the calories in it, leading to weight gain and ultimately a raise in blood pressure.

Being aware of how much you drink, keeping track and taking steps to limit your intake can be a great way to lower your blood pressure and the risks associated with it. Lowering your blood pressure reduces the risks of a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney damage and vision loss.

Some other ways you can lower blood pressure beyond alcohol reduction include:

• Regular physical activity – moderate intensity is the most beneficial
• Keep to a healthy weight
• Cut down on salt
• Take any prescribed medications

Support and resources provided by health insurers can help with improving physical health to reduce the risk of health issues affecting your life. For example, The Exeter offer lifestyle and nutrition consultations, Aviva provide ‘My Health Counts’ - an online questionnaire and programme helping you understand health and lifestyle choices and helping to improve them and Bupa offers discounts on health assessments, looking into your health and wellbeing’s current and future risks.

Improving mood, sleep and memory

Another benefit of reducing alcohol intake is one that can improve your mental health.

It’s common knowledge that you’re likely to have a worse nights sleep after drinking alcohol or maybe the whole next day is spent feeling worse for wear nursing a hangover.

But how does alcohol really affect our mental health?

There is a strong link between heavy drinking and depression, and hangovers often make you feel low, which can affect your mood for a couple of days following a night of drinking.

Cutting down on alcohol can reduce the severity of hangovers, and potentially improve your mood generally.

Drinking alcohol can also affect your quality of sleep. Drinking alcohol in heavy amounts can affect your quality of sleep and your sleep cycle. Although alcohol can often cause us to feel sleepy and maybe even help us get off to sleep quicker, you won’t sleep as well as you would without alcohol.

Lack of sleep and compromised sleep quality can affect the rest of our day-to-day lives, causing us to feel disengaged and even unmotivated to do things we would usually enjoy.

Sleep is such an important thing to get right and prioritise. It helps us feel well rested for a new day and allows us to recharge.

Other ways to improve your sleep cycle and quality include: being active during the day, creating a routine for sleep, avoid getting too much sleep and setting a cut-off for caffeine.

Alcohol also affects our memory, beyond just forgetting everything that happened whilst drunk or having blurred memory.

Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) can happen if you drink at high levels, daily for a long time. ARBD affects people mostly in their 50s but can happen at any age.

Nerve cell damage leads to problems with our memory. It can also shrink the part of the brain that is involved with memory, causing long term loss.

Alcohol stays in your system depending on how much you’ve drank, the period of time and the speed at which your body gets rid of it. So it’s hard to give an exact number. On average, alcohol is removed from the body at the rate of about one unit per hour.

Most health insurers provide mental health support as a benefit with their policies, this often includes a support line for counselling or therapy. Learn more about health insurers and mental health.

Improving skin

It’s normal for our skin to change throughout the months and hormones to cause our skin to occasionally have flare ups. But did you know regularly drinking alcohol can have negative effects on your skin?

One of the main ways alcohol affects our skin is through dehydration. We’re dehydrated when we drink alcohol as it makes our body remove fluids from our blood faster than other drinks.

This is a key reason why drinking water in between alcoholic drinks can help to stay hydrated.

Dehydrated skin is typically identified as being dry, itchy and tight. If dehydrated skin is a regular problem as a result of drinking, it’s best to cut down where you can and make sure you stay hydrated by regularly drinking water too.

Other ways you can keep your skin hydrated is by: turning down the temperature in the shower, avoiding abrasive cleansers, and eating foods which are water-rich, like cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, and broccoli.

Drinking alcohol means your skin loses essential nutrients and fluids that are vital for healthy looking skin.

Alcohol can also affect our skin by worsening conditions such as psoriasis as it effects the immune system and the way our circulatory system works.

How to cut down on alcohol?

So now we know how alcohol can really affect us, you may be wondering how to cut down?

If alcohol is a normal part of your life, completely cutting it out can be hard. Whilst this would massively benefit our health, it's not always easy.

Taking simple steps to cut down is the first step in improving our health. Here are some of our top tips to help you cut down your alcohol intake.

Find alternative ways to socialise

A good way to try and cut down your alcohol intake is finding alternative ways to socialise. Maybe the pub or bar is your go-to place when meeting friends or family?

Simply taking yourself away from places that involve drinking alcohol can help you to resist temptation. Some great alternatives include:

3. Attend alcohol-free events: Many places now are beginning to host alcohol-free events, which means you can still enjoy doing things you love without drinking.

For example this could be quiz nights, karaoke or live music. The great thing is you’re also around people who won’t be drinking and it will make it easier.

Plan a cut off time

If you are planning to drink but still want to cut down, a good way to do so is to make a plan before going out or going somewhere where you’ll be drinking.

This could be choosing the number of drinks you will have or choosing a time to cut off drinking. If you’re taking your own drinks, only take a limited number of drinks or if you’re heading out, you can ask friends or family to help you keep on track.

Another option is to set a budget for your drinks to help you limit.

Start with drink free days

If drinking is a very regular occurrence, starting off with drink free days can help to cut back.

Setting a challenge can be motivating and help you stick to it. It’s best to start with what’s realistic for you and work up to more drink free days.

This can also be achieved by changing your routine. Your current routine may make you want to have an alcohol drink as you usually would, like a habit, so changing it up a bit and developing a new healthy habit can help you to cut down on alcohol and successfully achieve drink free days.

Reducing our alcohol intake can be a great way to improve our overall health and help us to feel better. Even just small steps to reducing alcohol intake can have great results for our health.

If protecting your health is top of your priority list for 2025, health insurance can be the peace of mind you’re looking for.

You can reach out to our friendly advisers on 01285 864 670. Or fill out the form below for one of our team to get in touch.