A man who decided to drink alcohol after spending 18 months sober has revealed the 'surprising' impact it had on his body.
There are plenty of studies and first hand accounts detailing what happens to your body when you give up the booze floating around online; but have you ever wondered how the body would react if you decided to knock back a beer after an extended period of time being sober?
One person who shared his experience of dipping his toe back into the world of drinking after 18 months sober is YouTuber and fitness enthusiast Steve Julien - and the results surprised him.
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In a recent video updating his followers on what it was like to break his sobriety, Julien explained that he'd gone on a trip to Porto with his friends and decided to indulge in a couple of glasses of the local port.
Because you know, when in Rome and all...
Explaining thought process behind taking up drinking again Julien said his only intended to have a single glass of port, however after ending up at a bar which specialised in the drink he decided to indulge.
"We had five glasses in-front of us, each port had a story, a different taste to it and I thought 'I'm just going to have these five ports'. It felt very right in the moment," he recalled.
How does alcohol impact the body after a period of sobriety?
Julien went on to explain that he had no difficulty when switching back to alcohol-free beers, however he'd began to struggle with the impact of alcohol after a few nights in the Portuguese city.
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"What did surprise me is how I felt afterwards," he explained.
After examining the stats on a health and fitness tracker he wears Julien revealed that his body was struggling to recover after drinking, despite getting a good amount of sleep each night.
"This isn't a scientific experiment of course," he clarified. "But the data did reflect how I felt.
He went on to add the changes in his body continued over several days, with changes including increased cravings for 'a lot of rubbish carbs' due to 'guilt'.
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While there is little in the way of exact scientific studies to back up Julien's experience, it's unsurprising that he felt lousy after the drinking - given the fact that even the World Health Organisation has deemed that no amount of alcohol is completely safe for consumption.
When it came to his relationship with alcohol going forward, Julien concluded that his experience had led him to ultimately decide he was happy with his decision to go alcohol-free.
"I think this experience has just reinforced my position as a non-drinker," he added.
Brenna Cooper