Abstaining from Alcohol for a Month can Reduce Blood Pressure, Cholesterol

Abstaining from alcohol for one month can reduce an individual's blood pressure and cholesterol, a new study has found. The study involved as many as 100 men and women in their 40s who took part in Alcohol Concern’s “dry January” campaign. They found that refraining from a tipple also reduced the subjects' risk for liver disease and diabetes.

According to the study by researchers from University College London  liver damage was reduced by 12.5% and resistance to insulin came down by 28%.

The subjects also lost weight after four weeks without alcohol.

Professor Kevin Moore, of the Royal Free Hospital, recommended that everyone who drank alcohol should try to give it up for a month.

“When you give up alcohol [for one month] … there is a significant reduction in blood pressure, a significant reduction in cholesterol, [and] an improvement of glucose and insulin resistance which has a major impact on both maturity onset diabetes as well as the development of fatty liver disease,” Moore said.

The professor also said that no drug can give the same effect of giving up alcohol for a month.

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“If [a clinical trial] had a drug that lowered blood pressure by the amount we’ve observed in those that stopped drinking alcohol, the company would be excited beyond belief. If they then also found it reduced cholesterol, they would be doubly excited… it’s such a good story, there’s no drugs that do that,” Moore added.

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Source-Medindia