Alcohol and Your Skin: Is Drinking Harmful or Helpful?

Alcohol is pretty much ubiquitous in our society. From nights out with friends to holidays with family to simply relaxing at home in the evening, many people drink alcohol frequently – sometimes every night.

But is this habit healthy for your skin? If you have a chronic skin condition, will alcohol make it worse or better? We all know that drinking a lot on a daily basis is unhealthy – but what about drinking more reasonable amounts? Is it something that people with chronic skin conditions need to avoid?

How can alcohol affect your skin?

Alcohol can affect your skin in a number of different ways:

• It affects your gut microbiome. I talk a lot about the connection between your gut microbiome – the trillions of microorganisms (mostly bacteria) that live inside your gut – and your skin. The balance of species in your gut microbiome can make a huge difference in your health. Alcohol has been found to promote the growth of harmful species in the gut – those that are associated with increased inflammation throughout the body. 

• It dehydrates you. Alcohol inhibits the release of a hormone known as vasopressin, or antidiuretic hormone (ADH). This causes your kidneys to excrete more water, causing you to become dehydrated. As the body metabolizes alcohol, the substances that are produced also pull water out of the body, further causing dehydration. When you’re dehydrated, your skin becomes drier, which can lead to a flare.

• It increases inflammation. Alcohol directly affects certain cells of the immune system, leading to an increase in inflammation throughout the body. This can cause damage throughout the body, including to the skin.

• It releases histamine. Alcohol triggers the release of a chemical known as histamine from certain cells of your immune system. Histamine is linked to allergic reactions, and causes itching and redness in the skin. Many people with eczema are sensitive to histamine, and will experience a flare when histamine release is triggered. 

• It causes your skin to flush. When your body processes alcohol, this creates a compound known as acetaldehyde. This compound causes blood vessels in your skin to open. That’s a major reason why many people’s faces look red when they’ve been drinking. Many skin conditions, like eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis, already cause the skin to be swollen and red, and alcohol will make the problem worse.

Because of all of these effects, it’s not surprising that alcohol is known to cause skin flares. In fact, alcohol consumption is one of the most common triggers for rosacea. It can also trigger flare-ups of psoriasis and eczema. If you have a chronic skin condition, then it’s likely that alcohol could trigger a flare.

Do you have to avoid alcohol if you have a chronic skin condition?

After learning about how damaging alcohol can be for your skin, it’s very natural to wonder whether you need to quit alcohol altogether. Much like with sugar, the answer will be different for different people.

If alcohol consistently triggers skin flares for you, then it’s probably best to completely avoid it. You can keep a skin diary to help you determine whether alcohol is causing your flares. Write down everything that you eat and drink each day, along with the condition of your skin. Doing this for 2 to 4 weeks can help you to uncover the patterns. If you experience a worsening of your skin condition the day after you drink, then it’s probably better to completely avoid alcohol.

There are also some people who find it difficult to drink just a small amount. They might decide to have one drink, but then they end up having several more. (This is common with sugar as well.) If you find it tough to stick to having just one drink, then it’s probably healthiest for you to avoid alcohol completely.

And if you find it tough to even imagine quitting drinking, this could be a sign that you’re developing a dependency on alcohol. If you feel strong resistance to the idea of not drinking alcohol anymore, it might be a good idea to talk with a therapist about this, preferably one who specializes in chemical dependency. Alcohol dependency can creep up on you, and it’s very common for people not to realize what’s happened – but your long-term health depends on getting your alcohol consumption under control.

For those who find it easy to stop at just one, the occasional drink may be okay. That’s not to say that the alcohol won’t cause any damage – you’ll likely experience a small bump in inflammation after drinking. But as long as you’re not drinking too much, and you only drink rarely (maybe once a month or less), your body can probably cope with a little bit of alcohol.

For some people, having a drink to celebrate a holiday or special occasion brings them joy and pleasure. If that’s you, you don’t necessarily have to give it up completely. Just make sure that you keep the drinks to a minimum. 

Alcohol can be damaging for your skin, so it’s important to consider whether it’s really worth it each time that you drink.