Is It Okay To Drink Alcohol In The Morning? | 7 Risks Of Morning Drinking

Have you ever reached for a glass of wine right after you woke up? While all types of alcohol consumption can harm your health, morning drinking poses some unique risks. 

1. You May Experience Accidents & Injuries 

Alcohol impairs your judgment and focus. It can also affect your ability to see, hear, and coordinate your movements. That’s why a morning drink raises your risk of physical accidents throughout the day. 

For example, if you drink right before heading to work, you may struggle to see objects on the road and get in a car crash. Other types of accidents associated with alcohol include burns, falls, and drownings. 

2. Your Productivity May Suffer

A productive workday requires concentration, problem-solving skills, and sharp memory. Alcohol reduces all of these abilities by blocking communication between your brain cells. That means even one-morning drink could disrupt your job performance. 

In addition, if you start most or all of your mornings with alcohol, you may develop memory loss, learning difficulties, and even permanent brain damage. These issues can seriously hinder your long-term productivity.

3. You May Disrupt Your Sleep

Alcohol makes most people drowsy. If you drink in the morning, you’ll likely feel fatigued during the day and fall asleep as soon as you get home from work. You may then wake up in the middle of the night and struggle to return to a healthy sleep schedule. 

Also, alcohol prevents you from getting deep, restful sleep. When you don’t get enough deep sleep, you may experience fatigue, irritability, anxiety, and trouble concentrating the next day. All of these problems make it difficult to complete daily tasks. 

4. You May Drink On An Empty Stomach

Alcohol enters your bloodstream through your stomach and small intestine. If you’ve recently eaten, the food in your stomach prevents the drug from entering your bloodstream too quickly. 

In the morning, however, you’ll probably have an empty stomach. That means the alcohol will rapidly enter your body. This increases your risk of negative side effects, including poor judgment, poor coordination, and aggression. 

Alcohol Poisoning

Drinking on an empty stomach also makes you more likely to overdose. An alcohol overdose (also called alcohol poisoning) is a life-threatening medical emergency. It causes symptoms such as:

• nausea and vomiting
• pale, bluish, or clammy skin
• confusion
• slow or irregular breathing
• slow heart rate
• extremely low body temperature 
• seizures
• loss of consciousness

In addition, if you regularly drink on an empty stomach, you face a higher risk of long-term alcohol-related health problems. These problems include high blood pressure, liver disease, heart disease, and certain cancers. 

5. You May Mix Alcohol With Caffeine

In the United States, more than half of adults start every day with coffee. Some people think mixing coffee and alcohol is harmless or even beneficial. They might claim that the caffeine in coffee helps “sober you up.” However, that’s not true. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), caffeine has no impact on your sobriety level. 

It also makes you more likely to drink a dangerous amount of alcohol. That’s because caffeine stimulates your central nervous system, boosting your energy and alertness. These feelings can mask the depressant effects of alcohol, such as drowsiness. 

When you don’t feel alcohol’s effects, you may drink more and face serious health risks, including overdose.  

6. You May Drink All Day

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recommends that women have no more than one drink per day and men have no more than two drinks per day. 

Many people struggle to meet this guideline, as alcohol is one of the most addictive substances in the world. A single morning drink can quickly lead to all-day drinking. This behavior puts you at extreme risk of alcohol-related health problems. 

It also makes you more likely to binge drink. The NIAAA defines binge drinking as having 4 or more drinks in about 2 hours if you’re a woman and having 5 or more drinks in about 2 hours if you’re a man. Binge drinking often leads to overdose. 

7. You May Develop Alcohol Use Disorder 

When you regularly drink in the mornings, you may become physically dependent on alcohol. That means your body can’t function properly without the drug. If you stop drinking, you’ll experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, sweating, and nausea.

Morning drinks also increase your risk of developing a tolerance to alcohol. That means you’ll need increasingly larger or more frequent drinks to feel the desired effects.

Physical dependence and tolerance are often symptoms of alcohol use disorder (also called alcohol addiction). This disease makes you feel unable to control your drinking. Other symptoms include:

• mood swings
• loss of motivation
• loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
• avoidance of friends and family members

Like other diseases, alcohol use disorder requires professional treatment.

If you or a loved one struggles with alcohol, please contact an Ark Behavioral Health specialist. Our substance abuse and addiction treatment programs offer recovery-focused, evidence-based services like medical detox, mental health counseling, and support groups.