Giving up drinking may be an extremely daunting task for many, given as though so many social events here in the UK seem to revolve around it.

Alcohol has long been known to be detrimental to our health and well-being in the long-term, with it causing more of an effect as we get older.

After a doctor recently revealed the age that you should aim to give up drink for good, it’s also worth noting how long your body takes to recover from alcohol after quitting.

Health issues caused by alcohol consumption

Excessive consumption of the substance is known to bring on a number of health issues that could eventually lead to death.

The Alzheimer’s Society previously stated that research reveals that excessive alcohol consumption can increase the chances of dementia, as drinking reduces the volume of your brain’s white matter, which can stop it from functioning properly.

The author of How to Prevent Dementia: An Expert’s Guide to Long-Term Brain Health, Dr. Richard Restak, said that it is a ‘direct neurotoxin’ and that it can damage or destroy the function of the nervous system.

So, at what age should you go teetotal?

Dr. Restak revealed that there is an age that you should aim to cut it out completely.

“Ask yourself, ‘why do I drink?’ If the answer is ‘because alcohol helps me to elevate my mood and lower my anxiety,’ you may be at some peril, and it’s probably best to stop altogether,” the doctor wrote.

“I strongly suggest that if you are 65-years-old or older, that you completely and permanently eliminate alcohol from your diet.”

Aiming to quit drinking at 65 will benefit your health immensely. (Getty Stock Photo)

You may even choose to quit earlier to avoid all the health problems that comes with excessive drinking in your younger years.

But what exactly happens after you quit?

There are a number of withdrawal symptoms that your body will go through after taking that last sip that begin in the hours following, the Priory Group explains.

Early symptoms are mild, with the regular hangover occurrences of headaches, hand tremors being coupled with alcohol cravings and feelings of depression.

In severe situations, some may experience delirium tremens (DTs), which is the most severe form of withdrawal as it can lead to cardiovascular collapse after an altered mental status and sympathetic overdrive, after 12 to 24 hours.

Within 48 hours, symptoms will begin to die down as your body adjusts to being without alcohol , but the process isn’t done there.

Depending on the person, and their alcohol intake/misuse/addiction, the entire withdrawal process usually takes anywhere between three to seven days of your final drink, or more depending on severity.

It usually takes a week to overcome all symptoms of quitting alcohol. (Getty Stock Photo)

If you don’t stop though, you increase the chances of developing a certain type of dementia, associated with the excessive use of alcohol.

Dementia UK explains: “Alcohol related brain damage (also known as alcohol related brain impairment) is caused by drinking alcohol excessively over a prolonged period of time.

“It can be caused by a combination of reasons including vitamin B1 deficiency (thiamine), the toxic effects of alcohol on nerve cells, head injury and blood vessel damage.”

It is recommended that you lower your alcohol intake to no more than 14 units a week, over no more than three days – this can prevent alcohol-related brain damage.

Other things that help include eating healthy, avoiding smoking, increasing physical and mental activity, managing stress level and keeping tabs on your blood pressure and cholesterol.

If you’ve been thinking about giving up drinking, you might be interested to know that a doctor has revealed the age you should pack it in.

We all know that alcohol isn’t exactly good for us, right? But as you start to age, it has more of a long-term effect on your health.

So much so that one expert has pinpointed the time when it may be wiser to ditch the sauce altogether.

And there’s a really good reason why.

Removing alcohol from your diet completely can help prevent the development of dementia.

The Alzheimer’s Society states that research shows that excessive alcohol consumption increases the chances that someone can develop dementia.

Drinking directly correlates to a reduced volume of your brain’s white matter, which can stop your brain from functioning normally.

Dr Richard Restak, author of How to Prevent Dementia: An Expert’s Guide to Long-Term Brain Health has described how alcohol can impact your brain function. He describes booze as a ‘direct neurotoxin’.

A neurotoxin can be defined as a substance that damages, destroys or impairs the function of the nervous system.

Because of the damage that booze can cause, Dr Restak has revealed an age where you should aim to cut it out of your life for good.

Giving up alcohol could improve your health. (Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Stock Image)

“Ask yourself, ‘why do I drink?’ If the answer is ‘because alcohol helps me to elevate my mood and lower my anxiety,’ you may be at some peril, and it’s probably best to stop altogether,” he wrote.

“I strongly suggest that if you are 65 years old or older, that you completely and permanently eliminate alcohol from your diet.”

There is a type of dementia that is associated with the overconsumption of alcohol.

Dementia UK explains: “Alcohol related brain damage (also known as alcohol related brain impairment) is caused by drinking alcohol excessively over a prolonged period of time.

“It can be caused by a combination of reasons including vitamin B1 deficiency (thiamine), the toxic effects of alcohol on nerve cells, head injury and blood vessel damage.”

One doctor has suggested quitting drinking over 65. (Oscar Wong/Getty Stock Images)

Alcohol-related brain damage can be prevented by lowering your alcohol intake to no more than 14 units per week, spread across at least three days.

Increasing physical and mental activity; having a healthy diet; avoiding smoking; managing stress levels and keeping weight, cholesterol and blood pressure in check are also important factors.

Brits shocked after discovering the truth behind their pints of Birra Moretti and Madri have been urged to try an ‘authentic’ beer to get over the revelation.

Madri and Birra Moretti are two of the more popular, premium priced lagers you can buy on draught in pretty much every pub or bar in the United Kingdom.

If there’s not one, you’re almost bound to find the other.

But the truth behind the two tipples is a little different to what you might be thinking.

Birra Moretti, the heart and soul of… Manchester (Ken Welsh/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

No, they’re not brewed in the heart of Spain and Italy.

Instead, we need to travel to sunny Manchester and Tadcaster, right here in Blighty.

Despite research showing that thousands of Brits favoured ‘foreign’ pints like Madri and Moretti, the truth is that they’re actually brewed on British soil.

Don’t be too annoyed if you were duped. After all, clever advertising has played a huge part in making us presume that the nice cold beer we’re drinking came a long way before ending up in a pint glass in the UK.

It’s all for good reason, with half of people aged 28 to 43 saying that they were happy to pay more for a premium ‘continental’ beer rather than anything made in Britain.

That £6 is suddenly feeling a little bitter.

Pints of Madri, brewed in Yorkshire with Spanish influence (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

Well, for Brits after something that is actually from the place portrayed in the advertising and on the bottle or beer pump, there’s one brand of lager that might be the one for you.

“There is no way we could brew elsewhere in the world and still be considered authentically Czech,” said Adam Broz, who is the head brewer of said beer.

The beer in question? Budweiser Budvar.

Absolutely nothing to do with the Budweiser from over in the USA, it is an incredibly popular beer from the Czech Republic.

Owned by the Czech government, it is entirely committed to keeping production inside the country, and has a story that most breweries would kill for, with just 10 head brewers having run the show in its 129-year history.

Every drop of Budvar is brewed in the Czech Republic (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

On the authentic nature of their lager, Broz told the BBC: “Firstly there are the ingredients. To be authentic you need quality, local Czech ingredients… and there is no other place with identical water like our brewery’s natural well.

“Secondly, there is the equipment of the brewery… if you have two breweries, they won’t always have exactly the same geometry or size, and you could end up with significant differences despite using the same recipe.”

Budvar offers an increasingly rare phenomenon in the world of beer, with it still brewed where it was made and exported across the globe.

A spokesperson for Heineken UK, which brews Moretti, previously told the BBC that the lager is ‘brewed all over the world to the same l’autentica recipe, using the same ingredients and crafted to the same quality standards’ as when it was brewed in Italy.

Where every bottle and pint of Budvar is brewed (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

With Madri boasting a ‘soul of Madrid’ slogan but being brewed in the Yorkshire town of Tadcaster, those behind the creation said it was made with authentic Spanish influence.

Karen Albert, Premium Brands Director of Molson Coors Beverage Company, previously said: “Madrí Excepcional was created through a unique collaboration between Molson Coors and La Sagra Brewery, which is based close to Madrid, combining the craft and skill of innovative Spanish brewer Carlos Garcia at La Sagra and our Molson Coors master brewers in the UK.

“Our partnership with Carlos and La Sagra is built on celebrating this fusion of British and Spanish culture, taking inspiration from the vibrancy and diversity of modern Madrid.”

If you’re finding Dry January tough, I have some devastating news for you – one doctor recommends that, after a certain age, you should get off the sauce permanently.

With some of us already wobbling while trying to give up booze for a month – here’s some advice if you did fall off the wagon at the weekend, by the way – the idea of never drinking a cold pint again is enough to send a shiver down your spine.

Unfortunately though, as you start to age, alcohol has more of a long-term effect on your health and well-being.

According to one expert, it may be wiser to remove alcohol from your diet completely to prevent the development of dementia.

The Alzheimer’s Society states that research shows that excessive alcohol consumption increases the chances that someone can develop dementia.

Drinking directly correlates to a reduced volume of your brain’s white matter, which can stop your brain from functioning normally.

Getty Stock Images

Dr Richard Restak has also stated that drinking regularly or binge drinking can cause damage to your health.

This does mean though, that a drink here and there will not have as much of an effect in comparison.

The medical professional’s new book How to Prevent Dementia: An Expert’s Guide to Long-Term Brain Health describes alcohol as a ‘direct neurotoxin’.

A neurotoxin can be defined as a substance that damages, destroys or impairs the function of the nervous system.

Because of the damage that booze can cause, Dr Restak has revealed an age where you should aim to cut it out of your life for good.

Getty Stock Image

“I strongly suggest that if you are 65 years old or older, that you completely and permanently eliminate alcohol from your diet,” he wrote.

“You may be at some peril, and it’s probably best to stop altogether.”

He has also called on people to re-evaluate their relationships with alcohol, regardless of your age, especially if you rely on it for mood boosts or for confidence in social situations.

Dry January seems like the perfect time to reflect on this, all while cutting down on the drink as well.

Dr Restak has further specified the type of dementia linked to drinking that bit too much, ‘Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome’, which can be identified as ‘a severe loss of recent memory’ which ‘results from the direct effect of alcohol on the brain’.

Binge drinking for long periods of time in your life can also result in a lack of vitamin B1, which can cause the syndrome.

65 years old may seem far away for a lot of you, but it’s never too early to give that bit more attention to our health.