What really happens inside your body after you drink alcohol? Alcohol doesn’t just stay in your stomach. Within minutes, it enters your bloodstream and reaches your brain — where it begins shutting systems down one by one. First, it slows the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for judgment, self-control, and decision-making. That’s why people feel confident, fearless, and careless after drinking. Then alcohol attacks the cerebellum — the center for balance and coordination. Br

No amount of alcohol is good for you. Alcohol is a carcinogen, and people who drink more are more likely to die of cancer, including colon and breast cancers. Even light drinking, such as one drink a week, is linked to a slightly higher risk of death compared with people who drink more rarely. Does that mean you should never drink alcohol? Dr. Trisha Pasricha, a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and The Washington Post