Here's What Happens When You Drink Tequila Every Day

Tequila is an alcohol made exclusively in specific parts of Mexico by distilling the fermented juices of the Weber blue agave plant. By Mexican law, any drink must contain at least 51 percent blue agave to be considered and sold under the name tequila. According to The Spruce, blue agave is part of the lily family and looks similar to a super-sized aloe vera, and must grow for seven to ten years before it is ready to be harvested and turned into tequila. The part of the plant that is actually used to make the alcohol is not the spiky leaves, but a bulb that grows underground called the piña. This part of the plant is baked and then crushed to release its juices, which are then fermented and distilled. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention caution against drinking every day, listing the long-term health risks from excessive alcohol consumption as high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, memory loss, depression and anxiety, and alcohol dependence, among other serious issues. They define moderate drinking to be one alcoholic drink per day for women over the age of 21, and two drinks per day for men over 21, provided you are aware of any underlying conditions that may exacerbate the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

There are two super-noticeable things that will happen to you if you drink tequila every day. One change is that you will build up a higher tolerance to alcohol, which will allow you to be able to consume more drinks before you feel intoxicated. This will happen even if you only have one to two drinks per day. The enhanced tolerance, according to George F. Koob, the director of the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is essentially your body adapting to the alcohol (via HuffPost). 

Another thing you will notice is that you will continue to get hungover, especially if you're drinking the cheap stuff. Elite Daily spoke with Luis Daniel Limón, the engineer and general manager of tequila distillery La Viñta Los Osuna, about what causes hangovers when drinking tequila. Limón told the outlet that many hangover issues stem from the tequila you're drinking not being made from 100 percent agave, as consuming altered agave is much worse for you physically than pure agave.

One negative change you should not notice if you drink tequila daily is any new issues with your skin. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Dr. Sam Bunting, a London-based cosmetic dermatologist, said that tequila is less likely to trigger outbreaks and inflammation than other alcoholic drinks due to it's relatively low sugar content.

According to MDLinx, a site for connecting healthcare professionals with cutting edge research, agave has been found to be a great source of agavins, which are a type of naturally-occurring, non-digestible sugar called fructans. In a report presented to the American Chemical Society, consuming fructans could be linked to lower blood sugar and weight loss. The fructans present in agave were also found to be both prebiotic and probiotic, and could lead to good gut health, and aid in treating those with digestive issues such as Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and colitis. 

Unfortunately, once agave goes through the roasting and fermenting process necessary to make tequila, these sugars are converted into ethanol and no longer contain any of the health-boosting properties associated with consuming fructans. Many outlets also claim that the fructans present in agave aid in calcium and magnesium absorption. Pharmaceutical Journal states that, as outlined by MDLinx, drinking tequila does not give you these benefits due to the absence of fructans in the finished product.

Some good news is that drinking tequila, or any alcohol, in moderation may increase bone density. In 2008, a study published in the American Journal of Medicine discovered that participants who drank moderately were less likely to fracture a hip than those who drank heavily, or those who abstained entirely. Similarly, the study found moderate drinkers to have the healthiest bone density of all participants. In a 1997 study published by Osteoporosis International, women over the age of 65 who drank five times per week had reduced deformity in their vertebrae compared to those who drank one time or less weekly. These positive effects were not seen in younger people, men, or anyone drinking in excess. Backing these findings up, Drug and Alcohol Dependance published an analysis in 2019 of six different studies and came to the conclusion that those drinking one to two drinks per day had the lowest rates of developing osteoporosis, compared to those drinking one drink or less per day and those drinking two or more drinks per day.