Surely you have seen in the media more than once headlines like: "Scientists have proven that a glass of wine a day prolongs life. "This is not worth believing for some reason.
First, scientists do not "prove" anything. They test hypotheses under certain conditions and draw conclusions that are correct with some probability.
For example, a specific study could prove how alcohol is linked to the deaths of white European men. Even if as a result it turned out that a glass of wine a day is associated with a higher lifespan, it is not a fact that this relationship is causal.
Perhaps a third factor is to blame for everything - for example, income level: wealthy European men can afford a glass of wine every day, as well as quality food and good medicine. Or the cause and effect are confused: it is not alcohol that improves health, but those who are relatively healthy may drink less. Finally, in such a study, nothing is known about women, people of other races and nationalities, and there are still countless factors to consider. Therefore, there is no way to extend the findings of a study to all people.
The second point is that even if you analyze all the studies, it turns out that there is no connection between small doses of alcohol and better health. There is such a scientific method as meta-analysis - scientists gather all the adequate research on a specific topic, summarize them and draw conclusions. In meta-analysis, the errors of individual scientific works are mitigated, their conclusions are more or less applicable to the life of each of us. So, according to meta-analyzes, there is no difference in the health of people who drink little and those who do not drink at all.
So alcohol in small doses - no more than 10 grams of ethanol per day (about a glass of wine, beer or a glass of vodka) is unlikely to improve your well-being somewhat, but neither will it worsen much.
Wait, but alcohol and a healthy lifestyle are incompatible!
I will tell you more - modern life in general is not very compatible with a healthy lifestyle. If you live in a city and drive a car, you no longer drive a healthy lifestyle.
In a car, for example, there are so many carcinogens in the air - vodka has never been dreamed of! Running along a busy highway is more deadly than those 20 grams of pure alcohol. And if you also smoke, it does not matter what you drink.
This does not mean that you can drink as much as you want, as everything is lost anyway.
"Beer" alcoholism is worse than "vodka" There is no "beer", "vodka", "pynonoir" and other types of alcoholism. There is only one type of it - ethanol dependence.
For this addiction, it does not matter at all in what form alcohol will enter the body. Another thing is that over time, the alcoholic's need for ethanol increases. It comes to the point that a person is no longer able to drink so much beer or wine to reach "state" - because stomach size is limited. Therefore, most alcoholics eventually switch to vodka - it is ideal for them in terms of price / quality / effect.
Let’s just say that switching to vodka is an indication that addiction has gone quite far. Few people start immediately with spirits - usually, at first, "light alcohol" is used like beers and wines. But just as there is no "light medicine", there is no "light alcohol" - any drink can be addictive - and there it is not far from vodka.
If you drink, then do not mix drinks!
Once again, the body does not care from which drink it received ethanol. The severity of intoxication (and subsequent suspension) depends only on how much pure alcohol you drink. Mix, do not mix - if you go to sea, it will still be bad in the morning.
There are, of course, nuances - some drinks contain "deteriorating" substances, the same methanol. Most often it is found in products, especially home-made, the raw material for which served as fruit-berries, rich in pectin - pears, apples, cherries, to a lesser extent - grapes. Now, if you mix vodka and calvados, then in the morning you will feel the effects of ethanol and methanol. Approximately the same after the beer cognac - hangover will be simply more "glowing", with "notes" of toxic substances typical of both drinks. So if there is a possibility, it is better not to get involved. Just in case.
In the cold, you can warm yourself by drinking 100 grams
You can not On the contrary, you can lift even more, to death.
Alcohol causes the skin vessels to dilate through which heat is released. If you came into the room from the cold and drank a little, this can help you warm up faster: the blood vessels will dilate, but the heat will stay with you because it is also warm around. But if you drink alcohol on the street, then the heat through the expanded vessels will quickly leave your body - and you will lift even more.
Due to this "special effect" of alcohol, drunk people freeze to death on the street even at + 20⁰C: air and soil temperature is lower than body temperature, the body very quickly gives off a lot of heat and overcoola - up todeath.
Alcohol is a good sleeping pill
Alcohol actually suppresses brain activity, which can make you feel drowsy and fall asleep quickly. But such a dream is likely to be short and unproductive.
The effect of alcohol is similar to that of some sleeping pills. You fall asleep quickly, but the sleep phases are interrupted and you can wake up in the middle of the night - and not fall asleep again until morning.
"Alcoholic" sleep is not physiological, incomplete, does not bring normal rest. So it is not recommended to use alcoholic beverages as sleeping pills, and it is generally advised not to drink immediately before bedtime.