People are proving that moderate drinking is extremely healthy.But what does "moderate" mean?How do you know when alcohol is damaging your health?In fact, even scientists admit that alcohol in certain (small) doses is beneficial;take the example of red wine, in which antioxidants, vitamins and trace elements can be found.Damage occurs when alcohol damages a person's internal organs, and this is likely to happen if you drink more than 170g of alcohol more often than once every 8 days.
So is it possible to drink in moderation?What dangers does a person who drinks alcohol face?At what point does moderate drinking end and alcohol abuse begin?
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT DRINKING IN MODERATION
"The main thing is to drink in moderation," often thinks a person who is already one step away from terrible and destructive alcoholism.
The dose, after taking which the human liver is in serious danger, is equal to 90 g of pure ethanol per day.For a moment, this is 285 ml of vodka (a little more than a glass of vodka).Human brain damage occurs from a much smaller dose - 19 g of ethanol (or 60 ml of vodka) in 24 hours.And this applies to absolutely healthy people with a normal and functioning liver, a healthy brain, kidneys and other organs.
Now imagine what awaits a person if he drinks a glass of vodka every day:
- alcohol addiction will begin to develop, which is very difficult to get rid of;
- in six months he will begin to suffer from such an addiction to alcohol in the presence of a hereditary predisposition to this disease;
- this problem will appear within 36 months (3 years) in the absence of a hereditary predisposition.
- after a few months there will be a strong desire to regularly increase the dose.
If we assume that a person has suffered a significant disease (for example, viral hepatitis), then the moderate dose for him will be 2 or even 3 times less.
It should be clear: moderate drinkers - how much can you drink without harming your body?How much can you drink so that all body systems are restored?
All calculations are based on the fact that a healthy person processes alcohol in the amount of 170 g per day.As a result, interesting results and conclusions are obtained:
- If a person consumes 170 g of pure alcohol in 1 day, then for the next 8 days he must refrain from drinking any alcoholic beverages (even weaker ones).
- The permitted (acceptable) dose per month is 586 grams.
- In other words, you can drink a little more than one and a half bottles of classic vodka per month.
If it turns out that you need to drink more than 170 grams at a party, then you need to increase the time period between drinking alcohol and the next time you drink alcohol, say, not after 8 days, but after 10-12.This will significantly reduce the harm and negative consequences of alcohol.
What conclusion should you come to in such a situation: drink much less often or drink in moderation?Experts are more inclined to the first option.Less often means once a month and no more often than that.Although some argue that if the dosage is followed correctly, it does not really matter how often a person drinks.
WINE: IS IT HEALTHY OR NOT?
Moderate drinkers, at least those people who call themselves that, insist on the following - drinking dry red wine is extremely healthy.Their reasoning is based on the fact that wine contains a strong antioxidant and prevents cancer.
On the contrary, scientific research shows the following: drinking wine in large quantities is harmful.It contains certain substances, an excess of which will involuntarily cause complications, so such a drink will be harmful.
You should know some well-founded facts about the benefits of wine:
- The drink contains the antioxidant resveratrol, which is also found in grape juice, only in much smaller quantities.
- It contains valuable trace elements that improve human health.
- An acceptable dose for a person in good health is approximately 3 glasses of wine in 7 days (450 ml drink).
It should also be mentioned that talking about the effectiveness of red wine in the treatment of atherosclerosis turned out to be just a rumor, as modern research proves the opposite.
It turns out that drinking wine is useful, but only when you respect the established standards and do not exceed the safe dose of the consumed drink.
IS IT ALLOWED TO DRINK BEER IN LIMITABLE QUANTITIES?
Another drink besides wine that many people claim is healthy is beer.Yes, indeed, unpasteurized or live beer can be useful for the body, but even here there are some restrictions, after which the drink becomes harmful to people.600 ml per day is a completely acceptable norm, although this norm is also subject to reservations, since drinking a small amount of beer for several years leads to the development of the third stage of alcohol dependence.
Beer in moderation has beneficial effects:
- Cosmetic effect on skin condition.
- Normalizes blood pressure.
- Calms the human nervous system.
- Maintains the necessary cholesterol levels.
It is important to remember that beer addiction progresses secretly and little by little, which makes it difficult to notice in the initial stage.Then, the same disease is more difficult to treat than, for example, addiction caused by the abuse of vodka or other alcoholic beverages.Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong to prove that beer is a safe alcoholic drink.
THE STIMULATING EFFECT OF MODERATE DOSES OF ALCOHOL
As with all other alcohol, benefits can be obtained from moderate consumption, taking into account the so-called paradoxical stimulant effect.
What is the meaning of this principle?This is the stimulating effect of small doses of exposure to those substances that in higher doses cause a toxic effect.In simple words, if alcohol in large doses harms the body, then in small amounts it can have a stimulating effect.
This effect is achieved not by moderate alcohol groups, but by those who consume only insignificant (about 50 ml of vodka 2 times every 7 days) doses of alcohol, and not a gram more.
WHICH IS BETTER: DRINKING WITH MOST OR NOT DRINKING ALCOHOL AT ALL?
And what do you want to do now, knowing all these figures that speak of either the benefits of alcohol or its harm?Should you quit drinking forever or should you drink in moderation for your health?
Previous studies showing the benefits of moderate drinking turned out to be wrong.Today scientists from the main countries of the world are talking about it.
These experiments showed the following result: moderate and moderate drinkers were much healthier than those who absolutely did not drink.But what's the catch?The fact is that everyone was recruited into the category of abstainers: people with already poor health, those people who drank a lot in their youth, those who could not drink alcohol for medical reasons.
Thus, the result was unreliable.Scientists conducted a series of additional studies, correcting their mistake, and it turned out that those who do not drink are healthier than those who drink in moderation, and the former live much longer than the latter.
ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS FROM ALCOHOL AND SHOULD YOU DRINK IN MODERATION?
A study conducted in 1999 by a physician-scientist showed that drinking alcohol in moderation has benefits for a person's cardiovascular system.A similar study was conducted in the same year, when the benefits of alcohol for the human brain were proven.
The results of the experiments were as follows:
- Those patients who learned to drink in moderate doses were less likely to experience myocardial infarction.They drank between 14 and 56 g of pure alcohol per day (less than 1 glass of vodka).Also, people who adhered to moderate doses were less likely to develop an intellectual disorder.
- Those who made the brave decision not to drink at all had a slightly higher risk of heart attack and were slightly more likely to develop dementia.
- The most obvious health problems were experienced by those who frequently drank large amounts of alcohol.In such situations, myocardial infarction occurred and brain diseases appeared more often.
After such research results, several pressing questions immediately arise in my head: can an alcoholic drink in moderation?So does that mean it's still better to drink a little alcohol than to become a teetotaler?
But here it is important to mention another experiment conducted by scientists in 2008, which showed a completely different effect - patients who drank alcohol in moderation were more likely to experience serious brain diseases than those who completely abstained from alcohol.
CONCLUSIONS: CAN DRINK BE THE ANSWER?
As you can see, the experiments showed completely different results, which is nothing abnormal, because health and how long a person will live on earth are affected by many other factors besides alcohol intake: daily food, lifestyle, working conditions, climate.This is why a specific study cannot provide 100% objective information.
Only one thing can be said for sure - there are benefits from drinking alcohol in small quantities, but this benefit is not particularly noticeable against the background of the danger that awaits you if you drink alcohol.Moreover, the damage from alcohol appears immediately and is easily detected by scientists and doctors when examining a person.
How to drink in moderation and is it worth doing at all?If you really care about your health, then it is better to forget alcohol altogether.Consume only what brings real benefits and does not contain harm, so that you no longer have doubts.