People are proving that drinking in moderation is incredibly healthy.But what does “moderate” mean?How do you know when alcohol is bad for your health?In fact, even scientists admit that alcohol in certain (small) doses is beneficial;let's take the example of red wine, in which antioxidants, vitamins and microelements are found.Harm occurs when alcohol damages a person's internal organs, and this will definitely 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 risks do those who drink alcohol run?At what point does moderate drinking end and alcohol abuse begin?
EVERYTHING MOST IMPORTANT ABOUT WHAT IT IS TO DRINK 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 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 (just over a glass of vodka).Damage to the human brain occurs with a much smaller dosage: 19 g of ethanol (or 60 ml of vodka) in 24 hours.And this applies to absolutely healthy people with a normal, functioning liver, healthy brain, kidneys and other organs.
Now imagine what awaits a person if he drinks a glass of vodka every day:
- alcohol dependence will begin to develop, which is very difficult to get rid of;
- in six months he will begin to suffer from such dependence on alcohol in the presence of a hereditary predisposition to this disease;
- this disorder will manifest itself within 36 months (3 years) in the absence of hereditary predisposition.
- after a couple of months there will be a strong desire to regularly increase the dose.
If we assume that a person has suffered from a significant disease (for example, viral hepatitis), 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 causing harm to your body?How much can you drink so that all body systems are restored?
All calculations are made 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 ingests 170 g of pure alcohol in 1 day, for the next 8 days he must refrain from drinking any alcoholic beverages (even the weakest).
- The permitted (acceptable) dose per month is 586 grams.
- In other words, you can drink a little more than a classic bottle and a half of vodka per month.
If it turns out that you have to drink more than 170 grams during a holiday, you need to increase the period of time between alcohol consumption and the next alcohol intake, 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 towards 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 matter how often a person drinks.
WINE: IS IT HEALTHY OR NOT?
Moderate drinkers, at least those who call themselves that, insist on the following: Drinking dry red wine is extremely healthy.Their logic is based on the fact that wine contains a strong antioxidant and prevents cancer.
On the contrary, scientific research proves 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 need to know some facts about the benefits of wine:
- The drink contains the antioxidant resveratrol, which is also found in grape juice, only in much smaller quantities.
- Contains valuable microelements that improve human health.
- An acceptable dose for a healthy person is approximately 3 glasses of wine every 7 days (450 ml drink).
It should also be said that rumors about the effectiveness of red wine in the treatment of atherosclerosis turned out to be just rumors, as modern research proves the opposite.
It turns out that drinking wine is useful, but only when you comply with the established standards and do not exceed the safe dosage of the drink consumed.
IS IT ALLOWED TO DRINK BEER IN MODERATE QUANTITIES?
Another drink besides wine that many people find healthy is beer.Yes, indeed, unpasteurized or live beer can be beneficial for the body, but here, too, there are some restrictions, after which the drink becomes harmful to humans.600 ml per day is a completely acceptable norm, although this norm is also subject to reservations, since drinking even 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 necessary cholesterol levels.
It is important to remember that beer addiction progresses secretly and little by little, which makes it difficult to notice it in the initial stage.Subsequently, this disease itself is more difficult to treat than, for example, addiction caused by abuse of vodka or other alcoholic beverages.Therefore, it is fundamentally wrong to prove that beer is a safe alcoholic beverage.
STIMULATING EFFECT OF MODERATE DOSES OF ALCOHOL
As with all other alcohols, benefits can be obtained from moderate consumption, taking into account the so-called paradoxical stimulation effect.
What is the meaning of this principle?This is the stimulating effect of small doses of exposure to those substances which at higher doses cause a toxic effect.Simply put, if alcohol in large doses harms the body, in small quantities it can have a stimulating effect.
This effect is not achieved by groups of people who drink moderately, but by those who consume only insignificant doses (about 50 ml of vodka 2 times every 7 days) of alcohol and not a gram more.
WHAT IS BETTER: DRINKING MODERATELY OR NOT DRINKING ALCOHOL AT ALL?
And what do you want to do now, knowing all these numbers that talk about the benefits of alcohol or its harm?Should you stop drinking forever or should you drink in moderation for your health?
Previous studies showing the benefits of moderate drinking have been proven wrong.Today scientists from the main countries of the world are talking about it.
These experiments showed the following result: light and moderate drinkers were much healthier than absolute non-drinkers.But what's the problem?The fact is that everyone was recruited into the category of teetotalers: people with already health problems, those people who drank a lot in their youth, those who could not drink alcohol for medical reasons.
Therefore, the result was unreliable.Scientists conducted a series of additional studies, correcting their mistake, and it turned out that non-drinkers are healthier than those who drink in moderation, and the former live much longer than the latter.
ARE THERE BENEFITS OF ALCOHOL AND SHOULD I DRINK IN MODERATION?
A study conducted in 1999 by a physician-scientist demonstrated 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 demonstrated.
The results of the experiments were as follows:
- Those patients who learned to drink in moderate doses were less likely to experience a myocardial infarction.They drank 14 to 56 g of pure alcohol per day (less than 1 glass of vodka).Additionally, people who adhered to moderate doses were less likely to develop an intellectual disorder.
- Those who made the courageous decision not to drink at all had a slightly increased risk of heart attack and were slightly more likely to develop dementia.
- The most obvious health problems were experienced by those who often drank alcohol in large quantities.In such situations, myocardial infarction occurred, and brain diseases manifested themselves more often.
After such research results, several urgent questions immediately arise in my head: is it possible to drink alcohol in moderation?So does that mean it's still better to drink a little alcohol than become teetotal?
But here it is important to mention another experiment conducted by scientists in 2008, which showed a completely different effect: patients who drank alcohol moderately were more likely to get serious brain diseases than those who completely abstained from alcohol.
CONCLUSIONS: IS IT POSSIBLE TO DRINK IN RESPONSE?
As you can see, the experiments showed completely different results, which is nothing abnormal, because the health and length of life of a person on earth are influenced by many factors other than alcohol intake: daily nutrition, 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 to drinking alcohol in small quantities, but this advantage is not particularly noticeable against the background of the danger that awaits you if you drink alcohol.Moreover, the harm caused by alcohol manifests itself immediately and is easily detected by scientists and doctors when examining a person.
How to drink in moderation and is it worth doing?If you really care about your health, then it's best to forget about alcohol altogether.Consume only what brings real benefits and contains no harm, so you will no longer have doubts.