IMfez
July 17, 2011, 8:52am
1
What effects does light alcohol usage have on a person after several decades of drinking? I’ll define light drinking as 3 servings per day, 4 days per month.
IMfez
July 17, 2011, 11:27am
3
That doesn’t need a definition from me. 1 beer or 1 shot of liquor is a serving
MLS
July 17, 2011, 6:22pm
4
IMHO, no bad effect at all for most people, if it stays at that level. Heck, in lots of cultures, past and present, a glass or two of wine or beer at a meal is standard procedure. Plus there are actual nutrients in wine and beer. Shot of hard liquor not quite so much.
That level may have health benefits.
Any alcohol at all does some liver damage. When it outstrips the liver’s ability to heal, it becomes a liability.
Wine, particularly fruit wines such as blueberry or blackberry, are extremely high in antioxidants which make them excellent cancer-fighters. Red Wine is good for this also.
Any alcohol has a vaso-dilator effect, so it can be helpful medication for a person with cardio-pulmonary diseases.
Unfortunately, different people have different reactions to the same drug, and just how much alcohol can be drunk without outstripping the liver’s ability to heal itself has a different answer for each person.
If you are concerned you can have your doctor check your liver function to determine if you are taking too much.
I make six gallons a month blueberry wine. That’s more than I drink (most nights I keep it to a couple glasses) but plentiful inexpensive wine tends to make a fellow popular, he he.
Moved to General Questions from Great Debates.
DSeid
July 17, 2011, 11:15pm
8
One source.
The findings from two studies, which appear in the journal BMJ, dovetail with the newly released 2010 dietary guidelines that state if alcohol is drunk, it should be drunk in moderation: one alcoholic drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.
A drink is defined as 1.5 ounces of spirits, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer. The dietary guidelines recommend that anyone younger than the legal drinking age and pregnant women should refrain from drinking alcohol.
In a review of 84 studies, people who drank one or fewer alcoholic drinks a day were 14% to 25% less likely to develop heart disease compared to their teetotaling counterparts. … In a second report, researchers reviewed 63 studies that looked at biomarkers of heart disease and how they correlated with alcohol consumption, including cholesterol and inflammatory markers. This study showed that moderate alcohol consumption boosted levels of HDL cholesterol and had beneficial effects on apolipoprotein A1, the hormone adiponectin and fibrinogen, a protein that aids in blood clotting.
Another take.
… later research suggests that the recommended guidelines (21 units* per week for men and 14 for women) may be rather low. The World Health Organization’s International Guide for Monitoring Alcohol Consumption and Related harm has identified drinking below 35 units per week as low risk for men an above 53 per week as high risk. For women it identified below 17.5 units per week as low risk and high risk being above 36 units per week.
A study of 12,000 men found that the lowest mortality rates were among those drinking between 20 and 30 units of alcohol every week. To reach the death risk experienced by alcohol abstainers, a man would have to consume 63 units per week. That’s equivalent to drinking about a bottle of wine or five shots of whiskey each day.
The fact that alcohol consumption guidelines are arbitrary is demonstrated by the wide variance in maximum limits recommended around the world. For example Poland’s recommended limit is 12.5 units per week whereas Australia’s is 35.
Indeed, much research finds better health and greater longevity associated with drinking above the recommended guidelines published by most countries.
*A unit of alcohol in the U.K is eight grams of pure alcohol.
But (same report as I read in a copy of Wine Spectator )
An Australian health organization has issued an eyebrow-raising report urging people to abstain from alcohol completely in order to reduce their risk of cancer. On May 1, the Cancer Council of Australia (CCA) released a position statement that claims 5 percent of all cancers in that country are attributable to long-term alcohol use. While past research has shown evidence of a link between alcohol and cancer, particularly breast cancer, many in the medical community believe the jury is still out on a conclusive link. Some studies have even suggested wine may decrease the risk of some cancers. Some experts and wine professionals are criticizing the CCA’s report as misleading.
The CCA argues in its statement that any amount of alcohol will increase one’s risk of developing certain cancers, including those of the throat and mouth, as well as colorectal cancer in men and breast cancer in women. The report also noted that combined use of alcohol and tobacco can further elevate cancer risk and even singled out extra calories from ethanol that could increase body weight as another alcohol-related risk factor for cancer.
The CCA suggests people avoid alcohol entirely or, barring that, limit drinking to nationally recommended maximums to reduce risk. As for long-reported links between moderate alcohol consumption and better heart health, the CCA dismissed those, claiming the current research is likely flawed due to errors in methodology.
A problem is that drinking in moderation may merely be a proxy for an overall healthier lifestyle, including more social connections.