In short: The harm of alcohol is determined by the dose at which damage to internal organs begins - the toxicity threshold.To maintain health, the body must have time to recover after drinking: for this you need to drink no more than 170 grams of pure alcohol no more than once every 8 days.The benefit of moderate doses of alcohol may be that it mobilizes the body in response to small doses of harmful substances.Dry red wine and unpasteurized beer contain useful impurities: vitamins, antioxidants and microelements that are useful in small doses and harmful in large doses.
“Drinking a lot is harmful, but drinking little is boring.”
What is moderate alcohol consumption?
Regarding pure ethanol Toxicity threshold (i.e. the dose at which organ damage begins) is 90 g (285 ml of vodka) per day for the liver and 19 g (60 ml of vodka) per day for the brain.This refers to a person of the white race with a healthy liver, kidneys and brain and a body weight of 70 kg.
But it is not difficult to calculate that in an incomplete glass of vodka there are 90 grams of pure alcohol.If you imagine a person who drinks a glass of vodka every day, then with a hereditary predisposition he will develop alcohol dependence in six to eight months, and if there is no hereditary predisposition in three years.Not to mention that after a few months the dosage of alcohol constantly increases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that weekly consumption of strong (more than 25% ethanol by volume) alcoholic beverages in an amount of more than 150 ml is enough to develop alcohol dependence.
Note: If a person has suffered from viral hepatitis (other than hepatitis A) or has other chronic liver diseases, the safe dose for the liver is reduced by two to three times during the period without exacerbation.This depends on the volume of the affected organ part and the nature of the process.The nature of the process and the extent of the lesion can only be assessed individually.
Therefore, let's calculate what the drinking regime should be for this so that the body has time to recover: The body of a healthy person cannot metabolize alcohol in an amount of more than 170 g per day (538 ml of vodka). One day of alcohol consumption to restore the liver should be alternated with eight days of abstinence. Thus, the “acceptable” dose per month is (31/(1+8))*170 (g) in terms of pure alcohol, i.e. 586 grams. For comparison: a standard bottle of vodka contains 316 grams of alcohol.
If you drink more than 170 grams of alcohol, you should increase the intervals between drinking sessions - this is the only way to reduce the damage.
To summarize: Let's try to imagine three people who drink once every eight days.Anyone who exceeds the threshold of 170 grams of alcohol has damage to the liver and other organs: kidneys, stomach, pancreas, lungs, retina.Anyone who drinks 90 to 170 grams risks fatty liver disease (and liver cirrhosis if there is a bile flow disorder or hepatitis).Anyone who drinks 19 to 90 grams of pure alcohol will only harm the brain.
With the development of medicine, doctors' recommendations are gradually changing.A professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London speaks in his book “To Drink or Not to Drink?”interesting about it.(2020).First of all, the damage caused by alcohol to the liver and cardiovascular system was obvious.More recently, British doctors allowed men to drink up to 21 drinks (standard units of alcohol) and women up to 14 drinks per week.Of course, drinkers didn't particularly try to adhere to these limits: after all, if 14 drinks did not harm the liver, would the damage suddenly begin at a dose two or three times higher?The liver doesn't seem to be able to count.
In the 21st century we have learned much more.Accurate scientific research has confirmed that even very small amounts of alcohol damage the brain and increase the risk of cancer.This is much more serious.Scientists have discovered that there is no absolutely safe amount of alcohol;One can only speak of doses “with a low health risk”.In 2016, British doctors equalized this dose for men and women because at small doses of alcohol the risk is the same for both sexes and if exceeded, the risk increases more quickly for men.Now everyone is recommended to drink no more than 14 drinks per week: this is 1 liter of 4% beer or 6 glasses of wine with a strength of 13% (175 ml glasses).In addition, you need to spread this drinking amount throughout the week and not drink every day.
Is it better for your health to drink less often or in moderation?
For light-haired, light-skinned and light-eyed people of European descent, it is better to drink less often (in short-term drinking mode) if you do not want to give up drinking.Less frequent means no more than once a month, which is due to the risk of rapid addiction development with regular drinking.For dark-skinned, dark-haired and dark-eyed people, the drinking regime is not of fundamental importance, provided that the dosages in relation to ethanol are adhered to.
How different peoples tolerate alcohol
You should also keep in mind that dark-skinned and dark-haired Caucasians (Mongoloids are a separate topic) develop an addiction much slower than light-skinned and blonde people with regular drinking bouts.
This is because dark-skinned and dark-skinned people carry the genes of peoples of southern origin.Peoples of southern origin arose in conditions of consumption of large quantities of fruits and berries containing a lot of glucose, grape acid, fiber and pectin.In the large intestine, these components undergo alcoholic fermentation, so that the body has adapted to microdoses of ethanol over many generations.
Light-skinned and blonde people carry the genes of northern peoples who evolutionarily consumed animal foods and vegetables that predominantly cause lactic acid fermentation.For northerners, alcohol turns out to be a xenobiotic (foreign substance), and addiction to it arises through other mechanisms that are very similar to addiction to other weak poisons.
Where do humans get the ability to metabolize alcohol?
All mammals have the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which breaks down alcohol, but it has a very difficult time processing ethyl alcohol, although it copes much better with other alcohols.If a person had inherited exactly this type of biochemistry from animals, then we would not be drawn to drinking: even the smallest doses of alcohol contained in overripe fruits would cause serious poisoning in the body, not to mention strong drinks.
However, scientists managed to find out that our ancestors, after the evolutionary branch of orangutans separated from them, but before we separated from gorillas and chimpanzees, a special subtype of this enzyme appeared - alcohol dehydrogenase of the “fourth class” (ADH4).A small mutation in our ancestors' genome changed the 294th amino acid of the enzyme, allowing their bodies to process overripe fruit that fell to the ground and eliminating the need to climb trees for unripe fruit.
Ten million years ago, the ability to process alcohol helped us climb down from trees and explore open spaces to later become Homo erectus.And as is often the case in evolution, this ability later became useful for completely different purposes.
The Benefits of Wine – Truth or Myth
Primarily Benefits of alcoholic drinks comes naturally, from dry red wine.Dry wine is a fermentation product of grapes (fruit and berry wines are not wines in the strict sense), in which all the sugar contained in the grapes is fermented into alcohol by microorganisms.The only sugar that is fermented is that which occurs naturally in the grapes.Therefore, the ethanol content in dry wines usually does not exceed 13%.
Health benefits come primarily from dry red wine. powerful antioxidant.It helps lower cholesterol levels and is also 10-20 times more powerful as an antioxidant than vitamin E. Dry red wine contains about three times more resveratrol than grape juice of the same grape variety.
For reference: antioxidants are substances that can neutralize the so-called active radicals, which are constantly formed in the body and are considered one of the factors of aging.However, it should be noted that powerful antioxidants are not an absolute benefit: they can both protect against cancer and cause cancer.There are risks to their excessive use.
Dry red wine also contains a number of valuable microelements, for example Rubidium, which has a calming, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect.
It should be borne in mind that an excess of rubidium is more harmful to the body than its deficiency, so daily consumption of dry red in large quantities will not bring any benefit.
A separate article had to be devoted to the question of whether wine is good for the heart.Unfortunately, claims that the so-called Mediterranean diet is beneficial for the heart due to moderate amounts of dry red wine have been proven false.
We also have to disappoint those who believed that drinking in small doses could prevent atherosclerosis.No, all modern scientific data suggests the opposite.A healthy dose of dry red wine is three glasses (about 450 ml) per week.
Is beer healthy?
Another alcoholic drink that can be beneficial for your health is beer.We are primarily talking about unpasteurized, so-called “live” beer, which prevailed in the country 20 years ago and is now a rarity.
Beer contains yeast products, including B vitamins, but in quantities that do not cover daily requirements;Zinc, a valuable microelement necessary for insulin synthesis.The condition of the skin and reproductive system depends on the zinc content.Hop components - natural analogues of benzodiazepine sedatives - have a calming effect, especially in combination with phytoestrogens, plant analogues of female sex hormones of the follicular phase.Hops have a calming effect in moderate doses.
The limit for a healthy dose of beer is around 600 ml per day.However, daily consumption of beer over several years leads to addiction in fair-skinned, light-eyed and blonde people, also due to the sedative content.A beer addiction develops more unnoticed and is more difficult to treat than a “pure” alcohol addiction, which arises as a result of an addiction to vodka, for example.
Effect of hermesis (hormesis)
Regarding other alcoholic drinks, we can say that the advantage of their moderate consumption lies in the effect of the so-called Hermesis (Hormesis) – a mobilizing response of the body to a harmful effect in a low dose.
What kind of catchphrase is that? Let's find out now
This effect is as follows: our body strives to remain the same despite external influences (homeostasis) and therefore, in response to the introduction of poison, makes efforts directed in the opposite direction to the external influence.If the external influence is not excessive, a mobilizing response occurs (common stages of increasing influence are activation, training, stress).That is, you can assume any harmful effect of alcohol and reverse the sign of the effect to the opposite.
This effect occurs not with moderate, but rather with small doses of alcohol: no more than 50 ml of vodka (one tablespoon of alcohol), no more than twice a week.
By the way, this effect exists with every harmful effect and is usually examined using radiation.
Does alcohol protect against radiation?
Is it true that alcohol protects against radiation?For example, after a radioactive explosion, there were stories about how radiation sickness was treated with vodka.Is that correct?
Alcohol is an antioxidant.When the body is irradiated, active radicals are created that damage cells.Antioxidants neutralize active radicals.Therefore, although alcohol is not oxidized, it has a radiation-inhibiting effect to some extent.Alcohol oxidation products themselves have a damaging effect that is similar to the effect of active radicals.Radiation sickness that has already occurred cannot be treated with vodka (except symptomatically).
That is, vodka prevention of radiation sickness might look like this: drink a glass and continue moving through the radiation zone.And at the exit - right under an infusion.
Rather, it makes sense to consume dry red wine as a prophylactic before exposure to ionizing radiation;it is a much more reliable antioxidant.
Does alcohol damage your hearing?
Australian scientists say regular consumption of small amounts of alcohol can help people preserve their hearing in the future.From 1997 to 1999, they surveyed two thousand residents in the greater Sydney area who were over 55 years old.
It turned out that people who regularly consumed up to 56 grams of pure alcohol per day throughout their lives (and this amount is contained in 180 ml of vodka, 600 ml of wine or 1440 ml of beer) are less likely to develop hearing problems in old age.The reason may be the vasodilating effect of alcohol, which improves blood flow to the outer cells of the ear.
However, scientists point out that the most important thing is not to overdo it: patients who drink excessively (consuming more than 56 grams of pure alcohol per day) have much more serious hearing problems than absolute abstainers.
Does alcohol protect against depression?
In 2013, a large study was completed in the city of Pamplona, Spain.After extensive work with 5,500 volunteers, scientists concluded that moderate consumption - 5 to 15 grams of pure alcohol per day - reduces the risk of depression.Particularly good results were observed in those who drank wine in quantities of 2 to 7 glasses (150 ml) per week.
On the other hand, those who drank more had an above-average risk of developing depression.Depression and low mood should not be confused.Major depressive disorder is an illness that manifests itself in long-lasting and - this is the main difference - causeless depression in mood, mental and motor retardation, as well as the inability and unwillingness to enjoy natural things such as food or sex (anhedonia).
Why do creative people drink?
Creative people sometimes find that amazing new ideas come to mind after drinking.Why is this happening?
In the body, alcohol triggers the process of apoptosis: the death of brain cells.As a result, some elements are cut off from the neural network, synaptic connections are broken and then partially restored.Some connections emerge according to a new pattern.Insight is possible here, because all knowledge and understanding is the transmission of electrical signals in the brain along a specific path.
However, such findings are a happy accident that can happen in the first few years of alcohol consumption.It will not be possible to achieve this specifically because we do not know which specific neuron death will lead to the construction of a more successful “thought route”.It is much more likely that the death of neurons leads to a decline in mental abilities, and regular drinking leads to alcoholism.
Which is healthier: drinking in moderation or not drinking at all?
Research supporting the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption is fundamentally flawed.This is what a group of scientists from the USA, Canada and Australia say.
Scientists analyzed 87 studies.Their results showed that moderate drinkers were healthier than non-drinkers.It turns out that most of these studies cannot be trusted.
The main drawback of these studies was that the group of non-drinkers included everyone: both those who cannot drink for health reasons and those who previously drank so much that they later decided to stop so as not to become alcoholics.It turns out that a group of abstainers usually consists of people whose health is initially poor, weakened by alcohol consumption or serious illnesses.And the group of moderate drinkers includes people who do not suffer from alcohol addiction and are generally healthy, so they can afford to drink as much as they want.
That's why at the end of the study it turns out that moderate drinkers are healthier than absolute abstainers. Scientists have looked again at previous studies and found exactly those people who drink rarely and irregularly.It turns out they live longer than study participants who consumed moderate alcohol.On average, their life expectancy was longer than that of moderate drinkers, than that of non-drinkers, and even longer than that of heavy drinkers.
I didn't live to see the research
When studying mortality from alcohol, older patients are selected for the study: over 50 years old.Alcoholics, on the other hand, often die earlier.But “dead people cannot be included in cohort studies,” as a doctor of medical sciences from Boston Medical Center (USA) comments on the situation.
Heavy drinkers over 50 are people who happened to survive due to particularly good health, genetic predisposition, consumption of less dangerous alcoholic drinks, etc.That is why patients with such good health, which even alcohol could not destroy, live even longer than abstainers and thus spoil all statistics.It's just that the most resilient remained alive, the rest of the alcoholics died earlier, but we don't take young people into account in mortality studies.
Naimi, together with the already known Tanya Chikritz and other colleagues, published new data in 2019.They analyzed statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2006-2010 in the United States.It turns out that more than 40% of alcohol-related deaths occur before the age of 50.
Alcohol consumption was found to be least dangerous for people over 65 years of age: although 35% of deaths from alcohol also occur at this age, drunkards at this age are 80% less likely to die prematurely (before the predicted expected age).So when you read an article about drinkers living longer than non-drinkers, know that this pattern only applies to older people.Young alcoholics are more likely to die young.
Can alcohol be beneficial?Research results
In 1999, a Dutch doctor conducted a study whose results suggested that moderate alcohol consumption had a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.Myocardial infarction was least likely to occur in patients who drank alcohol in moderate doses: 14 to 56 grams of pure alcohol per day, which is less than a glass of vodka.
The risk of a heart attack was even slightly higher for absolute abstainers and significantly higher for alcohol addicts.The choice of drink played no role: wine, beer and spirits in moderation equally reduced the risk of heart disease.A detailed article about this and other studies on the topic was published in the British Medical Journal in 2017.
The researchers suspected the same U-shaped dependence of the frequency of brain diseases on the amount of alcohol.This means that brain diseases are slightly more common in non-drinkers, rare in moderate drinkers and significantly more common in heavy drinkers. In this case, it turns out that even small amounts of alcohol only damage the brain.In general, it is not yet possible to say with certainty whether moderate alcohol consumption can be beneficial or whether alcohol in any amount is harmful to us.
Studies can produce different results, and that's normal: health and life expectancy are influenced by thousands and thousands of factors (diet, habits, exercise, climate, genes, whatever).Isolating the influence of any of them is a difficult task that requires a large number of topics, a sophisticated methodology and a lot of patience.It is often difficult to distinguish results from statistical noise.
What can be said with certainty is that although small doses of alcohol bring benefits, they are hardly visible against the background of all the other effects on the body.Unfortunately, the harm caused by alcohol is recognized immediately and leaves researchers with no doubts.So if your main concern is maintaining your health, then it is wiser not to drink at all than to try to improve your body with small doses of alcohol.
Alcohol producers can bribe scientists
In the summer of 2018, a scandal broke out in the United States: the National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) wanted to spend $100 million on a large-scale study on the benefits of small doses of alcohol.However, officials intercepted correspondence between researchers and alcohol industry representatives.It turned out that most of the money came from alcohol producers and the results of the study were predetermined.As a result, the study was stopped.
It must be said that such news should not be surprising: often research on the benefits of a particular product is sponsored by manufacturers.For example, some companies fund much of the research on the benefits of cocoa, while others fund research on the benefits of yogurt.This is not a direct bribe and anyone can see who commissioned the research.Another advantage is that manufacturers can present the results in a positive light.For example, only publish studies that show the benefits of cocoa and then say that not only cocoa is healthy, but also chocolate made from it (which is not true).So we have another reason to be critical of what is written about science in the press.
To finally put an end to this problem, scientists are trying to find out whether moderate drinkers live longer than non-drinkers.