One of the most controversial topics in wellness is the
topic of alcoholic beverages and whether or not they can be helpful or
harmful. As with many things – the devil
is in the details. One thing is for
sure – alcoholic beverages can be very harmful to your health if consumed in
excess. In fact, some researchers
contend there is no safe level of alcohol intake. So the big question is how much is too
much?
To answer that
question let’s review what the research shows for alcohol intake and
cardiovascular health.
There is a considerable body of evidence showing that light
to moderate drinking may help reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. Now light to moderate means 1 – 2 drinks
per day (1 – 2 beers, 1 – 2 glasses of wine, and best to stay completely clear
of hard liquor!). By the way a
glass of wine means 5 ounces of wine and for stronger wines maybe more like 3 –
5 ounces. Same deal with beer – it is
all about alcohol content so for really high alcohol beers one is better than
two!
According to a recent review light drinking as described
above is associated with reduced risk of:
Coronary Artery Disease
Stroke caused by a reduction in blood supply
Heart Failure
Heavier drinking is associated with increased risk of:
High Blood Pressure
Coronary Artery Disease
Heart Rhythm Abnormalities
Brain bleeding type stroke
In this review authors speculated on several mechanisms that
may be responsible for the benefits of light drinking:
Alcohol is known to raise HDL – good cholesterol
Low levels of alcohol reduce platelet aggravation meaning
thinning the blood slightly. This can
help with coronary artery disease and stroke from loss of blood supply, but
this can be very problematic if you are taking any medication to thin your
blood like warfarin or coumarin. Also,
be aware that many dietary supplements also thin your blood slightly including,
but not limited to, omega-3 fatty acids, many herbs and even vegetables like
celery with higher intake.
The Authors also point out that low levels of alcohol intake are associated with
decreased psychosocial stress. This
is all well and good, but we all need to keep in mind that it is very easy to
develop a substance abuse problem with alcohol, so it is very important that
certain people NOT drink at all.
Alcohol and the Brain
There have been several recent and very extensive reviews on
this important subject. One of these
studies did a comprehensive review of alcohol and brain health and disease
risk. The review shows that there is
clearly a very distinct dose response to alcohol separating health benefits
from increased health risks as pointed out above. This is
specifically true for alcohol and Alzheimer’s disease. To quote the authors “Moderate drinking of
3 – 4 glases per day of red wine was associated with a fourfold lower risk of Alzheimer’s". Despite this they made it clear that this
is NOT a suggestion for people to start drinking wine!
Red wine is a unique beverage in that it contains many plant
chemicals that are clearly beneficial to health including polyphenols which
work to reduce free radicals and inflammation and also chelate excess iron from
the body.
Negative impacts of
Alcohol and Mental Health
Unfortunately, excess alcohol intake is very bad for the
brain. For anyone who is depressed or
has a mental health disorder like being Bipolar – alcohol can literally kill
them by exacerbating symptoms and mood swings.
Alcohol lowers inhibitions and clouds judgement which can
dramatically increase risk taking behavior with all the associated
consequences.
Heavier drinking shrinks the brain.
Excess alcohol intake depletes key vitamins and minerals
including:
Folic Acid – this dramatiacally increase breast cancer risk
in females and any woman who drinks regularly (even lightly) should consider
supplementing with an active form of folic acid such as L-methylfolate (5-MTHF). In fact alcohol depletes all b-vitamins
which are crucial for mental and physical health!
Vitamin C
Magnesium
Zinc
Iron - this depletion can be very problematic for woman who are mentruating and drink regularly and are also vegetarians since there iron intake from foods is almost non-existent in many cases.
Potassium - as with magensium depletion of this vital mineral helps drive the blood pressure increasing effects of excess alcohol intake.
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