How Much Alcohol is good for you?
With growing health consciousness, the popularity of low and no alcoholic beverages as substitutes for alcoholic beverages is gaining momentum across the developed countries. The trend is showing visible signs of percolation across India too. In this context, it would help the industry to know how much alcohol is good for its consumers.
Dr JB Ratti, Senior Cosmetic Surgeon, Vital Clinic, New Delhi, throws light on this increasingly important aspect of alcoholic beverage consumption.
Whether you love a generous glassful of your favourite liquor or you prefer to drink occasionally, it is important to know your drink and also know how much alcohol is good for you.
It is often said that drinking alcohol may not be vice, but being drunk is. Is this correct? Let us see what medical experts and research on liquor consumption have to say on it.
Technically speaking, alcohol is a ‘depressant’ drug which plainly means that your control on your body is slowed down by its intake. Alcohol has a direct effect on brain receptors. It can affect several parts of brain; contracting the brain tissues.
Cognitive deficits, memory loss, depression and nerve degeneration among alcoholics are some of the well documented direct effects. We can safely presume that these changes are likely to be pronounced among regular heavy drinkers.
Alcohol that is used for recreational drink is ethanol. In some persons ethanol can cause headache due to dilatation of brain arteries. Ethanol is also a diuretic. It causes loss of salt, vitamins and minerals from the body through kidneys, which can cause dehydration and imbalance of chemicals in the body.Those with migraine should never take alcohol as it can cause headache even in small amounts.
Heart is another organ that is adversely affected by alcohol. At the time of drinking alcohol, flushing of face and warmth in hands is due to rise in heart rate and blood pressure. Alcohol consumption above safe limits, on a regular basis, can keep the blood pressure high with a flushed face all the time.
Alcohol is also notorious for adversely affecting liver; the chemical workshop of body. Chronic regular drinking can cause cirrhosis of liver, a condition that is irreversible. Research has also established linkages between alcohol intake and certain types of cancer.
