Does Alcohol have health benefit or risk ?
Alcohol: Health Benefits Versus Risks
The media has often used stories about how moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to our health. Many people are not convinced, but they still find enjoyment in the media’s stories.
Healthy news is good news, and they grab headlines. This celebratory article was written after hearing about the heart-health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption.
News reports on the benefits of moderate drinking often leave out the health risks involved, which can also damage a person’s health. The tradeoffs between health risks and benefits are different for men and women.
Research shows that consumption of alcohol in post-menopausal women may lead to higher HDL levels, but insufficient evidence exists for other age groups. When younger women consume alcohol, it can produce the opposite effect and is associated with increased disease risk.
Alcohol consumption has been linked to a 4% higher risk of breast cancer. Out of 63 studies, 56 showed links between alcohol and increased breast cancer.
Drinking alcohol will not help some people lose weight and increase fitness. 54.3% of women aged 20 to 39 are overweight and will find drinking alcohol less than helpful when trying to lose weight and become more fit.
Drinking wine a few times per week will not make much of a difference to your weight, but if you drink a glass of wine every night for four years, you will gain about 60 pounds.
Counting calories from alcohol is hard. Alcohol is less satisfying than food and the size of martini glasses has increased over the years. In addition, alcohol will dampen your metabolism for 24 hours and increase your appetite.
Bottom line: don’t drink excessively with the intention of improving your health via spirits. Plenty of other ways to improve heart health exist and don’t make the same mistake I did.
Get all the facts before you start drinking to deal with your stress. Make sure that what you’re doing is actually worth it and don’t risk your health for temporary relief.
