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Myths About Alcohol
Alcohol has always been linked with death, disease, and overall poorer health. In 2016 alone, there were an estimated 2.8 million fatalities related to alcohol consumption. Yet, it’s completely legal for people of age, unlike banned drugs like heroin or cocaine. Alcohol has also been used as a form of medicine for a long time.
You may have heard statements like these:
*Your health will deteriorate if you drink
*As long as I drink in moderation, drinking is fine.
*A glass of red wine a day keeps heart disease away
However, these statements are often confusing and contradictory which makes it difficult for people to know which is right. Do we drink as little as possible, the right amount, or too much? Is a perfectly dosed sparkling seltzer a better option than normal alcohol consumption? Will abstinence from alcohol be the best option for our health? In the next few sections, we will examine the three most common misconceptions of alcohol consumption.
If you think that you have a drinking problem, the first step to being clean is to get help. You should definitely consider going to a luxury rehabilitation center that specializes in alcohol addiction treatment.
Myth #1: Your health will only deteriorate if you drink in excess
The first myth is that alcohol only affects your health if you drink in excess. Drinking regularly and in heavy amounts can cause your health to deteriorate. If you’re dependent on alcohol on a daily basis and can’t seem to control yourself, you might have an addiction problem. In the long run, this can negatively impact your health as it may lead to damage to your liver, an increase in blood pressure, heart, and/or lung issues. In worse cases, you might also develop mouth, throat, breast, colon, liver, or stomach cancer. That’s a lot of potential consequences of excessive drinking.
Research over the years has constantly reminded us of the deadly effects of alcohol. The truth is, heavy and frequent consumption of alcohol is not the only habit that can negatively affect your body.
Myth #2: It is alright to binge-drink occasionally
If you have said yes to consuming more than four or five standard drinks in a two-hour period, did you know that this is considered binge-drinking? Consuming anything in large amounts in a short period of time is known as binging, and binge drinking is just another form of binging that can be detrimental to your health, even more so if it is done frequently.
A recent study at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) supports this. In that study, the effects of binge drinking were examined by looking at the liver function of mice. In just seven weeks, they found that the liver was significantly damaged. What was more interesting was that the findings concluded that moderate daily drinking was less harmful to the liver than binge drinking. The mice were found to have early-stage liver cancer after 21 binge-drinking sessions.
It is problematic to have a pattern of binge drinking, coupled that with the fact that just drinking heavily too will also cause liver damage and long-term health problems. Your liver’s main function after all is to clear your blood of toxins and alcohol is, in fact, a toxin. By having a night of heavy drinking, you are overburdening your liver which requires time to recover. Not giving your liver enough time to clear toxins out of your system will cause damage in the long haul.
Myth #3: Drinking In Moderation Is Great For Your Body
We’ve all heard the phrase “Drinking a glass of red wine a day helps keep heart problems away” or something along those lines. That sounds like a dream come true for many as you can not only enjoy your daily glass of wine but also do so in peace knowing that it is good for your health.
Unfortunately, this may not be true. There is research done to support this statement, where people who drink alcohol in restricted amounts are at lower risks of being diagnosed with gallstones, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Yet, there is also evidence to show that even drinking in “moderation” can have negative effects on your body.
Before we go down to the side effects of alcohol consumption, it’s important to clarify what drinking in “moderation” means. It can be a drink a day or can go up to four drinks a day. In general, moderate drinking for men is usually one to two drinks daily, and it is one drink a day for women.
When Do The Benefits Of Drinking Get Overwhelmed By The Consequences?
When it comes to alcohol consumption, we need to balance the risks and benefits like in any life decision. The risk of heart disease and diabetes may be reduced by moderate drinking in some populations. However, even when consuming 1 or 2 drinks a day, there are also serious health risks to consider.
In some situations, drinking alcohol will definitely have more health risks than benefit, such as:
1) If you’re pregnant
2) If you have liver disease
3) If you’re taking medications
4) If you experience alcohol problems
In truth, you may not want to take the health benefits of alcohol as fact, as there is no concluding evidence that the health benefits outweigh the risks involved with drinking alcohol. Still, even if alcohol is not beneficial for you, it does not mean that you have to abandon it altogether.
Should You Give Up On Alcohol?
For some people, it’s necessary for you to give up on alcohol especially when you’re at high risk of developing diseases due to your past consumption or family history. Yet, we don’t have to completely stop this habit. The discussion on the pros and cons of alcohol will continue to be debated. We can continue to drink in moderation, but should not place hopes that it will positively help our bodies and wellbeing.
Bottom Line
The most important thing is to make sure you drink alcohol moderately and that you are fully aware of its consequences. Negative health effects of alcohol consumption include diarrhea, hives on skin, facial redness (luckily there’s an asian glow cure for that), and low blood pressure. In the event that you are uncertain of your current health, do check with your local doctor. From a psychological point of view, it’s also important to check your motivations behind your drinking habits. That way, you’ll be safe from any potential addictions to alcohol consumption.
