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Alcohol - The Truth Behind the Hype

Alcohol has never had such good press. Pick up a newspaper or magazine and you are likely to find an article promoting the health benefits of regular alcohol consumption. Nutritional science is ever changing and seemingly fickle. What irony that alcohol, our most common social drug, the cause of so much misery and chronic ill health when overused, is now actively promoted for its health benefits! Almost overnight, alcohol has gone from being reviled as the cause of social evil, alcoholism, road accidents and general vice, to being rebranded as a legitimate and enjoyable way of preventing heart disease. But what is the truth behind the hype ?

 Findings from clinical studies designed to establish the truth about alcohol and health, while numerous, have also been somewhat conflicting there is however, enough consensual evidence to make some fairly definitive statements.

The Journal of American Cardiology (Jan 2000) published a study showing that in middle aged men, one drink of alcohol per day appears to reduce heart disease. However, increase the alcohol to two or more drinks a day and the benefits are offset by an increased incidence of some types of cancer. The study also cautions that people with any form of liver disease, or history of alcohol abuse should remain teetotalers.

Other studies show that alcohol may actually help to reduce the incidence of further heart attacks in people who have already suffered a heart attack. One study showed that people who drank seven drinks a week in the year before their heart attack had a 32% lower risk of dying compared with teetotalers. Those who had less than seven drinks a week decreased their risk of dying by 21% over four years, compared to teetotalers. Another study found that elderly people who drank at least 1.5 drinks per day had a heart attack risk 47% lower than abstainers, regardless of age, race, blood pressure, diabetes, smoking etc.

The benefits of alcohol consumption are most marked with wine consumption, especially red wine. Red wine is very high in antioxidant nutrients which increase levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol, and reduce the stickiness of blood platelets, thus preventing blood clotting.

If one glass of red wine a day is good for you, is more than one glass even better? Sadly, for the red wine buff, the answer is a definitive "no".

While a glass of wine offers some benefits to your heart, there are a number of negative effects of alcohol consumption, which come into effect when more than one glass of alcohol a day is consumed. Firstly, alcohol is fattening. It is a liquid sugar which floods the blood stream rapidly and causes rapid increase in blood sugar levels, which over time can cause problems with the body’s response to insulin. Regular alcohol consumption can lead to nutritional deficiency, as the absorption of nutrients is impaired, including most B vitamins, and vitamins A, D, E and K. Alcohol is also an immune depressant. Drinkers are more at risk of infection from bacteria and viruses than non-drinkers. Every drop of alcohol you consume has to be broken down by your liver. The function of this vital detoxifying organ quickly becomes compromised with excessive alcohol consumption.

The debate over alcohol and health should be considered almost a gender issue. While moderate alcohol intake is good for the heart, if you are a woman this benefit needs to be weighed against an increased risk of developing breast cancer and osteoporosis.

In 1998 the Journal of the American Medical Association published a report which reviewed the findings of six long-term studies looking at how alcohol consumption effects breast cancer risk. In total the studies used a population of 322,647 women evaluated for up to eleven years.

The conclusions of the study showed a definite correlation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. Women who drank 2 to 5 glasses of alcohol per day had a forty one percent greater risk of invasive breast cancer than non-drinkers. The study concluded that amongst women who consumed alcohol regularly, reducing alcohol consumption was a significant way of reducing breast cancer risk.

For women with a number of risk factors for developing osteoporosis, alcohol consumption may have a significant negative impact on bone density. Regular intake of alcohol has been shown to decrease bone formation, and reduce absorption of dietary and supplemental calcium.

While studies continue into the merits of regular alcohol consumption, there are conclusions which you can safely draw from existing evidence. One glass of wine a day will help reduce your heart attack risk. More than one glass of wine a day may increase your risk of breast, liver and esophageal cancer, and detrimentally effect bone density, as well as most likely contributing to a weight problem. Savour that glass of red wine!

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