Is drinking alcohol harmful to people, and is moderate drinking good for your health?

Chinese liquor culture is broad and profound, and it is also a deep-pocketed industry. Many merchants, in order to market their products, have come up with all kinds of “drinking is good for health” claims. In fact, what is recorded in Chinese pharmacies is “drinking should be in moderation,” which people have intentionally or unintentionally changed into “for the sake of health, one should drink in moderation.” So is drinking alcohol harmful to people? Is moderate drinking actually good for your health?

The Harm of Excessive Drinking

1. Excessive drinking causes a deficiency of nutrients in the human body

1. Deficiency of protein, fat, and sugar. The main reason is that more than half of people who drink alcohol over the long term do not eat enough. Alcohol can reduce the stomach's ability to contract, causing secondary nausea, making heavy drinkers lose their appetite and reduce their food intake.

2. Decreased protein digestibility. Experts, through gastric biopsy examinations, found that about 1/4 of long-term heavy drinkers suffer from atrophic gastritis, and their gastric acid and pepsin are also lower than those of normal people.

3. Deficiency of multiple vitamins. The deficiency most easily caused by drinking is folate deficiency, followed by deficiency of vitamin B1, niacin, and vitamin B6. This is due to the reduced absorption rate of vitamin B11, vitamin B12, and folate by the small intestine. The main clinical manifestations include neurological diseases, glossitis, anemia, and cytopenia.

4. Deficiency of elements such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Because alcohol affects the structure of the small intestine and damages the digestive glands, steatorrhea often occurs, and multiple inorganic salts are lost in the stool at the same time; it can also increase the excretion of inorganic salts from the kidneys. On the other hand, drinkers obtain less inorganic salts from their diet, which can lower the levels of zinc, copper, magnesium, and others in the blood.

2. Excessive drinking damages the liver

The detoxification of alcohol is mainly carried out in the liver, and about 90%-95% of alcohol must be metabolized through the liver. Therefore, drinking is especially harmful to the liver. Alcohol can damage liver cells and cause liver disease. People who drink excessively continuously are prone to fatty liver and alcoholic hepatitis, which can then develop into alcoholic cirrhosis and ultimately lead to liver cancer. Heavy binge drinking (drinking too much at one time) can not only cause acute alcoholic hepatitis, but may also induce acute necrotizing pancreatitis, which in severe cases can be life-threatening.

3. Excessive drinking damages the digestive system

1. Alcohol can irritate the esophagus and gastric mucosa, causing congestion and edema of the digestive tract mucosa, leading to esophagitis, gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, and so on. Excessive drinking is one of the factors leading to certain cancers of the digestive system.

2. Excessive drinking increases the incidence of breast cancer.

3. Studies have shown that women who often drink alcoholic beverages have a higher chance of developing breast cancer. Therefore, limiting alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of breast cancer.

4. Excessive drinking leads to hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and coronary arteriosclerosis

Alcohol can raise cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, thereby causing hyperlipidemia or leading to coronary arteriosclerosis. Lipids in the blood deposit on the blood vessel walls, making the vessel cavity smaller and causing hypertension; elevated blood pressure carries the risk of inducing stroke. Long-term excessive drinking can cause fatty degeneration of the myocardium, reduce the heart's elastic contractile force, and affect the heart's normal function.

5. Excessive drinking induces accidents and violent behavior

The central nervous system of long-term drinkers is often in a state of chronic ethanol poisoning, and some develop alcoholic psychosis and alcoholic kinetic disorders. Patients sometimes harm people and destroy property, among other impulsive behaviors. Alcohol can make people lose self-control and increases the risk of accidents and violent behavior. More than 1/3 of traffic accidents and work accidents worldwide are caused by heavy drinking.

6. Excessive drinking leads to anemia

After toxic substances such as alcohol are absorbed into the blood, they can stimulate and erode the cell membranes of red blood cells and other blood cells, causing blood cells to shrink, rupture, and dissolve, and thus continuously decrease. Patients with anemia often lack the nutrients needed to make blood in their bodies, and toxic substances such as alcohol will also destroy the nutrients that are ingested. In this way, it will further cause obstacles to the production of blood cells, and can also make red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets fewer and fewer, thereby causing severe anemia. Alcohol can also interfere with the blood-forming function of bone marrow, liver, spleen, and other blood-forming organs.

7. Excessive drinking leads to obesity

Excessive drinking can make some people gain weight. This is because alcohol has a relatively high caloric value. After entering the body, it is first absorbed and oxidized, while the food eaten at the same time or after drinking cannot be digested and utilized in time. These foods are converted into fat and stored in the body. Middle-aged and older people are more likely to gain weight because their amount of exercise decreases.

8. Excessive drinking reduces the human body's immunity

Alcohol can damage phagocytes, immune factors, and antibodies in the defense system, weakening the human body's immune function and making infections and hemolysis more likely to occur.

9. Excessive drinking induces congenital fetal malformations

Alcohol has toxic effects on germ cells. If such poisoned cells develop into a fetus, it may become a mentally retarded child with intellectual disability, which will place a heavy burden on the family and society. If a pregnant woman drinks, alcohol can enter the fetus through the placenta and directly poison the fetus, hindering the division of fetal brain cells. Alcohol is also a teratogenic factor and can induce congenital fetal malformations.

Excessive drinking causes many harms to the human body. It is best to drink less, and best not to drink at all.

The Benefits of Moderate Drinking

1. Maintaining heart health: A large number of studies have shown that moderate drinking, including beer, can reduce the risk of heart disease, which is the number one killer in the United States. In a 2006 study, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Harvard School of Public Health found that among men with healthy lifestyles, moderate drinkers had a 40%-60% lower risk of heart attack than abstainers.

2. Protecting blood vessels: Hypertension affects about 650,000 Americans. But in 2007, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States found that hypertensive male patients who drank beer in moderation had a reduced risk of both fatal and nonfatal heart attacks. Moderate beer drinking also helps prevent thrombosis and prevent ischemic stroke.

3. Reducing diabetes risk: Research shows that moderate drinking by people with diabetes can also reduce the risk of the biggest killer——coronary heart disease attacks. Research also shows that a light drinking habit can help protect people with type 2 diabetes from developing countries. This may be because drinking increases insulin sensitivity or has an anti-inflammatory effect.

4. Improving cognitive ability: Is beer good for the brain? Research shows that the answer is yes. A report published in 2006 in the Journal of the American Heart Association showed that moderate drinking may help women achieve better cognitive ability. Coincidentally, research published in 2003 in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that older adults over 65 who drank 1—6 alcoholic drinks per week, but no benefit was found for young women or postmenopausal women. It is said that this may be because the silicon content in the beverage is relatively high. But excessive drinking can greatly increase the chance of fractures.

5. Maintaining vitality: A review of 50 studies showed that there is an inverse association between moderate drinking and all-cause mortality. According to a 2005 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people who drink 1—2 drinks per day appear to have the lowest risk of death, which may be because beer plays a role in preventing coronary heart disease and stroke.

6. Feeling healthier: A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that beer drinkers get sick less often and feel better than abstainers.