By Ethos Nutritionist, Stephanie Byers, MS RD.
Over the past few years, several articles touting the benefits of alcohol have appeared in newsletters from Yale New Haven Hospital, Mayoclinic, CBS News, Men’s Health, MSNBC.com, The Washington Post, and WebMD.
The first thing to strike me is the idea that non-drinkers should become drinkers to somehow improve their health. Alcohol is a drug and a poison to many parts of the body especially the liver and we should not lose sight of that fact. A term often used in articles is to drink moderately, to be distinguished from chronic and excessive with respect to use or quantity. What they really need to do is to be specific upfront. They are using moderate to mean one alcohol equivalent beverage per day for women and two alcohol equivalents per day for men; 4 oz of wine, 12 oz of beer or 1.5 oz of distilled spirit. Although there does seem to be recent evidence that there are some health benefits, we must look at the bigger picture.
One out of ten Americans have adverse consequences with alcohol consumption. Alcohol dehydrates you which affects many things including brain function. It increases appetite causing you to eat more. It lowers inhibitions, and it decreases coordination by affecting the function of the inner ear. It affects blood glucose levels and hormone levels. Alcohol aggravates stomach and small intestine problems leading to increased risk of gastritis and reflux. It increases the risk of osteoporosis and disrupts thyroid function.
When is comes to the immune system alcohol is no friend. By decreasing the bone marrow’s ability to regenerate blood cells and therefore T-cell function and anti- microbial response, by increasing viral replication and inflammatory response, alcohol increases the severity of diseases. It decreases REM sleep causing sluggish feelings the next day. Alcohol dilates blood vessels and decreases their clotting factor resulting in increased bleeding.
As a drug that is metabolized in the liver, there are many drug-drug interactions. There can also be nutrient deficiencies including the B vitamins, the fat-soluble vitamins, calcium and magnesium, etc.
The negative aspects of alcohol are mostly associated with heavy drinking, but there is also a correlation with duration or long-term drinking. So the question is, how many days a week are okay? Should I abstain from time to time? Some researchers say that drinking on an empty stomach or at certain times of the day is worse. Additionally, there is the possibility of awakening a latent addiction problem, or just not being able to stick to the recommended levels.
Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes and is the main reason for drinking red wine for health purposes. It is a natural phenol (antioxidant) purported to have anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and blood sugar lowering properties as well as beneficial cardiovascular effects. My suggestion is to eat organic red grapes and other foods that are high in antioxidants. While it might not be as much fun, it gives you many fewer things to worry about.
I offer individual nutrition counseling to enhance your wellness program or to help address a serious health problem. Please call 201-956-3403 or click here to visit our website for more information.
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