“You’re not a man or a grown up if you don’t drink”…
comments like these are used to encourage non drinkers to start consuming
alcohol here. Some present with the list of ‘benefits’ of alcohol like
reduction of the risk of heart disease, feeling warm, sense of pleasure etc.
Then you start to think, is it really THAT bad as you hear? Then you get to
hear that it damages liver and other organs, affects psychological health and
increases risk of dying. This is confusing! “Nevermind I’ll join my friends.. “and
there one more added to the list! :)
Don’t you think there has to be some answer? It is, thankfully. Let's understand what it actually does first.
What does alcohol actually do?
Well the affect is mixed, drinking alcohol may offer some
health benefits, especially for your heart. On the other hand, too much alcohol
may increase your risk of health problems and damage your heart.
Excessive alcohol use can cause the pancreas to produce
toxic substances that interfere with proper functioning.
It travels throughout the body easily and affects the
nervous system affecting coordination, impulse control and in the long run
damaging the nervous system.
It has disastrous effects on the digestive system. It
reduces its power to absorb nutrients leading one to become malnourished.
Alcohol abuse leads to erectile dysfunction in men.
Muscles and bones become weak.
Immune system is affected and finds it difficult to fight
against viruses and bacteria.
As mentioned earlier it has some benefits too-
Harvard University found that "moderate amounts of
alcohol raises levels of high-density lipoprotein, HDL, or 'good' cholesterol and
higher HDL levels are associated with greater protection against heart disease.
Carnegie Mellon University found that moderate alcohol
consumption led to a decrease in common cold cases.
Results of a Dutch study showed that healthy adults who
drink one to two glasses per day have a decreased chance of developing type 2
diabetes.
The disadvantages clearly outweigh the benefits. So if you
are a non-drinker, don’t start drinking for the sake of ‘benefits’ at all. If
you have to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve your heart health by
eating a healthy diet and exercising, which have more robust research behind
them.
It is ALWAYS harmful for Indians
If you notice the researches done for the benefits were done
in western universities. So it would be better if we see what the studies at
home say.
A research done by AIIMS and few other health organisations
on 8000+ subjects has revealed that unlike western nations, there were more
risks, leave alone the benefits, even with moderate consumption of alcohol, in
the Indians.
The study categorised drinkers in three brackets -- heavy
drinkers (who consumed more than 28 grams per day), moderate drinkers (14-28
grams per day) and light drinkers (less than 14 grams a day).
While light drinkers had a 40% greater risk of Coronary Heart
Disease (CHD) compared to non-drinkers, the chances were as high as 60% among
moderate drinkers and nearly 100% in heavy drinkers.
Why does it affect differently to Indians?
There are two main reasons-
Genetic- There may be heterogeneity in effect of alcohol on
CHD in different ethnicities and the protective effect may be absent or more
modest in populations other than that in Mediterranean or South Europeans.
Drinking pattern- Drinking patterns may account for the
difference in results. In particular, Mediterranean drinking patterns are
characterised by the use of daily constant amounts of alcohol mainly in the
form of wine which has been associated with protection against CHD as compared
to irregular heavy or binge drinking that provides no favourable effect on CHD.
Indians particularly known to do binge drinking.
To drink or not, it always your decision and now you are
more enlightened when you go and take your next drink. If you prefer being the non-drinker,
you can tell the person convincing you with the benefits it NEVER benefits Indians.
Image source: Google Images
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