Cheers – a guide to responsible drinking

Most people know that drinking in excess can be damaging to health but the picture is not always very clear as we read conflicting evidence on the effect of moderate alcohol consumption. Here’s a guide to the effects of alcohol; how too much can be detrimental to your health but also how a little may actually be beneficial.

When it comes to alcohol, Britain is well known for it’s ‘binge drinking culture’ – not our proudest of labels. You only have to leave the house on a Friday or Saturday night and you’ll soon be confronted with scantily clad women swaying around or young men stumbling down the streets. This typical picture of our drinking culture can be an intimidating one.

Although drinking doesn’t have to lead to scenes like this, sadly the statistics do show that this is a growing trend amoung Britain’s youth (16-24 year olds). So what are the dangers of drinking, either moderately or on the occasional night of ‘letting your hair down’? And is there really a level of alcohol that can be good for you?

How much is too much?

Drinking can be good for your health it can also be bad. The same can be said about almost all foods and drinks – the key is moderation! While a little red wine may be good for your health, it's very easy to cross the line. It depends on so many things, for example your overall health, your genetic disposition to alcohol tolerance, your age and obviously, how much you drink.

The dangers of drinking

Most of us will have experienced the bad effects of alcohol at some time or other. The loss of judgement, nausea, dizziness, impotence, and mood swings to name a few but luckily, these are short-lived side effects of what is effectively a poison. Below are some of the longer-term effects that excessive alcohol consumption has on the body.

This includes repeated binge drinking (currently defined as 8 or more units in a single session for men and 6 or more for women), which studies have shown can be damaging to long-term mental health. Long-term excessive alcohol consumption can lead to:

Liver disease
High blood pressure
High blood triglycerides
Heart failure
Stroke
Foetal alcohol syndrome (in pregnancy)
Certain cancers

The benefits of alcohol

In contrast, there’s an increasing amount of evidence showing that light to moderate consumption of certain alcoholic beverages can have beneficial health effects. Researchers have observed the positive association between alcohol and metabolism, reduced stress and anxiety, and longevity. While most of this existing research is extremely controversial, there are several convincing studies looking at the link between alcohol consumption and health.

One example comes from The Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim in Germany, which recently showed that moderate alcohol consumption by people aged 75 years or over may help ward off dementia. It suggested those who drink moderate levels of alcohol are 30% less likely to develop dementia, and 40% less likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, than teetotallers.

Red wine in particular is of interest to researchers. It contains high levels of resveratrol, which has been shown (in high quantities) to have anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic potential. It can be argued however, that the level found in one glass of red wine will have little impact on your health overall – according to current guidelines you should not regularly exceed 2-3 units a day (women) or 3-4 units daily (men). That means no more than the one medium size glass of red or white wine with dinner.

Some beers too contain beneficial nutrients. Darker beers in particular contain traces of vitamins and minerals, primarily B-vitamins and silicon. Though these minerals can be obtained in higher quantities in fresh vegetables and legumes, beer can also provide you with these valuable nutrients.

Alcohol and calorie counting

According to alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware, two out of three Britons are unaware of the calorific contents of alcoholic beverages, and often undo any benefit they have achieved from dieting by having a drink with their meal.

For example, one glass of champagne is equivalent to a small slice of treacle tart. However, if the calories in your tipple of choice are accounted for when planning your meal, then a small evening drink may help to speed up your metabolism as alcohol has an established thermogenic effect.

Guide to alcohol units

How drunk you get depends on how much pure alcohol your drink contains. One way to calculate this is by counting units. The UK Government’s current recommended guidelines are up to 2-3 units of alcohol a day for women and up to 3-4 for men. The guide below indicates how many units and calories are in a few of our popular beverages:

Drink	Units	Calories
Gin & Tonic (single)	1	110
Vodka & Coke (single)	0.9	120
Red wine (small/large)	1.6/3.3	85/170
White wine (small/large)	1.6/3.3	93/185
Champagne (175ml)	2.1	133
Pint of Kronenbourg 1664	2.8	244

Remember though, units are only a guide. Alcohol affects everyone differently and pure alcohol is removed from the bloodstream at different rates depending on your individual metabolism...so know your own limit and respect it!

Aimee Matthews

Posted 14.06.2011

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See more in the dossier: Foods to eat sparingly