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Is Drinking Good or Bad For You?
Health | November 16, 2016
Alcohol is kind of a sensitive subject. Many of us drink. Many of us don’t. Some people feel that alcohol is a lovely gift, a way to socialize and a way to relax and toast to all of the bounty life brings us. Some people love alcohol but aren’t able to tolerate it or drink responsibly. Some people have alcoholism or the gene to develop it. Some people are ambivalent. Some people feel alcohol is straight up nutritional poison and should be avoided at all costs.
But what are the hard facts surrounding alcohol? Let’s take a closer look.
What Actually Happens When You Drink?
According to Alcohol.org.nz, “After a drink is swallowed, the alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the blood (20% through the stomach and 80% through the small intestine), with effects felt within 5 to 10 minutes after drinking. It usually peaks in the blood after 30-90 minutes and is carried through all the organs of the body.”
Alcohol starts out as a toxic substance. Our bodies break most of it down, via the liver, into water and carbon dioxide. “The rest [is] excreted through the lungs (allowing alcohol breath tests), through the kidneys (into urine) and in sweat.” No wonder you can always smell someone who’s been hitting the sauce from a mile away!
You start to feel buzzed or drunk when you drink faster than your liver can metabolize the alcohol. When your liver can’t process it fast enough, the amount of alcohol in your blood begins to build up. Most people’s livers can metabolize about one drink per hour. Of course this all depends on what you’ve chosen to drink, how fast you drink, what you’ve eaten recently, your tolerance level, size, weight, body type, etc.
If You Drink Too Much
Ok, so now that you know what happens when you drink any alcohol, let’s talk about what happens when you drink too much alcohol (besides a wicked hangover).
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH) has a list of dire health warnings that would scare almost anyone away form the bar. Again, I want to reiterate that these effects are from over drinking, binge drinking, or chronically drinking too much. That said, according to the NIH drinking heavily can cause the following:
- Heart damage, including cardiomyopathy (stretching and drooping of heart muscle), arrhythmias (irregular heart beat), stroke, high blood pressure
- Liver damage, including steatosis (fatty liver), alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis
- Pancreas damage that can prevent proper digestion
- Increases your risk of developing certain cancers like mouth, esophagus, throat, liver, breast
- A weakened immune system which means you’re more likely to get sick. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections, even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.
The Harvard School of Public health says that moderate drinking in healthy people can prevent cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and stroke because it raises good cholesterol, increases sensitivity to insulin, and prevents blood clots. Moderate drinking can lower your risk for gall stones and type 2 diabetes. And don’t forget the social and emotional benefits. “A drink before a meal can improve digestion or offer a soothing respite at the end of a stressful day; the occasional drink with friends can be a social tonic. These physical and psychic effects may contribute to health and well-being”.
The Harvard School of Public health also says it doesn’t matter what you drink as long as you drink moderately. But what about from a fitness and nutrition perspective? What kinds of drinks should we indulge in that won’t totally derail our hard work in the kitchen?
What an Athlete Drinks
Just like I always say, you have to find the thing that works best for YOU. Perhaps you find that if you have a drink or two during the week the waistband of your jeans gets tight. Perhaps alcoholism runs in your family and you don’t want to tempt fate. Maybe it doesn’t matter if you have a beer every night. But for me, I follow the same rules as I do for my meal plans. I try to avoid excess sugar, overly processed cocktail mixes (all alcohol has been processed somewhat), and stay relatively low-carb. And what kinds of drinks are those…?
Stay tuned for my next article, 5 Low Sugar Alcoholic Beverages and Cocktails!
How do you drink? Do you avoid it altogether? Is drinking just not a big deal to you? Do you wrestle with drinking? As aways, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
In good health,
Zuzka.
Private Member |
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and by providing us with some solid references. I’m a runner and have experimented in the past by not drinking for months on end. The social aspect brought me back to drinking alcohol but I do so moderately about once a week when I go out to dinner with my wife. Thank you for all you do. 🙂
Private Member |
My partner is a high school teacher and I am a graduate student. I am new to the grad world, but virtually every graduate student I’ve met drinks (hopefully not excessively lol). Some of the best conversations I’ve had in my relationship and with friends have come after a glass of wine. It’s nice to have an article that includes this social element to drinking.
Thanks for all you do Zuzka!
Private Member |
Zuzka, I really enjoyed reading your article. It is very interesting. I will be honest and say that my husband and I appreciate a drink or two on Friday nights/Saturday nights. Not every single week, but most of the time. During the week it is rare that we will have a drink.
I always feel bad and have remorse because I keep wondering if by doing so I am sabotaging my whole week of training and (mostly) healthy eating. I am probably not the only one feeling that way. At the same time we all have one life to live and I think that if it isn’t in excess, why not enjoy a drink if we like it.
Okay, I’d also like to mention that I had and eating disorder in high school and I am still fighting through it. I never seems to leave my mind completely so anything that could have the potential to sabotage my efforts kind of gets me worried. Maybe that’s why I always question myself with alcohol.
I am really curious to find out about the 5 low sugar alcoholic beverages and cocktails.
Thanks for sharing all this information! XOX
Private Member |
I felt identified with your comment Natacha, I also had an eating disorder and alcohol just scares me a little bit, so I tend to stay away from it or drink little only in special ocassions. Hope one day these worries disappear 🙂
Anyway, I suppose that as everything else in life, having a drink once in a while won’t hurt, it is good for the soul.
Thanks for the article Zuzka
Private Member |
I love wine. Being fitness instructor I noticed that more than 1 glass at night affects my teaching the following morning (around 9am). And even 1 glass affects my teaching in the early morning (6-7am), so I don’t drink on the nights before morning classes.
Wine also relaxes me after night classes, as sometimes I am too wired if I teach at around 6pm and can’t go to sleep by my usual 10.
When I drink alcohol, I definitely want snacks with it, so I guess in the long run it makes me gain weight, cause it is so much easier to give in to temptations when you’re having a glass of wine.
I recently started working with nutrition coach who analyzed all my likes and dislikes and included 1 glass of dry red wine before bed into my daily meal plan. As much as I am happy about it, I am still not 100% sure this is right if the goal is to lose weight. (just as some other contents of my prescribed diet)
Private Member |
I am very interested to find out what drinks could be ok. My husband and I have taken out the occasional Friday or Saturday night drink because we were afraid of sabotaging our healthy lifestyle we were trying to adjust to. It’s been almost a year with maybe 3 drinks mixed in there. It will be nice to know that we could relax here and there without feeling we need to kill ourselves to get back on track. Thanks for working on these articles.
Private Member |
ca, usa
I have a couple glasses of red wine or a low carb margarita each week. I enjoy it completely and have never though about it sabotaging my healthy lifestyle.
Private Member |
boise, id, united states
Thank you for posting this article.
I am constantly balancing this.
It has taken me a long time to learn to honor and listen to my body. All the answers are there.
When I find myself in a position of getting one too many drinks I think of this Tibetan Proverb:
“Eat Half. Walk Double. Laugh Triple. Love without Measure.”
<3
Private Member |
I enjoy a bloody mary every once in a while, a margarita if i eat out at a mexican resturant, or a glass of wine. Im more worried about my liver, dehidration and aging than it ruining my healthy eating. I guess because i dont over do it.
Private Member |
cape cod, ma, usa
Great topic, especially before the holidays! Personally, I tend towards red wine and often have a glass while I’m making or eating a healthy dinner (not every night, but often). Weekend nights will often include two glasses. I don’t feel it derails me or affects my health or motivation negatively. On the contrary, I work a high stress job and find that it helps negate the stress of my day, which can have much worse side effects. Also, wine can only happen after I get my workout or yoga on… WEW!
Private Member |
Haha that’s my mantra too, only with beer! WEB!
I am sure I’d have better abs if I cut out beer completely, but as Julia Child says, “All things in moderation, including moderation.”
Private Member |
aliso viejo, ca
I have been waiting for you Zuzka to talk about this topic! So, thank yoh so much! And Kate I love your “WEW” I am assuming it means “weekend earned wine?” I love it! – glass of wine or a whisky neat once in a while is my go to.
Private Member |
holland, pa
I enjoy drinking and vary between vodka/seltzer, whiskey on the rocks and red wine. I feel this are pretty much low carb, the vodka/seltzer being the cleanest, and I do try to earn any drinks with a workout!
Private Member |
curitiba, parana, brazil
Hi Zu…here no drinks neither any kind of alcohol at home neither outside. We do not have this habit. I have tried alcohol and drinks in past when I was single (from 17 up to 21 years) and used to go to pubs to dance and look for a boyfriend! Hhahaha…before my marriage I stopped it completely I do not remember in which stage of life I realized that this was not a necessary thing in my life. I clearly remember I used to drink for fun, to feel high, to laugh and to dance better. I think in college I realized that drinking was not something really needed (for me) so I completely stopped it. After marriage no drinking at all…never…neither in celebrations…New Year…birthdays…simply never. And it is like meat, I do not miss it at all! See you all, take care.