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Alcohol: healthy or harmful?
A holistic view
by Julie Chaplin CHHP
Alcohol is a drug!
Alcohol: an intoxicant like nicotine, sugar, caffeine and some food chemicals. Also: a socially accepted drug used to relieve stress and tensions by depressing anxiety and relaxing muscles.
These short-lived “positive” effects come at a high price. Have you ever considered the long-term affects of alcohol abuse? These include severe liver damage, toxic build-up, cell and tissue destruction, rapid physical aging, central nervous system damage, intestinal, muscle and nerve dysfunction, weakened immunity, heart problems, prostate enlargement, deficiencies of nutrient such as calcium (causing osteoporosis) and potassium (leading to high acidity levels), brain syndromes, and the overall degeneration of one’s
whole being?
When you drink alcohol, your liver becomes overloaded with toxins and, once overloaded, becomes less effective in detoxifying the blood. When toxins build up, the result is chronic pain, inflammation and other disorders such as those listed above. Excessive alcohol consumption causes chemical residues to become embedded in the liver. These residues represent the life history of unresolved problems, denials, resentments and repression that have been masked by drinking. Alcohol is highly addictive and its abuse leads to uncontrollable feelings of anger, depression and the suppression of emotions. Being addicted to any substance, especially alcohol, is linked to emotional and mental blocks such as fear, self-rejection, and feelings of emptiness, guilt and inadequacy.
The following affirmations can help free you from these inhibiting feelings and insecurities:
“I live in the now. Each moment is new and beautiful.”
“I choose to see my self-worth. I love and approve of myself.”
“I now discover how wonderful I am. I choose to love and enjoy myself.”
Many addictions are linked to long-term nutritional deficiencies. Essentially, alcohol is liquid sugar, which is why most alcoholics have fast-cycling blood sugar imbalances (hyperglycemia). Foods that will help curb alcohol cravings and balance your blood sugar include beans, legumes, vegetables (especially greens), whole grains, nuts and seeds, seaweeds, spirulina and seeds/oils of evening primrose, borage and black currant. Include a B-vitamin complex in your daily diet as well. Avoid hydrogenated oils, additives, preservatives and excesses of sugar, salt, meat and fats because these foods cause alcohol cravings. As your nutrition improves, your need and cravings for alcohol will decrease.
So what is considered excessive drinking? What defines an alcoholic? “If you feel you can’t go without your evening wine or cocktail, you have a problem,” states Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom. A need for even one drink a day, whether it’s beer, wine or liquor, is NOT moderate consumption; it is excessive consumption—and excessive drinking is alcohol abuse. If you are unable to control the need to have even just one drink a day, you are an alcoholic.
Dr. Northrup explains that the amount of alcohol consumed does not determine the problem; what defines an alcoholic is the person’s relationship with alcohol. Be aware that alcoholics are not just the stereotypical “slobbering drunks” who hop from one barstool to the next. Alcoholics are the Joneses and the Smiths next door who are drinking in the privacy of their own home, thinking and believing that they do not have a problem.
If you are questioning your relationship with an addictive substance, please seek professional or medical advice to help you overcome this destructive cycle before it is too late! Remember that you don’t need to drink to have a good time. Life is too short to live it behind glass.
A physician’s perspective
by Tracy Morton MD
Healthy drinking
Everybody knows that “moderate” alcohol consumption (no more than two drinks per day) is healthier than drinking heavily. What is increasingly clear is that it is also healthier than not drinking at all. In fact, moderate consumers have a reduced chance of dying from heart disease of about 20 percent. The studies establishing this relationship are large (some include over 200,000 people), cross-cultural (conducted in countries around the world), and are sometimes long-term (the longest beginning in 1948 and continuing to this day). In 1997, even the World Health Organization (WHO) asserted that “the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced death from heart disease can no longer be doubted.”
Two drinks daily seems to be the maximum. I can’t stress this enough. In persons who consume three or more drinks per day, total mortality climbs rapidly with increasing numbers of drinks per day. Furthermore, the addictive potential of alcohol rises rapidly above two drinks per day. In Canada, addiction experts recommend no more than 14 standard drinks per week for men and 11 for women. Being intoxicated also carries its own risks: accidents (motor vehicle, falls) and behavioral problems (violence, criminality, domestic abuse).
How does alcohol improve health? Its main effect is on the blood vessels and heart. It has several beneficial effects:
• Improves HDL (or “good”) cholesterol
• Reduces risk of blood clots
• Relaxes small arteries, leading to improved blood flow
• Reduces artery spasm from stress
Red wine likely has even further benefits due to a high content of antioxidant polyphenols found in the skin of grapes. Even after having a heart attack, people who drink alcohol moderately (but especially red wine) have lower rates of another event. People with angina have reduced symptoms in studies where they were treated with alcohol.
There are other systems on which alcohol has benefits. There is a reduced risk of stroke in moderate drinkers, again due to the effects on arteries supplying the brain. Studies also show a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease in moderate drinkers. A 2003 study involving 6000 older adults published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed a 50 percent reduction in the development of dementia. Other major studies in the Netherlands, Italy and France have all separately confirmed this. Moderate drinkers also have lower rates of kidney stones.
For people with a history of addiction, it is best to avoid alcohol completely. It is far healthier to be abstinent than to be an alcoholic. Julie’s article is a good reminder that alcohol has a dark side. And there are circumstances where the risks of even moderate consumption are large. No pregnant woman should consume any amount of alcohol because of its effect on the developing baby. Also, no minor should drink. There are much higher risks of addiction and on the development of the brain.
However, for the majority of adults, adding a small amount of alcohol to a healthy diet may help us remain healthier and smarter for longer.
By: Jatinder Khatra
8 April 2008