Uncle peter’s biggest hobby is to have a drink. He has been drinking it for more than 40 years and has become a daily habit. However, as he gets older, minor illnesses continue to occur. Compared with his peers, he does seem less energetic.
He always thought “the small wine was pleasant, and he didn’t drink much himself, it should be fine?” Who knows, as soon as the medical report came out last week, a tumor was detected in the stomach.
Many people think that heavy drinking is harmful to the body. In fact, the damage caused by drinking may be silently superimposed.
1. Who will live longer if you drink moderately or without drinking?
• Excessive alcohol consumption with solid evidence of harm to health
In recent years, “The Lancet”, the World Heart Alliance’s “The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Health: Misunderstandings and Measures” briefing paper, and several well-known publications have issued unanimous conclusions on the dangers of alcohol and health, clarifying the health risks of drinking, The World Health Organization also lists alcohol as a substance identified as carcinogenic.
“What is even more worrying is that drinking alcohol may also make people live shorter lives. A study from the research team of the Central Theater General Hospital published in the authoritative journal “BMC Public Health” analyzed the daily drinking volume of 11,558 participants. and the relationship between α-Klotho (longevity factor) in serum, it was found that the more you drink, the lower the α-Klotho level.
Some may wonder why the more you drink, the shorter your life? In fact, from the moment alcohol is ingested, the human body faces a general health crisis.
First of all, alcohol will produce a kind of name in the human body Acetaldehyde Of “carcinogens, it will” Affect DNA, trigger genetic mutation , increases the risk of cell canceration, and the oxidative stress and inflammatory response caused by heavy drinking are also losing various cells and tissues in the human body.
Secondarily Alcohol also inhibits metabolic rate , reduce the body’s absorption of nutrients. As the main metabolic organ of alcohol, the liver also has an upper limit of alcohol metabolism. Once the critical value is exceeded, it may cause premature liver failure, necrosis, cirrhosis and even liver cancer.
Long-term alcohol consumption can also affect uric acid levels , increasing the metabolic burden of renal function may cause various serious kidney diseases. In addition, alcohol can also damage blood vessels and even cause various cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerosis. A scholar at Oxford University has found that long-term drinking may Causes certain irritation to blood vessels and accelerates the risk of cerebral atherosclerosis. Once the blood and oxygen supply to the brain is insufficient, various degenerative lesions will appear and they will continue to age and shrink.
• A small drink may be more harmful
Some people may think this is alarmist, and think that some people often drink alcohol and live a long life, not to mention that they just have a drink, so it is okay to drink appropriately. But is there really a safe amount of alcohol?
In 2003, in order to prove the health benefits of moderate drinking, Croatian Kavas, a neuroscientist from the University of California, surveyed 1,700 elderly people and compared the effects of moderate drinking and exercise on longevity. He found that people who drank moderate drinking had an 18% lower risk of premature death. %, which is 7% higher than those who exercise daily. It is believed that moderate drinking is more conducive to extending life However, then some scholars pointed out that this experimental conclusion is not referential and cannot explain this phenomenon in the scientific dimension.
The authoritative journal “The Lancet” has also published relevant research and concluded that consuming 20-60 grams of alcohol per day is a high-risk drinking behavior. You must know that the alcohol content of 2 taels of liquor is 32 grams, which means that 2 taels of liquor is already dangerous. Drinking, some people may say that if you drink less, is it safe?
However, further studies showed that even if the alcohol intake was less than 20 grams per day, there was still a 13.9% cancer risk. Even if the alcohol intake is less than 10 grams, there are still at least 41,300 new cancer-related cases.
At the beginning of 2022, the World Heart Alliance directly broke the health illusion of moderate drinking in the briefing “The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Health: Misunderstandings and Measures”, believing that any amount of alcohol consumed will damage health, and no matter how little you drink, you will still The risk of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy is higher than that of people who do not drink alcohol.
In 2023, the authoritative journal “The Lancet-Public Health” also published a drinking survey covering 500,000 people in my country. The results found that as long as you drink alcohol, no matter how much, the risk of death will increase linearly, that is to say No safe amount of alcohol.
2. What will happen if people who like to drink do not drink for a long time?
There are more than 32 million deaths worldwide every year, of which 2.8 million are caused by drinking. Our country is also the country with the largest number of deaths caused by drinking. Nearly 700,000 people die from drinking every year (650,000 are men)!
So far, many elderly people like to drink a few drinks a day, and long-term drinking can cause health damage that can be said to be systemic. So if a long-term drinking person no longer drinks, what changes will it bring after a period of time? 4 changes that are so gratifying:
1. The liver becomes healthy
The liver is the main place for processing alcohol. People who drink alcohol for a long time have actually been carrying weight on their livers, and with it come various fatty livers and cirrhosis. . ., and stopping drinking is equivalent to giving the liver a chance to breathe. As it repairs itself for a long time, the liver will slowly become healthy, research has found After 2-3 months of abstinence from alcohol, the intrahepatic fat content will decrease, and liver function indicators will slowly return to normal levels .
2. Blood vessels are 10 years younger
Drinking alcohol for a long time can easily irritate blood vessels, causing them to become less elastic. As blood oil increases and blood pressure fluctuates abnormally, blood vessels can easily become clogged. However, after quitting drinking, alcohol stimulation can be reduced, frequent contraction of blood vessels can be avoided, blood pressure indicators can be lowered, and blood vessel endothelium can also be reduced. Self-repair restores healthy elasticity. If you drink oil without the increased calories of alcohol, your blood can also go into battle lightly and return to normal circulation speed.
3. Improve the digestive system
Long-term drinking can also damage the gastric mucosa and trigger various risks of gastrointestinal diseases. After quitting alcohol, it reduces the stimulation of the gastric mucosa by alcohol. The pancreas does not need to over-secret digestive enzymes. Food can resume normal digestion and absorption, which is beneficial to reducing various gastrointestinal diseases. Discomfort reaction and improve digestive system health.
4. Enhanced immunity
Long-term alcohol consumption in the elderly also weakens autoimmune function, leading to a decrease in immunity, and therefore makes them more susceptible to illness, while the immune system is repaired after abstinence, and as immune cells no longer function interfered, the body’s resistance slowly increases, and it is less common than previous cases of disease infestation.
3. After drinking, what can you eat to sober up quickly?
After drinking a lot of alcohol, many people are used to taking some sobering medicine to relieve discomfort. In fact, many foods can also assist sobering up, especially the following three foods. Eating more after drinking can reduce discomfort after drinking.
1. Grapes
The tartaric acid contained in grapes can react with ethanol in wine to produce ester substances, which can reduce the body’s alcohol concentration, and the sweet and sour taste can also relieve nausea after drinking.
2. Honey water
The fructose contained in honey water can help alcohol break down, reduce the body’s alcohol concentration, and relieve headaches and discomfort after drinking.
3. Tomato juice
The fructose contained in tomatoes can also help alcohol break down, and you can have a cup of tomato juice after drinking to relieve discomfort such as headache and low appetite after drinking.
Although these foods can help relieve the symptoms of drinking, the health harm caused by alcohol still exists, so if you can drink less on a daily basis, try not to drink alcohol, health is the first priority in life.
Disclaimer: All photos used in this blog are generated by artificial intelligence (AI). These images are original creations produced by AI technology and do not depict real people, places, or events. They are provided for illustrative purposes only and cannot be claimed or used as real photographs.
Dr. Ashish Singh is not just a consultant orthopaedic surgeon but a visionary leader in the field. Serving as the Medical Director at Anup Institute of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation in Patna, Bihar, he holds an illustrious academic background with MBBS, MS Ortho, MCh.Orth. (UK), PG Diploma CAOS (UK), and SICOT Diploma Orth. (Sweden).
