Is Drinking Alcohol Bad for my Health?

Alcoholic beverages are amongst the worlds most indulgent recreations, but they're also the cause of many personal and social ills, and can also help cause depression. When taken in moderation, alcohol can be fine amongst physically grown adults who understand how to practice drinking with restraint. When alcoholic consumption goes unrestrained, however, it becomes dangerous to both the drinkers and their surroundings near and far.

Common Health Risks of Alcohol

Health-wise, the effects of alcoholic consumption can run the gamut. Sipping one or two glasses of red wine on a semi-regular basis can be good for the heart, because it stimulates the high-density lipoprotein levels in your body. Drinking yourself into drunkenness, on the other hand, can expose you to serious health risks if the habit continues for an extended period of time. When you drink too heavily, your liver and kidneys must struggle to clear the alcohol from your system.

Prolonged abuse of alcohol can weaken your vital organs and make them more vulnerable to cancerous growths and failures. Cancer is one of the greatest dangers to humans of ill-health, because it's incurable and often times untreatable and even deadly. Your risk of cancer could be exacerbated through an over-consumption of alcoholic beverages. When people drink and smoke heavily, they increase their risks of digestive-tract cancers in areas like the mouth, larynx and throat.

The effects of alcohol are generally harder on women than men. Due to their smaller proportions, lower weight and extra bodily fat, women have a lower tolerance for alcoholic beverages. Pregnant women are especially advised to hold off on drinking, because alcohol will enter the brain of a fetus and potentially cause health problems for the child. Alcohol takes at least two hours to clear the breast milk of a new mother, so women should never drink during hours of the day when they breastfeed their babies.

Avoiding Risky Ways of Drinking

If you're a casual or social drinker, you can avoid the ill-health effects of alcohol by drinking in moderation. Some people consider themselves moderate drinkers because they only get drunk on weekends. The key to moderate drinking, however, is to keep your intake down to levels that would never get you drunk in the first place.

It's relatively easy to keep your drinking at moderate levels, but for some it might take practice. To lower your alcoholic consumption, opt for small glasses instead of tall ones. When you have your small glass, sip the drink slowly to make it last even longer than a tall glass. As you sip the alcohol, savor the taste in your mouth and experience the flavor. People can slow down and lower their overall consumption of just about any food or drink when they learn to take small, savory mouthfuls.

In order to lessen the impact of alcohol in your body, be sure to alternate your drinks with non-alcoholic beverages. If you follow each drink with a glass of water, you'll quench your thirst and dilute the alcohol as it works through your system. To further cushion your body from the impact of alcoholic consumption, you should also eat a full meal or at least snack on something while drinking your wine. Food can absorb that alcohol in your stomach and cause it to flow through your system slower.

The health benefits of alcohol are minor, but the risks of over-consumption are major. In any case, you should never increase your consumption due to health reasons. You don't have to stop drinking for good health either, you just need to keep your consumption down to moderate levels.

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