Is drinking alcohol a guilty pleasure?
Everywhere there are ominous headlines about the dangers of moderate alcohol consumption. These negative reports exist alongside targeted ads featuring women relaxing with a glass of wine. These mixed messages have created an atmosphere of confusion. Is drinking alcohol hazardous or beneficial for women’s health? My objective inquires about patterns of alcohol consumption can trigger highly emotional and defensive reactions.. Some accuse me of using erroneous research to spread negative messages and limit women’s rights. How can a couple glasses of alcohol be hazardous to a women’s health?
Are women more affected by drinking alcohol than men?
The impact of alcohol consumption is not equally experienced by the sexes. Women may drink less than their male counterparts and still suffer a greater negative effect on their bodies. Why? There are gender-based differences in the metabolism of alcohol. When women drink, there is less total body water for dilution and less enzyme production for alcohol breakdown by the liver. Consequently, available alcohol levels are higher than their male counterparts. Some studies note that women experience a slower activity of alcohol metabolizing enzymes, which allows a larger percentage of alcohol to enter the blood stream. These factors can increase both the toxic effects of alcohol in the liver and facilitate higher body alcohol levels. The physiology of how the body works in non negotiable.
How does this translate for a women’s alcohol intake?
The Dietary Guidelines for America recommend that alcoholic beverages be consumed sensibly and in moderation. These guidelines suggest that moderate alcohol consumption is one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Heavy or high risk drinking alcohol is consumption of more than three drinks on any day or more than seven drinks per week for women. For men, heavy or high risk drinking is more than four drinks on any day and more than fourteen drinks per week. Binge drinking is consumption, within two hours, of four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men. The standard definition of one drink is 12 fluid ounces of regular beer, 5 fluid ounces of wine, or 1.5 fluid ounces of 80 proof distilled spirits.
What are the health risks?
The finding in Women’s Health research with drinking alcohol and its hidden unwanted effects are well known among health experts. Most women are unaware of the following identified associations with alcohol exposure.
- National Cancer Institute cites breast cancer with more than 100 epidemiological studies that reviewed the association of alcohol consumption and women. “These studies have increasing found an increased risk of breast cancer associated with increasing alcohol risk. They refer to a meta-analysis with 58,000 cases of breast cancer showed that women who drank 45 grams of alcohol daily (approximately three drinks) had 1.5 increased chance of developing breast cancer.” Half a bottle of wine could be considered approximately three drinks. The possibilities of other cancers also increased with high alcohol consumption such as liver, head and neck, and esophageal cancers.
- Alcohol consumption can negatively impact the use of many common medication used for indigestion, high cholesterol and arthritis. Click here
- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse ” both human and animal studies clearly indicate that chronic heavy drinking, particularly during adolescence and the young adult years, can dramatically compromise bone quality and may increase osteoporosis risk.” Further, research suggests that the effects of heavy alcohol use on bone cannot be reversed, even if alcohol consumption is terminated.
- Brain cell communicate through chemicals called neurotransmitters. Alcohol can change their functional activity. These chemical changes can cause neuronal imbalances that increase the risk of depression. Alcohol is a depressant. Studies show that women’s brain are more vulnerable to clinical depression, and this risk increases with alcohol exposure.
So what can you do right now?
First, be honest with yourself. What is your pattern of drinking? Please don’t justify it! Simple question, honest answer. How much do you drink in a week? What is your pattern of drinking alcohol? The answer could be a few drinks with unpredictable intervals of out of control drinking. Don’t explain the amount. Be honest, just look at your number, associated behaviors and compare it to the above guidelines. If you are in the problem group identified above, get help! If ambivalent about drinking too much, can you abstain from alcohol for a prolonged period? If you consider your drinking a problem, go to an AA meeting. Check it out! Do the stories sound familiar? Many treatment facilities have intakes, so get an appointment to let the experts decide if you have a problem. Bottom line, there is always a reason to drink but is it truly the only way to manage your stress?