Drinking alcohol is like taking a drug.
It is a form of drug abuse, and drug addiction. This is a worldwide problem
that many people are involved in. There are good effects of alcohol if it is in
small amounts, and in moderation. On the other hand there are bad short and
long term effects. The effects that a person will get are all based on certain
factors like, how much and how often alcohol is consumed, the age of the
person, when the person started and how long they have been drinking for, gender, their family history and last
but not least based on their health.
Having a pint of beer daily can reduce the risk of heart diseases
Lately scientists have been saying that
a little bit of alcohol with dinner is not only okay but it is also good for
you. This is true in moderation. They
say that if you drink a small amount of alcohol it will help you sleep. Also if
you drink a moderate amount every day it can help your health in the long run.
A moderate amount is considered to be 1 drink for women daily and 2 drinks for
men daily. This can help bring your HDL level up, which helps protect your
heart against disease that causes heart attacks. Also a moderate amount of
alcohol everyday can lower your risk of developing diabetes by increasing your
insulin sensitivity. It can also raise ‘good cholesterol’ levels. In the long
run they have said that for women it helps keep the mind sharp in later years.
Now when they talk about having a helpful amount of alcohol they mean small
doses of it a day with a meal, so that the absorption rate is slowed down. Now
this doesn’t mean that a person should start drinking for the benefits that it
gives, it just means that if you drink in moderation already it could be
slightly helpful to you in the future.
If you take advantage of that and drink
in excess there are effects that you should be aware of. Contrary to some
beliefs, alcohol is a depressant. This is the opposite of a stimulator, meaning
that it calms you down, and slows down some organs in your body. Alcohol
therefore has short term effects on your body. Some other short term effects include
blackouts, where you can’t remember what happened, and insomnia, where you
can’t fall asleep. While you are drinking you will be less alert, less aware of
your surroundings, have difficulty walking,
have blurred vision, and have slow reaction times. This can lead to accidents,
injuries, and death. If you are not careful with the amount of alcohol that
you drink you can get some bad side-effects.
Over-consuming alcoholic drinks may lead to serious health problems
Once you start to become addicted to
alcohol you are considered an alcoholic. There are many long term effects that
come along with drinking lots of alcohol for a prolonged amount of time.
Drinking alcohol like this will damage your organs, like the brain, liver,
stomach, intestines, and heart. The brain is affected, because brain cells die
which leads to memory loss, confusion, learning difficulties, problems with
attention, and brain disorders. From prolonged drinking you can have a stroke, or have heart failure. Impaired vision can also be a result of
this type of drinking.
Alcohol also affects your health. One reason for this is
because alcohol is high in calories which can lead to obesity. Another reason
is that poor nutrition normally comes side by side with lots of drinking. This
could be because the alcohol interferes with the absorption and storage of the
vitamins you get. Some other less serious effects of prolonged
drinking are vomiting, profuse sweating, hallucinations, tremors, and sleep
disturbances. All of these problems can quickly lead to injury to oneself or to
others, violence, and death. Also it leads to a loss of employment, and a loss
of family life. If you are addicted to alcohol or drink a lot of alcohol for a
long period of time you will shorten your life span by about 12 years, and get
a lot of serious side-effects.
In conclusion alcohol can affect your
life in a good or bad way depending on how you drink, how often you drink, and
how much you drink. It is better to drink in moderation, and responsibly. This
normally means drinking only 1 to 2 glasses a day with a meal, and to also have
a healthy diet that goes along with that. Otherwise the health benefits of
drinking alcohol are gone, and replaced with some horrible side-effects.
Everyone can make their own decision on what drinking in moderation is and what
drinking responsibly means, but everyone should be informed with the facts.
