Alcoholic beverages are fine in small amounts. Any healthcare worker will confirm this. The restriction is related to the negative effect of ethanol on organ systems. Many people understand the seriousness of the problem and are aware of the severity of the consequences of alcohol abuse, so they are interested in how much is considered acceptable or, on the contrary, harmless.
Benefits of alcohol
There is an opinion that alcohol in reasonable doses has a beneficial effect on health, so its consumption is not prohibited. Most often, the beneficial effect on the circulatory system is mentioned. So, ethyl alcohol - the main ingredient in alcoholic beverages - helps dissolve cholesterol plaques that form on the inner walls of blood vessels. Their presence indicates a disease such as atherosclerosis. The disease often develops due to a violation of the diet and the use of large amounts of animal fats, which tend to turn into "bad" cholesterol or low-density triglycerides. These compounds clog the lumen of the arteries, disrupting the free flow of blood.
Another valuable quality of alcoholic beverages is their ability to quickly relax and relieve stress. Even a small dose of strong drink will cheer you up and improve your emotional state. This is due to an increase in the concentration of hormones of happiness and joy.
Of course, all valuable properties are manifested during the consumption of high-quality alcohol, so the choice of alcohol should be carefully considered. The type of product also plays a role. So the maximum advantage is dry wine or cognac. These powerful drinks contain bioflavonoids, vitamins and antioxidants.
It turns out that alcohol can actually be beneficial if used wisely. There are many nuances to help make alcohol consumption safe.
Can you drink it without harming your health?
Doctors are convinced that it is impossible to exclude the negative effect of alcohol on the body, but it is realistic to minimize the negative effect. There are many ways, but the best effect is observed with their complex use.
- Dose reduction. If a person consumes a lot of alcohol at the same time, it is impossible to avoid the deterioration of the health condition. The safest solution is to drink in moderation.
- Rare use. People who drink every day or even twice a week suffer from chronic diseases due to alcohol abuse. Therefore, it is better to consume as little strong drinks as possible.
- Just having a drink. The combination of alcohol consumption is harmful to the nervous system. In addition, a severe hangover cannot be avoided in this case. It is worth choosing a specific drink for yourself and not getting carried away by mixing different drinks.
- Choosing the right food. You can't drink alcohol or snack, even if we're talking about light beer. Foods rich in proteins and fats protect the body from too fast absorption of ethanol in the blood, and also create a barrier that protects the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract from alcohol, which is an aggressive substance.
By following these simple rules, the negative effects of alcohol on the body will be minimized, which will certainly have a positive effect on health.
What influences the determination of a safe dose
As such, there is no absolute safe dose of alcohol. Alcohol is harmful to health even in minimal quantities, so if you can refuse strong drinks, it is better to use them.
In general, celebrations and feasts rarely go without alcohol, so everyone drinks. To protect yourself from irreparable consequences, you need to carefully monitor the amount of alcohol you have already consumed and your feelings.
There are no universal numbers that show how much you can drink without harming your body. Particular attention should be paid to the parameters that influence this:
- gender. Women get drunk faster than men, so the dose should be reduced.
- The weight. The lower the body weight, the faster the state of intoxication comes.
- metabolic rate. It is important that the alcohol is processed by the body and removed from it as quickly as possible. If the metabolic processes take place intensively, then there will be no problem with neutralizing alcohol. It is an innate quality that cannot be changed.
- Liver condition. This gland takes the main burden of removing all incoming toxins from the body, including alcohol and waste products. If the liver tissue is already damaged, the alcohol neutralization processes proceed slowly. And if so, then one should reduce the amount of alcohol consumed.
- Food. A little more alcohol can be afforded by those who consume protein-rich foods in parallel with alcohol consumption. This is: fish, meat or poultry. Fats such as vegetable oils are also helpful.
- Additional training. There are many ways to prepare for an event. Some work so effectively that they allow you to drink a little more power. So, two hours before the holiday, it is recommended to take a sorbent and a preparation with a high organic acid content.
Based on these parameters, it can be determined that the safe dose of alcohol will differ from person to person. Experts only give average data, which you have to adjust yourself.
safe dose of alcohol
A harmless dose of alcohol is the amount that the body processes quickly and without consequences. To determine this, you must first calculate the toxicity threshold, that is, the volume of pure ethanol that the liver can successfully cope with.
That's 90 grams if we're talking about a 70 kg man. A representative of the stronger sex, weighing about 100 kg, can drink a little more than ½ cup of a strong alcoholic drink - vodka or cognac.
It is noteworthy that the threshold of toxicity for the brain is much lower and amounts to 19 grams of pure ethanol, which is about 60 ml of vodka. Neurons and the connections between them are sensitive structures that begin to collapse under the influence of negative factors, including ethyl alcohol. When calculating the safe dose, the threshold of brain toxicity must be taken into account.
How much can you drink to avoid a hangover?
Most often people ask this question. Citizens are more interested in how they feel the next day, not the destruction of the body, which is imperceptible in the early stages.
Doctors give average data according to which a person can consume no more than 1. 5 ml of pure ethyl alcohol per kilogram of body weight. This figure applies to men, for women it is recommended to reduce the amount slightly.
So, in order not to suffer a hangover, a man weighing 70 kg should stop when he has already drunk 262 ml of vodka. It is assumed that this drink was consumed for a short time and entered the body almost in one dose. If we drink this amount gradually during the evening, the liver, which is already working, will manage to neutralize some of the toxins. In this case, the amount of alcohol can be increased by about a third. These are just digital parameters that are universal for all people.
In reality, even a small amount of alcohol can cause acute poisoning and a severe hangover. For this reason, you should focus primarily on personal feelings.
So, with the appearance of severe dizziness, migraine, darkening of the eyes, heart rhythm disorders, you should immediately stop drinking alcohol. These are typical signs of excessive volume intake. Take better measures to cleanse the body of alcohol.
The following are considered effective:
- Gastric lavage;
- intake of enterosorbents;
- taking dietary supplements containing organic acids;
- copious drink;
- moderate physical activity;
- walk in the fresh air;
- dream.
According to doctors, a hangover occurs when a reasonable amount of alcohol is consumed. It most often occurs after drinking beer, champagne, cocktails, and wine. Strong drinks consumed according to all the rules rarely cause a deterioration in well-being.
A hangover occurs after drinking carbonated drinks, as the bubbles cause immediate poisoning due to irritation of the mucous membrane and rapid absorption into the blood. Cocktails are dangerous because they mix several alcoholic products during production, and wines often contain fusel oils, which become the main cause of headaches.
The maximum dose of alcohol
Doctors take into account not only the dose harmful to health, but also the maximum amount, drinking more than this is not recommended. This is the amount that the body cannot handle in one day. Full recovery usually takes more than a week.
Doctors consider the maximum daily amount to be 170 grams of pure alcohol. This is 538 ml of vodka - one bottle. When using such a dose, there will be no serious negative consequences if a person refuses alcohol for another 8-9 days, but it is better to increase this interval by a month so that the organs can rest and the tissues can regenerate.
The use of the maximum dose of alcohol leads to a severe hangover, which is accompanied by symptoms such as:
- headache;
- nausea and vomiting;
- diarrhea;
- bloating;
- heartburn;
- thirst;
- bad breath;
- edema;
- hand tremors;
- chills;
- weakness.
These are external manifestations that become apparent the very next morning when ethyl alcohol is processed into toxic acetaldehyde. In fact, there is a deeper damage to the body.
Consequences of taking extreme doses
Alcohol has harmful effects on all structures, including the heart, brain, liver and pancreas. With the systematic use of even reasonable amounts, cells are destroyed, due to which organs cease to function normally. As a result, chronic diseases develop, which are sometimes troublesome throughout life.
An even greater danger of alcohol consumption is the development of addiction. At the beginning, a person experiences psychological cravings, it seems to him that he can no longer relax and easily communicate with others without alcohol. Such patients do not recognize the addiction itself and believe that they can give up alcohol at any time.
When they try to quit, addicts realize they have a problem. Without ethyl alcohol, the hormonal balance is disturbed, to which the body reacts with an abstinence syndrome reminiscent of a severe hangover. This is a sign of the transition to the physical stage of addiction. The alcoholic himself needs medical and psychological help. You will not be able to break the addiction on your own.
Furthermore, in the absence of therapeutic measures, addiction passes into the third, final stage, which is called encephalopathy. At this stage, the global destruction of brain cells takes place, which leads to irreversible changes in the human psyche. As a person, the alcoholic quickly deteriorates, loses his memory and can no longer boast of his intellectual abilities.
The risk of addiction makes it possible to equate alcohol with drugs. This means that alcohol consumption should be handled with care. Rare feasts made with high-quality alcohol do not cause significant harm and give the body a chance to heal. If you drink alcohol frequently and in large quantities, health problems cannot be avoided.