Alcohol is bad for you in any quantity, new study says. How are we to know what health advice to believe any more?
- New research in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests all alcohol, including red wine, is harmful when consumed in any amount
- Previously we were told that a glass of red wine a day actually helped reduce cardiovascular risks and coronary diseases. Who should we believe?
It is impossible to know what’s healthy and unhealthy any more. Foods are so often vilified and then redeemed, suddenly going from zero to hero and back again.
Eggs, milk, butter and pork all used to be deemed ingredients too high in fat or excessive cholesterol and we were told we should limit our intake. But some nutritional guidelines are OK with them. Also, it seems that consuming fats can actually help us absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K.
However, that glass of red wine you are having with your butter-fried pork schnitzel? Maybe you should put a hold on it. New research in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests all alcohol, including red wine, is harmful when consumed in any amount.
I remember before the ’90s, health authorities launched campaigns against the overconsumption of booze. Studies were published purporting a steady rise in deaths from drink-driving, excessive drinking, cirrhosis, and cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and liver. People who downed more than one alcoholic drink a day were deemed to have a greater chance of dying from injuries, suicide, poisoning and haemorrhagic stroke.
Then, around the turn of the millennium, researchers zeroed in on the topic and re-concluded that a single glass of red wine a day wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – and that actually it seemed to help reduce cardiovascular risks and coronary diseases. Red wines, which include the grape skins as part of the winemaking process, apparently possessed health-enhancing antioxidants.
“Let’s drink up!” we all happily cheered.
Unfortunately, the party poopers are back again.
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The new study’s researchers, from the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, propose that even vino is not as healthy as we think.
Although they admit that moderate alcohol drinkers are healthier than heavy drinkers, in the grand scheme of things, they are not better than non-drinkers.
Four specific points are noted in their conclusion:
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Even moderate alcohol consumption leads to poorer, not better, cardiovascular health
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All booze – even red wine – leads to increased cancer risk
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Alcohol worsens sleep quality
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You would have to drink gallons of wine every day to gain any meaningful benefit from its antioxidants
To the last point, I know folks who would say, “Challenge accepted!”
As the goalposts for good eating and dieting move again, it is frustrating to definitively sort out what we should put in our body.
How can you tell what’s authoritative and what’s unproven conspiracy science? Can you blame people for becoming cynical, giving up and deciding a Paleo diet of a rare steak every night is the way forward?
Sooner or later, I can imagine a public backlash against these conflicting health edicts. Libertine eaters might consider these guides as oppressive and overreaching woke diets. Why do we have to cancel our Bordeaux when Birkenstock-wearing “granolas” are allowed to be intolerant to gluten!
To end my red whine, I prefer to reframe this particular argument: if it requires large amounts of red wine drinking to achieve any antioxidant benefit, does it not stand to reason that you would also have to consume multiple barrels of Barolo for any real harm to occur?
