Drinking and your health

Resolved to cut out or cut down on alcohol during the festive season? Find out how long it takes your liver to revive and why women can't drink as much as men. Plus find out the benefits of drinking in moderation.

Most of us have had too much to drink at some time or another. We wake up with a ghastly hangover, put it down to experience and say 'never again'. Sound familiar?

UK Government guidelines
The current UK Government guidelines on safe drinking define moderation as 3-4 drinks a day for men and 2-3 drinks a day for women. The message is inconsistent, though – the results of some studies reckon we can drink up to five units per day quite safely: good news for us girls who have been feeling guilty about having three glasses of wine with our dinner, not to mention the gin and tonic beforehand! However, it's best to follow the lower rather than higher recommendations.

Why women can consume less alcohol
The reason why the recommended safe level for women is lower is quite simple. Alcohol is lipophobic – it 'fears fat'. Women have less muscle and more body fat, so relatively more alcohol rushes round the bloodstream to the brain, less is 'wasted' along the way by muscle absorption and the liver and kidneys have to work harder. Women have a different average weight and tissue density from men, and the added effects of the menopause, as well as the possible risk of breast cancer.

What is a unit?
A unit is one small (125ml) glass of wine, one measure of spirits or half a pint of beer. In an ideal world you would space out consumption of your daily units over the course of 24 hours – fancy Champagne with your cornflakes anyone?

The health benefits of drinking
Bingeing is definitely bad for you, but there is a growing body of evidence to show that a moderate daily dose of alcohol is positively beneficial to health. It can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and strokes (by acting as an instant anti-coagulant, lowering 'bad' cholesterol and raising 'good' cholesterol) and increase resistance to a host of illnesses, from the common cold and food poisoning, to adult-onset diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Moderate wine drinking also leads to better mental ability in old age, acts as a buffer against stress and improves bone density in the elderly.

Red wine
Alcohol in any form is fundamental to the 'benefit to health' message, but it is red wine that's considered the thinking person's health drink because it provides so much more than just alcohol.

Grape skins contain a group of organic compounds known as flavonoids that act as an antioxidant, thought to be active in disease prevention. Because red wine is made by macerating the skins in grape juice, the flavonoids are retained. Grape juice intended for white wine-making, however, is separated from the skins immediately and there is little opportunity for the flavonoids to be leached out.

Latest research has refined the red wine theory even further. We are now being urged to take our red wine in the form of Cabernet Sauvignon – and it should be Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon at that – because this grape possesses the highest level of flavonoids. Well, I, for one, will drink to that!

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