Alcohol at festive times

                                             (Lisa Sarah John, Bangalore Times, Dec 11, 2006)

The festive mood is in the air, and lots of goodies and wine are going around. Papers and periodicals through the year give us news about research and findings in nutrition, and one thing everybody seems curious about is news about alcohol. Should we or shouldn’t we drink? Is one type of alcohol better than another? And of course, the biggest question — if you do decide to drink, how much and how often should you do so?

My first reaction would be to say it’s best not to drink at all. Neither your intelligence nor your physique improves by consuming alcohol. Also, alcohol does not have any particular nutrional benefit. It is not rich in vitamins, minerals or protein. It does however contain a lot of calories from sugar. For instance one large whisky (60 ml) contains about 150 calories, equivalent to 7-8 teaspoons of sugar. So when you drink 2-3 large drinks, it’s similar to swallowing 14-21 teaspoons of sugar.

Brandy, rum, vodka, etc, are similar, so is a glass of beer. About 100ml of wine contains 120 calories, but how many glasses of wine should you consume at a time? The argument is “Research says a little alcohol is good for health,” or “My cardiologist or physician recommended it.”

Are you drinking within limits? As I said earlier, there is no specific nutritional value but some claim that alcohol relaxes and de-stresses you. Others claim it helps to lower your blood pressure. However, it does not specifically improve your physical fitness or reduce the lipid levels in your blood, nor does it help you to burn calories or lose weight. In fact, a few drinks too many could make your triglyceride levels go up, leading to clogged arteries.

The worst danger of alcohol is that very few people stop at just one large (60ml) peg or one glass of wine. Alcohol can be addictive, and the best advice is to avoid it completely. If however one must drink, one or two large drinks of 60-120ml or one large bottle beer or 100-200ml wine at a time is safe. Anything beyond this gets converted to fat very quickly.

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