SEPT 4- Here’s a sobering thought – a study published in The Lancet says that alcohol is more harmful than heroin and three times more harmful than cocaine or tobacco combined especially when considering its overall dangers to the individual and society at large.
Co-authored by Professor David Nutt, a former government chief drugs adviser in the UK, the report says this is so because alcohol is so widely used and that people who crave it are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get their hands on it.
To those of us who practice moderation, the harm alcohol wreaks on our system is most likely minimal. But for the many who go on drinking binges regularly, alcohol can turn potentially deadly and yes, be even more harmful than hardcore drugs.
Brain
When alcohol saturates your brain, your judgement, inhibitions and self-control slip followed by slurring, impaired hearing and blurring of sight.
This is because the first spot alcohol interferes with is the brain’s cerebral cortex, where thought-processes and consciousness are centred. If you continue drinking, the cerebellum that controls your movements and balance goes bust.
Now you’re swooning and hanging on to chairs and walls for balance. At this point, you know your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is sky high.
A scarier thought is that many drinkers in this condition then stumble their way into the driver’s seat for the journey home.
In 2010, Malaysian police arrested some 536 drivers for driving while intoxicated, the bulk of which (not surprisingly) were from Kuala Lumpur.
If you are going to drink, down a glass of water with every alcoholic drink you have. Or dilute your drink with ice or soda. And NEVER drive home yourself.
Liver
90% of the alcohol you consume is broken down in your liver by a naturally occurring enzyme called acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH).
Those deficient in ALDH tend to experience extreme flushing and suffer from really bad hangovers.
If you drink excessively on a regular basis, your liver will suffer from oxidative stress, which is damage to its cells as it works overtime to break down alcohol.
This kind of continued damage can lead to inflammation and scarring. You only have one liver – better treat it right.
Stomach
Even a little alcohol has the ability to make your stomach produce more acid than it actually needs. The presence of this acid sitting around in your gut causes gastritis.
If you drink more than your body can handle, get ready for tummy pains, vomiting, diarrhoea and if you persist, bleeding.
Not surprisingly, excessive alcohol consumption over the long term can increase your chances of cancer of the stomach, pancreas and colon.
If you suffer from acid reflux, drinking alcohol only increases the incidence of that stinging acid shooting up your oesophagus.
Weight
One of the quickest ways of putting on weight is going on a liquid diet of booze.
A glass of wine has the same number of calories as a slice of cake. A pint of beer?
The same as a slice of pizza! And think drinking wine is an exception? Think again. The average wine drinker consumes 2,000 extra calories every month.
Calories from alcohol are generally considered empty calories as it carries no nutritional value and has the potential to do more harm than good to your internal organs.
Alcohol also stimulates the production of oestrogen in your bloodstream, which in turn promotes fat storage around your waistline and stomach. It also decreases muscle growth.
Want to banish the belly? Ditch the booze.
Skin
Alcohol ages you.
Drinking alcohol dehydrates your skin, your body’s largest organ.
It also deprives your skin of the vital hydration, vitamins and nutrients it needs to regenerate cells.
For instance, alcohol destroys Vitamin A that is needed for healthy skin and cell turnover as well as Vitamin B6, which assist the body in storing and using energy. Vitamin C, a potent antioxidant, is also killed off.
If you drink like there’s no tomorrow, you will experience an increase in fine lines and wrinkles, hair and nails that become weak and dry as well as thinning lips.
With the thinning ozone layer, UV rays that destroy our cellular health and the toll daily stress has on our skin, do we really need alcohol to do its part in the process of ageing too.
So the next time you bring that alcoholic drink to your lips, consider this – you’re no better than a drug addict or chain smoker.
