2024-01-11 07:15:00
Question from Jacques
Is it really good to drink a glass of wine a day?
Dear Jacques,
While the Dry january, the “alcohol-free January” challenge is in full swing, you’re wondering if it’s really good to drink a glass of wine a day. Good question! You have just put your finger on one of the most common misconceptions when it comes to alcohol consumption.
Because the World Health Organization (WHO) is clear:
“No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health”
A year ago, the WHO published work on this subject in the very renowned scientific journal The Lancet Public Health.
In essence, they demonstrate that, although the risks increase as the quantities drunk increase, they nevertheless exist from the first drop ingested.
“The latest available data indicate that half of alcohol-attributable cancers in the WHO European region are caused by minimal or moderate alcohol consumption (less than 1.5 l of wine or less than 3.5 l of beer or less than 450 ml of spirits per week)”, even indicates the WHO.
“This type of consumption is responsible for the majority of breast cancers attributable to alcohol in women, and it is in the countries of the European Union (EU) that we observe the highest burden of this disease “further specifies the international organization in an edifying online note.
Quality, degrees… Are all alcohols equal?
It is clear that no type of alcohol is free from dangers, even in small doses.
“Ethanol (alcohol) causes cancer through physiological mechanisms when it breaks down in the body. This means that any drink containing alcohol, regardless of price and quality, poses a cancer risk”enlightens the WHO.
Added to this is a cohort of other pathologies, cardiovascular, mental, etc.
But then, how is it that this story of a little glass “which heals” is so widespread in France? Well, that was decades ago.
Since the 1970s, researchers have been interested in the fact that cardiovascular diseases were less present in France, the wine country par excellence, than in other European countries.
In 1992, Serge Renaud, doctor (and son of a winemaker) and Michel de Lorgeril, cardiologist, supported this observation, once more, in the journal The Lancet. They even called it the “French paradox”.
So, “a daily consumption of 20 to 30 grams of ethanol (i.e. two to three standard glasses) might reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 40%. The explanation then given by the two authors was a drop in the reactivity of platelets, a decrease in their aggregation”traces Philippe Arvers, addictologist at the University of Grenoble, in an online scientific publication on The Conversation.
But there is one but… Because since then, if other studies have shown that there is a protective effect of minimal consumption on the coronary arteries which serve the heart, “this one is only very weak and does not concern everyone”according to Philippe Arvers.
A finding corroborated very clearly by the World Health Organization: “The potential protective effects of alcohol consumption, suggested by some studies, are closely linked to the control groups chosen and the statistical methods used, and may not take into account other relevant factors”according to Dr Jürgen Rehm, member of the Advisory Board of the WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“Even when consumed in small quantities, the health risks of wine far outweigh the protective effects. As with any type of alcohol, drinking a glass of wine every day increases the risk of developing certain cancers ( mouth, throat, colon, rectum, esophagus and breast)”can also be read on the Alcool info service website.
Wishing you a happy new year, and above all… health!
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#good #drink #glass #wine #day