There is a widespread belief that moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages is absolutely harmless, and even beneficial - for example, for digestion or for the cardiovascular system. On the eve of the New Year holidays, we decided to check whether drinking at the holiday table is worth justifying with health benefits.

Usually safe dose alcohol called use no more 40 g of pure alcohol per day for men (equivalent to two bottles of beer, 100 ml of vodka or three glasses of dry wine) and no more than 30 g for women, provided that the person completely abstains from alcohol two days a week. Proponents of moderate alcohol consumption list the following positive effects. Red wines have a powerful antioxidant effect and prevent the development cardiovascular And oncological diseases, delay age-related changes in the brain and musculoskeletal system, improve digestion and hinder deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. Cognac removes vasospasm and helps those suffering from hypotension. And champagne excites respiratory centers, thereby improving lung ventilation, and increases immunity.

The position of moderate alcohol consumption, which brings only health benefits, has long been dominant in the scientific community. Back in 2014 Media with reference to the WHO, they argued that there is a certain safe dose, limiting which you can not fear for your health. Russian Ministry of Health back in 2019 published Calculations based on harmless amounts of alcohol. However, even then there was no unanimity in the ministry - against the existence of a safe dose spoke out Gennady Onishchenko and the chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health for therapy and general practice Oksana Drapkina.

Champagner, Поджаривание, Канун Нового Года, Напиток

In 2018, scientists let down results of a 16-year systematic analysis. The sample included residents of 195 countries and territories aged 15 to 95 years, a total of 592 prospective and retrospective studies of alcohol risk and 694 sources of data on individual and population alcohol consumption were analyzed. The researchers did not limit themselves solely to the diseases themselves that can be caused by alcohol consumption. The analysis included injuries associated with abuse, including road traffic accidents, as well as various infectious diseases, the risk of transmission of which may increase with alcohol consumption.

Scientists have found limited evidence that moderate consumption may prevent coronary heart disease up to a point. However, at the same time, data analysis clearly showed that any, even the most modest dose increased the risk of cancer. The scientists’ conclusion is clear: the only level of alcohol consumption that is safe for health is zero. Researchers even derived a curve of the relationship between alcohol doses and the increasing risk of various diseases (diseases such as breast, liver, intestinal cancer, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, and various cardiovascular diseases were considered). Just one dose of alcohol per day increased the risk of their occurrence by an average of 0.5%, and two - by as much as 7%.

Max Griswold, one of the study's co-authors, commented this is true: “The relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer, associated injuries, and increased exposure to infectious diseases offset the protective effects of alcohol against heart disease.”

Research data were taken into account in the WHO fact sheet “Alcohol and cancer in the WHO European Region. A Call for More Active Prevention,” published in 2020. In it it says, that “in the case of cancer, there is no safe dose of alcohol, regardless of the type of drink, its quality or price.” Nino Berzuli, Director of Country Programs at the WHO European Office reportsthat “alcohol consumption, even in small doses, can cause the development of cancer. Drinking all types of alcoholic beverages has been linked to cancer, with ethanol being the main carcinogen they contain.” WHO has radically revised its position regarding the safe dose of alcohol. Now officially safe counts exclusively zero consumption. Regarding the relative benefits of alcohol for the prevention of coronary heart disease, Dr. Lars Müller, head of the European Alcohol and Illicit Drugs Programme, believesthat “physical activity and a healthy diet will benefit older adults far more than drinking alcohol.”

Thus, unfortunately, there is no safe amount of alcohol that one could drink on New Year's Eve. Any portion of ethanol will negatively affect health and increase the risk of cancer and other diseases by some fraction of a percent.