<p>With the festive season swiftly approaching the sales figures for alcoholic beverages will see a rapid increase despite being in the midst of a recession. </p>
<p>Its office party frenzy time, with most people attending several of these events amidst parties of their own. Those who have followed the headlines in the last 2 weeks will however have heard about a debate kick started by Professor Nutt: "Alcohol and cigarettes are more harmful than ecstasy and LSD says drugs tsar" (Daily Mail 29th October 2009). He argued that current regulations for alcoholic beverages are far too soft because alcohol killed about 2.4 million people in the world in 2004 (figures from WHO). </p>
<p>According to him the consumption of cannabis, ecstasy and even LSD is associated with fewer risks than the consumption of alcohol.On the other hand we frequently receive messages in the news that the consumption of red wine in particular is thought to be protective of some cancers and heart disease. So is alcohol then really all bad for us and why is this debate so heated?</p>
<p>Alcohol in numbers</p>
<p>Alcohol is the 5th leading cause of premature death and disability worldwide, it is involved in 20-30 % of liver cirrhosis cases, every year around 6000 babies in the UK are born with foetal alcohol syndrome and in 2008 there were 125 000 alcohol related instances of domestic violence. In this respect the harm alcohol causes the UK society is greater than that caused by ecstasy or LSD.</p>
<p>Effects of alcohol in the body</p>
<p>Drinking alcohol leads not only to a jolly and a more relaxed feeling but it also causes dehydration and depletes the human body of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Furthermore alcohol contains relative high amounts of calories and plays a huge part in the obesity upwards trend our society is experiencing. One gram equals 7kcal, which compares with only 4kcal per gram for carbohydrates and proteins. In addition to this, people often crave unhealthy and fatty foods when they are drunk, which would add even more to the fat building properties of alcoholic drinks. In excess, alcohol can affects effective metabolism as well as causing damage to the liver, brain and the heart and is implicated in some cancers such as cancer of the mouth, throat and upper digestive tract. All these aspects have led to current intake recommendations of 2-3 units per day for women and 3-4 units per day for man.</p>
<p>Does moderate alcohol consumption benefit health?</p>
<p>To answer this question one needs to consider the age of a person. Young people (and indeed society as a whole) will see non physiological benefits from staying away from alcohol as it can often explain the high number of alcohol-related accidents, a lot of which are fatal and violence in young drinkers. Young women specifically may increase the risk for breast cancer with regular alcohol consumption as even one drink per day may increase the risk of breast cancer by as much as 10 % and has virtually no heart health benefits in this age.</p>
<p>People above the age of 60 on the other hand appear to benefit from one or two units of alcohol per day as their risk of heart disease is reduced by these levels of alcohol consumption. Wine (red and white) and beer in particular are believed to contain health promoting substances which lead to these lower risks for heart disease in older people. Yet the amounts of these micronutrients in comparison to other foods such as fruit and vegetables and other drinks such as herbal teas and fruit juices appear to be relatively low and considering the depleting effects of alcohol mentioned before some scientist argue that these micronutrients would only have marginal effects. It appears the verdict about health benefits of beer and wine is still quite vague and until we have very definitive scientific evidence, the only wise advice is to keep your drinks within recommended levels to limit the damaging effects.</p>
<p>How to prevent bad hangovers</p>
<p>Hangovers are actually a result of the dehydration caused by alcohol, hence to prevent bad hangovers one should drink plenty of water alongside every glass of alcohol or at the very least have water before going to sleep. Fruit juices furthermore help to speed up the elimination of alcohol in the liver and as such may help to reduce the toxic effects of alcohol.</p>
<p>Alcohol units demystified</p>
<p>1 unit equals 25ml of whisky, or a third of a pint of beer or half of a glass (175ml) or red wine (ABV 12%) </p>
<p>If you would like to check out if you drink above your recommended limits check out: /tips-and-tools/drink-diary/.</p>
<p>Energy of different alcoholic drinks</p>
<p>As mentioned before the energy content of many alcoholic beverages is quite high, 3 glasses (175ml) of red wine (ABV 13%) for example mount up to about 350kcal which could be the amount of a healthy breakfast or an average size lunch. A pint of Stella Artois even adds up to 250kcal which would mean 2 pints make up a quarter of the recommended daily average energy intake of 2000 kcal.</p>
<p>Find out the energy content of different alcoholic beverages below:</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Gin, rum, vodka, whisky, tequila Serving Amount ounce - 1.0 (29.6ml) Average (kcal) - 65</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Brandy, cognac Serving Amount ounce - 1.0 (29.6ml) Average (kcal) - 65</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Liqueurs (Drambuie, Cointreau, Kahlua) Serving Amount ounce - 1.5 (44.4 ml) Average (kcal) - 188</p>
<p>Wine</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Red wine Serving Amount ounce - 4 (118.4ml) Average (kcal) - 80</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Dry white wine Serving Amount ounce - 4 (118.4ml) Average (kcal) - 75</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Sweet Serving Amount ounce - 4 (118.4ml) Average (kcal) - 105</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Sweet Serving Amount ounce - 4 (118.4ml) Average (kcal) - 105</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Sherry Serving Amount ounce - 2 (59.2ml) Average (kcal) - 75</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Port Serving Amount ounce - 2 (59.2ml) Average (kcal) - 90</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Vermouth, sweet Serving Amount ounce - 3 (88.8ml) Average (kcal) - 140</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Vermouth, dry Serving Amount ounce - 3 (88.8ml) Average (kcal) - 105</p>
<p>Cocktails</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Martini Serving Amount ounce - 3.5 (103.6ml) Average (kcal) - 140</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Manhattan Serving Amount ounce - 3.5 (103.6ml) Average (kcal) - 164</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Daiquiri Serving Amount ounce - 4 (118.4ml) Average (kcal) - 122</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Whiskey sour Serving Amount ounce - 3 (88.8ml) Average (kcal) - 122</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Margarita cocktail Serving Amount ounce - 4 (118.4ml) Average (kcal) - 168</p>
<p>Distilled (80 proof) - Coolers Serving Amount ounce - 6 (177.6ml) Average (kcal) - 150</p>
<p>Vanessa Alexander - Esteem Fitness </p>
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