I have never in my 50 years of living taken a love for alcohol. Why should I? I tasted it as a 19-year-old and discovered the stuff was horrible. Till this day, I still don't know why many people love to drink it. However, I love drinking bitter leaf water, no matter how bitter it is...
In recent years, the momentum has significantly shifted against alcohol, not just for lay men on the street, but for all who need to know. Its consumption, particularly in moderation, was previously regarded as a benign or even beneficial pleasure that could enhance cardiovascular health and potentially prolong life.
Now, not so anymore.
However, within numerous scientific communities, ingesting nearly any quantity of alcohol is now perceived as hazardous.
What really happened? You may ask.
On January 3, departing Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory indicating that alcohol intake increases the likelihood of at least seven different forms of cancer. Shortly thereafter, a subsequent federal report warned that individuals who consume more than nine beverages weekly face a one in 100 chance of mortality attributable to their drinking habits, due to alcohol’s associations with a variety of health issues.
Increasingly, reports of this nature conclude that there is no secure threshold for alcohol consumption. Does it mean that even a single drop of it on the tongue is bad? Even moderate intake no more than one alcoholic drink per day for women, and no more than two daily for men carries risks, and the circumstances escalate with each additional drink - that's what health experts are saying in 2025.
Believe it or not, alcohol is an ancient and natural beverage, produced through the fermentation of grains, fruits, or vegetables - all of which constitute a balanced diet in their unprocessed forms. So what precisely is detrimental about alcohol?
They say it produces a harmful byproduct.
After consuming any type of alcohol vodka, wine, sake, or otherwise, enzymes within the body begin the process of metabolizing the ethanol present in your system. The majority of this transformation occurs in the liver.
Ethanol decomposes into a byproduct known as acetaldehyde, and that’s where complications arise, according to Dr. Eden Bernstein, an assistant professor and internal medicine physician at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He said if he were to highlight one aspect of alcohol that is detrimental to the body, it would pertain to the generation of acetaldehyde.
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| Is this the new norm? |
What is acetaldehyde?
Acetaldehyde is “extremely toxic to various tissues,” remarks Dr. Sarah Wakeman, senior medical director for substance use disorder at Mass General Brigham. It has the potential to harm organs that are directly involved in alcohol metabolism, such as the liver, pancreas, and brain, as well as DNA itself. Exposure to acetaldehyde can cause DNA damage and mutations that may lead to cancer, Bernstein elucidates.
That's shocking to the ears that are hearing it for the first time.
Numerous factors determine the extent of acetaldehyde’s damage to the body, Wakeman notes. The most apparent is the volume of alcohol ingested; a heavy drinker will encounter more acetaldehyde than a light drinker, resulting in greater harm. However, even two individuals who consume the same quantity may experience different effects, influenced by their genetics and other risk factors.
Beware! That drink in your hand could be lethal.
Once ethanol is converted into acetaldehyde, it further decomposes into non-toxic byproducts. Nevertheless, certain individuals possess enzymes that function more slowly than others, prolonging their exposure to acetaldehyde and its detrimental effects, Wakeman explains. Damage can also amplify if an individual engages in multiple high-risk behaviors, such as heavy drinking and smoking, she adds.
They also say that alcohol induces inflammation
The inflammation occurs within certain areas of the body. This occurs when alcohol is processed, creating a phenomenon known as oxidative stress, which represents an imbalance among various types of molecules that leads to inflammation.
Further, researchers also claim that alcohol further disrupts the populations of microorganisms residing in the mouth, intestines, and gut, as explained by Bernstein, potentially resulting in an overabundance of harmful bacteria. Imagine if harmful bacteria is found all over one's body. Additionally, alcohol can compromise intestinal cells, permitting pathogens that are typically confined to the gastrointestinal tract to circulate throughout the bloodstream.
These consequences can trigger immune responses that cause inflammation.
An expert states, “Inflammation can truly be an adversary. It can produce tissue alterations over time that heighten the risk of cancer” and other health issues, such as liver fibrosis known as cirrhosis. Among individuals who consume alcohol excessively, the metabolism of alcohol and the resulting inflammation may contribute to severe brain damage, potentially including brain atrophy or alcohol-related dementia. These claims were made by Wakeman.
Experts claim alcohol consumption may influence hormones
Cancers related to alcohol consumption are generally observed in areas of the body that alcohol directly contacts: the mouth, throat, stomach, and so forth. However, there exists a "distinct correlation concerning breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption," remarks Wakeman.
Beverage consumption appears to alter the manner in which the body metabolizes estrogen, resulting in elevated hormone levels. This may correlate with an increased risk of estrogen-related breast cancers. Researchers continue to explore precisely how alcohol interacts with hormones, according to the latest report from the Surgeon General.
Alcohol and injury
In addition to the multifaceted chain reaction that alcohol initiates within the body, intoxication has “direct effects on health through falls, vehicular collisions, and a variety of other accidents,” states William Kerr, scientific director of the Alcohol Research Group at the Public Health Institute in California. Over 30% of alcohol-related fatalities documented in the U. S. from 2020 to 2021 stemmed from acute incidents, including accidents and injuries.
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| Friends get together to enjoy some alcoholic drinks |
Does alcohol have any cardiac benefits?
For an extended period, researchers believed that moderate alcohol consumption that nightly glass of red wine enhanced cardiovascular health, and some studies continue to indicate this. In contrast to other recent findings on alcohol, a December 2024 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded with “moderate certainty” that moderate alcohol consumption is linked to a reduced risk of dying from any cause, including cardiovascular disease, compared to abstaining from alcohol.
On the other side, the report also found, however, that moderate drinking likely increases the risk of certain cancers.
However, numerous researchers currently contend that design imperfections in earlier investigations misleadingly exaggerated the cardiovascular advantages of alcohol consumption. In certain studies that address these shortcomings, the seemingly beneficial effects of alcohol on health vanish.
“In contradiction to widespread belief, alcohol is not advantageous for the heart,” stated the World Heart Foundation in a 2022 policy brief. Excessive drinking is indeed associated with hypertension, irregular heart rhythms, and at times, even heart failure, according to researchers from the American Heart Association.
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| He strongly said no to alcohol |
Scientists continue to explore the genuine connection between alcohol consumption and heart health, Wakeman indicates. However, considering the multitude of other recognized risks, it is reasonable to assert that “drinking is not a health-enhancing activity,” Wakeman remarks. “Individuals should not deceive themselves into believing they are beginning to drink for health reasons.”
Hmmm, so there's no health benefit at all in drinking alcohol.
Does this imply that everyone ought to cease drinking immediately? Not necessarily. Similar to other potential health threats such as sun exposure or consuming less nutritious foods moderate or light drinking can be integrated into an otherwise healthy lifestyle, Wakeman suggests.
“It is not a binary, all-or-nothing dilemma,” she states. Ultimately, individuals must make their own choices based on their personal risk factors and tolerances, ideally with the guidance of a trusted healthcare professional.