{"id":39,"date":"2024-02-01T06:47:05","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T06:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/?p=39"},"modified":"2024-02-01T06:47:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T06:47:05","slug":"is-alcohol-ever-good-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/is-alcohol-ever-good-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Is alcohol ever good for you?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s a long-held belief that some types of alcohol, such as red wine, offer health benefits. But a new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology<\/em> has ranked alcohol as the number-one most harmful drug in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if alcohol is bad for you, can it ever be good for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alcohol ranked \u2018most harmful substance\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The recent study looked at 22 drugs, both legal and illicit, and measured the risk to individuals as well as to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research found that the substances most harmful to the individuals who use them were the opioid painkiller fentanyl, heroin and crystal methamphetamine (\u2018crystal meth\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The substances most harmful to others \u2014 leading to violence, crime, unemployment, economic costs and relationship breakdowns \u2014 were alcohol, crystal meth and cigarettes\/tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, alcohol was the most harmful drug when the \u2018harm to users\u2019 and \u2018harm to others\u2019 scores were combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But isn\u2019t wine a bit healthy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not exactly. In the past, headlines have declared that red wine, in particular, may be good for your heart due to its antioxidant content. Antioxidants are protective substances in food that fight off damaging \u2018free radicals\u2019 in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is little evidence that the antioxidants found in wine benefit human health. There is, on the other hand, evidence that drinking more than 4 standard drinks per day (of any kind of alcohol) is detrimental to health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, no amount of alcohol can be considered safe. Regular use of alcohol increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease, cancer, liver disease, depression, fertility problems and injury. Even drinking small amounts of alcohol increases your cancer risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, there are lots of mixed messages around alcohol, but the evidence is clear \u2014 there are no health benefits from alcohol,\u201d adds Dr Erin Lalor, CEO of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. \u201cCutting back can reduce a person\u2019s risk of developing chronic alcohol-related diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to cut back on alcohol<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Register for Dry July<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Since 2008, Dry July has inspired more than 160,000 people to quit drinking for one month. It\u2019s not too late to commit to no drinking alcohol during July (maybe even longer). Ask your friends to sponsor you. The funds raised will support cancer patients\u2019 needs, such as accommodation, transport, facilities, entertainment, information and comfort items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit The Right Mix<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Right Mix shows the impact drinking can have on your finances, relationships, body, career and fitness, while offering tips, tools and strategies to help you cut back. You can also download The Right Mix \u2018On Track\u2019 app to track your spending and alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow these tips<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Check out this page on healthdirect for advice on reducing and managing alcohol intake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a long-held belief that some types of alcohol, such as red wine, offer health benefits. But a new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has ranked alcohol as the number-one most harmful drug in Australia. So, if alcohol is bad…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/41"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyinglifeinfo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}