Alcohol and health

Small amount of sake is considered “medicine”

How many glasses of this Chatan craft beer are good for health?

Sake, alcoholic drink made from rice, produces a special “appetite” for food, especially in the autumn. At dinner, Japanese usually increase their appetite when sake is served. Good combination of alcohol drink is beer and edamame (green pea); wine and meat dish; awamori (Okinawa rice alcohol) and champloo (mixed fried vegetables) are served in a small plate with small quantity of food. This makes drinkers in good shape (weight). Recently in Japan, the popularity of craft beer is rising. Sango (coral) beer or Chatan beer are popular in Okinawa, and Nest beer is in Ibaraki Prefecture, located northeast of Tokyo.

Sake is believed to be the source of hundred medicines. Red wine, on the other hand, is regarded as a source of health for people around the Mediterranean countries such as France. In addition to antioxidant contained in wine called polyphenols, wine is said to have another substance called resveratrol. Its function may inhibit or slow aging. However, the effect of resveratrol has not yet been confirmed in clinical trials.

A lot of liquor consumption is considered poison to the body

Drinking too much is not recommended. It is medically and socially prohibited specially among the minors. Long-term heavy drinking destroys liver, pancreas, brain, and nerves. There are many diseases associated with alcohol intake: cirrhosis of liver, chronic pancreatitis, cerebral atrophy, neuropathy and other diseases. There is a risk of carcinogenesis (cancer-forming) in long-term alcohol drinkers. These cancer by locations are found in the colon, female breast, mouth, pharynx, larynx, liver, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, lung, and gallbladder. All are cancer related to alcohol consumption.

Also, binge drinking on a single day is dangerous. Acute alcoholism may result in aspiration pneumonia, which may lead to respiratory arrest due to suppression of respiratory centers. It is dangerous to drink a lot at university clubs and parties to welcome new members that involves dangerous alcohol. We strongly suggest to the students to stop this harmful tradition. Although drunk driving is self-destructive, there is also a risk of killing others, so it is social menace.

Even if you are not driving, there is a risk of traumatic death such as injuries due to falls and injuries due to falling from train station, going back home hit in the railroad track, or fighting with other customs with heavy drinking. In Japan, there are still many people who smoke while drinking. If you drink alcohol often with people who smoke, it is an exposure to secondhand smoke.

Estimated amount of health drinking

So how much do you drink alcohol? First, there is no need to forcibly make a person drink if he cannot or do not drink. Originally, people who do not have enzyme called acetaldehyde (toxic by-product of alcohol) cannot drink alcohol basically. Also, Oriental people whose face is flushed red with a little alcohol intake are known to be at high risk of esophageal cancer.

As a measure of alcohol consumption, the standard estimate based on the amount of pure alcohol (ethanol) ingested is used. Using this amount of ethanol (grams), it is recommended to use standard unit of 1 drink in each country, 10 grams = 1 drink in Japan. Australia and New Zealand also use the same grams as Japan, but in America 14 grams = 1 drink.

In traditional guidelines, it was recommended that up to 1 drink per day for women and 1 to 2 drinks for men. One drink is 250 mL for beer or Happo Shu (a kind of beer) (5%), 180 mL for Chu-Hai (sake mixed with soda) (7%), 50 mL for Shochu (sake made from potato or wheat) (25%), 80 mL (0.5 cups) for Japanese sake (15%), Whiskey, or Gin etc. (40%), or 30 mL for wine (12%).

Healthy drinking amount different for men and women

Previous epidemiological studies on alcohol consumption and disease showed a J-shaped curve. In other words, light drinking is better than zero drinking amount, but the health outcomes are good, but if it is more than the amount of indicated above, the risk of drinking, risk of drinking will be higher, and higher than those with zero drinking.

In addition to heart diseases such as heart failure, cerebrovascular disorders, diabetes, etc., the risk of total mortality is also J-shaped. However, the important thing when evaluating alcohol consumption and health risks is the effect of smoking. Drinking people have higher rate of smoking than non-drinkers, and it is difficult to evaluate epidemiological results, as risk of cancer increases considerably due to smoking.

Recently, research in the United States focusing on the risk of "cancer" was announced. The results showed that in non-smoking men, the risk of cancer does not increase in the case of mild drinking up to 2 drinks a day. Women, on the other hand, show that even if mild drinking up to 1 drink a day, the risk of breast cancer increases. As an advice based on this latest result, women with a family history of breast cancer are at high risk of breast cancer, so we recommend that those women better refrain from drinking alcohol.

References

Cao Y, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL. Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies. BMJ. 2015 Aug 18; 351: h4238: https://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4238