With the salt and sugar we are succeeding. By dint of repeating like a mantra what are the risks to our health, today we are much more careful to read the labels and not to overdo it when we cook. And the same attitude we should try to have towards alcohol. Alcohol is bad for you, it is toxic to our body. But unfortunately, despite the information campaigns, consumption does not drop at all. Indeed, they increase, especially among women. In 2018, according to the results of the Istisan report “Epidemiology and alcohol-related monitoring in Italy and in the Regions”, by the Istituto Superiore e di Sanità, 16 million people over 11 years of age consumed alcoholic beverages away from meals, recording an increase of 10.2% for men and 38% for women compared to 2008. “There is a difference between men and women in the metabolism of alcohol – Professor explained to Fanpage.it Emanuele Scafato, director of the National Alcohol Observatory of the Higher Institute of Health and WHO Center for Alcohol Research – The woman has a much lower alcohol metabolism system, almost 50%, compared to that of the man. And this fact already exposes it to greater risk. In fact, alcohol is toxic for our organism and what our liver cannot metabolize reaches the blood and risks causing damage to the organism in the long run “.
How alcohol works in the body
How much alcohol do you drink in a week? Let’s try to count: aperitif a couple of times a week, two glasses of wine for dinner on Friday, a couple of drinks late in the evening on Saturday. In order not to risk compromising our health we should not drink more than one unit of alcohol per day. “We must remember that alcohol is in effect a solvent. Let’s think about how alcohol behaves, what we all have at home to disinfect, with grease stains: it dissolves them. Whenever we drink alcohol we must keep in mind that the membranes that protect our cells are made of phospholipids, fats, which in contact with alcohol ‘melt’. In this way the cell will be damaged and in danger of dying. The more frequent the consumption of alcohol, the higher the concentration, let’s think of those who binge drink and drink until stoned (a common practice even among the very young), the greater the damage to the body “.
Alcohol and breast cancer
Very few women know this, but excessive alcohol consumption can be a risk factor for breast cancer: “It has been demonstrated – explains Professor Scafato – that after a glass of alcoholic beverage, the risk of breast cancer increases from 7 to 27%, after the third glass the chances increase up to 50%. Alcohol stimulates estrogen, which if already out of control can transform cells and stimulate the cancer-causing regeneration of the cells themselves. “ The danger concerns above all the very young: “We found a drop in the age at which breast cancer appears. This is because alcohol consumption already begins during adolescence: we must not forget that up to the age of 18 the body does not metabolize alcohol properly, everything that is drunk before this age arrives directly in the blood “.
The risks for fertility and pregnancy
Another of the risks related to alcohol abuse concerns the fertility: “There is a reduction in the possibility of having children. Women who regularly consume alcohol are at risk of having irregular and anovular cycles. But it is above all men in this case who are more exposed: habitual and excessive consumption of alcohol in fact reduces the number of spermatozoa and their motility “. Absolutely forbidden alcohol for women pregnant: “If the mother drinks, the alcohol reaches the placenta at exactly the same concentration and the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome is increased. During pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, alcohol is absolutely forbidden “.
A glass of wine a day
The liver is certainly affected by alcohol consumption, both for women and men: “Alcohol-induced hepatitis is on the rise “, Professor Scafato warns. Finally, the last warning concerns the youngest and the youngest who already habitually consume alcohol (despite the prohibitions of the law): “Brain development begins at age 12 and ends around age 24. During these years, the prefrontal cortex, the rational area of the brain, matures. Alcohol inhibits the maturation of this area and there is a risk that the person remains predominantly in the lateral lobes, the more emotional ones. And then alcohol also risks damaging the hippocampus, the brain structure responsible for orientation and memory, reducing cognitive abilities by up to 20% according to the latest studies. These are areas of the brain that once damaged are lost forever. ” A tip for the future: non underestimate the consequences of a vodka and tonic.
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