As a unique beverage, wine is both a physical substance and an integral part of people's spiritual lives. Serving as a special cultural medium, it holds a distinctive place in human interactions.
Newlyweds clasp cups together at their wedding ceremony, each taking a sip to symbolize mutual love—this is called the "cup-clasping wine." When a child is born, a full-moon banquet is held to celebrate with family and friends—the "full-moon wine." A birthday feast for elders is termed the "longevity wine."When friends embark on distant journeys, a farewell banquet is held to express regret at their departure, known as the "Farewell Banquet"; during house construction, the day the ridgepole is raised calls for the "Ridgepole Banquet"; when a shop opens, the owner hosts a feast to celebrate, called the "Grand Opening Banquet." Wine culture permeates every sphere of human social life.
"Li Bai wrote a hundred poems after a cask of wine, sleeping in Chang'an's taverns"; Huang Gongwang of the "Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty" declared, "Without wine, I cannot paint"; the "Sage of Calligraphy" Wang Xizhi composed the Orchid Pavilion Preface in drunken inspiration, its "graceful yet vigorous style unmatched in any age," yet when sober, he "wrote dozens more copies, none ever matching its brilliance."Examples of timeless masterpieces born from intoxication abound throughout Chinese history.
Yet some lament: "This wine—it looks like water, stings the mouth when drunk, stirs ghosts in the belly, trips the legs when walking, wakes you at midnight for water, and leaves you with regret in the morning!" This captures the harsh reality of excessive drinking.
So, what effects does drinking have on our bodies?When drinking is unavoidable, how can one minimize alcohol's harm to the body?
1. First, we must understand the classifications:
Early alcoholic beverages were likely fruit wines and rice wines. From the Xia dynasty through the Shang and Zhou, Qin and Han, and into the Tang and Song periods, wine was produced by steaming fruits or grains, fermenting with koji mold, and then pressing the mixture.With human progress, brewing techniques evolved further. The process shifted from steaming, fermentation, and pressing to steaming, fermentation, and distillation. The greatest breakthrough was the purification of alcohol. Thus, based on production methods, alcoholic beverages fall into two main categories: distilled spirits and non-distilled beverages. The former includes common baijiu (white spirits), while the latter encompasses rice wine, huangjiu (yellow wine), wine, and others.
The most common types in daily life include baijiu, beer, wine, huangjiu, and medicinal wine.
1. Baijiu
A distilled spirit unique to China. It is produced from starchy (or sugary) raw materials through processes of steaming, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, aging, and blending.The liquor is colorless (or slightly yellow) and transparent, with a pure, fragrant aroma. It has a smooth, sweet, and clean taste upon entry, featuring a relatively high alcohol content. After aging, it develops a complex aroma dominated by esters.Introduced to China in the early 20th century, beer is a foreign beverage type. It is a low-alcohol, carbonated beverage brewed from barley malt, hops, and water through yeast fermentation.
3. Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented from fresh grapes or grape juice. It is typically categorized into red wine and white wine. The former is produced by fermenting red grapes with their skins intact; the latter is made by fermenting grape juice.
4. Huangjiu (Yellow Wine)
Huangjiu is a distinctive Chinese specialty, classified as a fermented liquor. It holds a significant place among the world's three major fermented beverages (Huangjiu, wine, and beer). Its brewing techniques are unique, making it a quintessential representative and model in Eastern brewing.Represented by Shaoxing rice wine from Zhejiang Province, malted rice wine is the oldest and most iconic variety of huangjiu. It is a grain-based liquor made from rice. Unlike baijiu, huangjiu undergoes no distillation and has an alcohol content below 20%. Different types of huangjiu exhibit varying hues of beige, yellowish-brown, or reddish-brown.
5. Medicinal Liquor
Medicinal liquor, often hailed as the "king of all medicines," seamlessly blends health-enhancing Chinese herbs with alcohol. This combination offers convenient preparation, stable medicinal properties, and proven efficacy. Moreover, alcohol serves as an excellent semi-polar organic solvent, readily dissolving the active components of herbs. Thus, the medicine leverages the liquor's potency while the liquor amplifies the medicine's effects, maximizing therapeutic benefits.
Opinions vary on whether drinking alcohol is beneficial or harmful to health. Ultimately, the balance between benefits and harms hinges on quality and quantity. Moderate consumption of low-alcohol beverages can be beneficial, while excessive and prolonged drinking poses significant health risks with no advantages. The "Chinese Dietary Guidelines" also emphasize that if alcohol is consumed, it should be limited.
Among various alcoholic beverages, red wine offers greater cardiovascular disease prevention benefits than white wine or other types. Regarding consumption, daily intake should ideally not exceed 50 milliliters.If daily alcohol intake does not exceed 24 grams of ethanol—equivalent to 540 milliliters of beer, 200 milliliters of fruit wine, or 60 milliliters of 40% ABV spirits—the risks are significantly reduced. When enjoyed in moderation with good food and a cheerful mood, alcohol can even turn potential harm into unexpected benefits. A French study found that regions with moderate drinking habits had lower rates of coronary heart disease compared to areas where drinking was uncommon.
II. A Word of Caution Against Excessive Drinking
While no feast is complete without alcohol, it is also a poison that passes through the gut. The harm caused by excessive drinking is no small matter. Alcohol's primary component is ethanol, a chemical compound that, once ingested, can cause multifaceted damage to the body.
1. When blood ethanol concentration reaches 0.05%, alcohol's effects begin to manifest, causing excitement and euphoria. At 0.1%, individuals lose self-control. At 0.2%, they become severely intoxicated. Reaching 0.4% can lead to unconsciousness, coma, and even life-threatening conditions.
2. Alcohol's most significant harm targets the central nervous system. It causes the nervous system to shift from excitement to severe inhibition, gravely disrupting its normal functions. Excessive drinking damages the liver. Chronic alcohol poisoning can lead to alcoholic cirrhosis.
3. Excessive drinking irritates the stomach lining, increasing susceptibility to gastritis, gastric ulcers, and other diseases.Drinking on an empty stomach can trigger hypoglycemia, causing insufficient glucose supply in the body and resulting in symptoms like palpitations and dizziness.
Furthermore, chronic alcoholism inflicts multifaceted damage on the body. It can lead to polyneuropathy, cardiomyopathy, encephalopathy, hematopoietic dysfunction, pancreatitis, gastritis, and peptic ulcers, while also increasing the incidence of hypertension.Long-term heavy drinking can damage reproductive cells, leading to intellectual disabilities in offspring. Regular drinkers show significantly increased rates of throat cancer and digestive tract cancers. III. Therefore, healthy drinking must adhere to the four optimal principles: The optimal time, type, amount, and food pairing for drinking. 1. Optimal Time for Drinking>Morning and early afternoon are unsuitable times for drinking, with mornings being particularly inadvisable. During these hours, the concentration of alcohol dehydrogenase—the enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach—is at its lowest. Consequently, when consuming the same amount of alcohol, more is absorbed by the body, leading to higher blood alcohol concentrations. (Learn why alcohol causes intoxication) This poses greater harm to organs such as the liver and brain.Drinking after 2 PM is relatively safer, with the optimal window being between 3 PM and 5 PM. During this time, sensory acuity remains sharp, and the blood sugar levels elevated from lunch enhance alcohol tolerance. Thus, drinking at this time minimizes harm to the body.Additionally, drinking on an empty stomach, before bedtime, or while sick poses significant health risks, with baijiu (white liquor) being particularly harmful. 2. Optimal Types of Alcohol There are many types of alcohol, such as baijiu, beer, huangjiu (yellow wine), and wine. From a health perspective, red wine—a type of fruit wine—is the most beneficial among them.Research indicates that red wine contains a plant pigment called quercetin. This compound offers dual benefits: it acts as an antioxidant and inhibits platelet aggregation. This helps maintain vascular elasticity and promotes smooth blood flow, reducing the risk of myocardial ischemia. Regular consumption of red wine can thus lower the incidence of heart disease. A Dutch physician observed that among 805 men, those who regularly drank red wine saw their risk of heart disease reduced by half.The lower incidence of heart disease among the French is attributed to this benefit. While white wine shares the same origin, quercetin is largely depleted during its production process, leaving it with almost no protective effect on the heart.For a 60-kilogram individual, daily alcohol intake should be limited to under 60 grams. Those weighing less than 60 kilograms should reduce accordingly, ideally to around 45 grams. This translates to: 50 grams of 60-proof baijiu, 500 grams of beer, or 250 milliliters of whiskey. While red wine offers health benefits, moderation is key—2 to 3 small glasses daily is optimal.
4. Optimal Food Pairings for Alcohol Consumption
The harmfulness of alcohol to the body is closely related to blood alcohol concentration. Drinking on an empty stomach often causes a rapid spike in blood alcohol levels, posing greater harm. Choosing ideal food pairings not only satisfies the palate but also reduces alcohol's detrimental effects.From the perspective of alcohol metabolism, the best accompaniments are high-protein and vitamin-rich foods. This is because the liver requires various enzymes and vitamins to break down alcohol. The higher the alcohol content, the greater the amount of enzymes and vitamins consumed, necessitating timely replenishment.Foods rich in methionine and choline are particularly beneficial. When drinking, opt for fresh vegetables, fish, lean meats, beans, and eggs.Caution! Avoid pairing alcohol with salted fish, smoked sausages, cured meats, or similar foods. These smoked and cured items contain high levels of pigments and nitrosamines. When these react with alcohol in the body, they not only damage the liver but also harm the mucous membranes of the mouth and esophagus, potentially even inducing cancer. IV. Who Should Avoid Alcohol? 1.Children and adolescents
Children are in a critical stage of growth and development, with organs still maturing. Alcohol consumption at this stage causes severe bodily harm. Even small amounts impair attention, memory, and cognitive speed. Children have low alcohol detoxification capacity; overconsumption can cause headaches at best, and coma or death at worst.
2. Couples planning pregnancy
Alcohol disrupts endocrine function. Regular or heavy drinking by either partner can impair sperm or egg development, leading to abnormalities. This may result in abnormal fertilized eggs, hinder successful implantation and embryonic development, or even cause miscarriage.For men, long-term or heavy drinking can cause chronic or acute alcohol poisoning, reducing sperm count and motility while increasing rates of abnormal and dead sperm. This impairs conception and embryonic development. Fetuses formed from alcohol-damaged reproductive cells often exhibit developmental abnormalities such as short limbs, low birth weight, facial deformities, poor growth, sluggish responses, and intellectual disabilities.
Therefore, couples planning pregnancy should abstain from alcohol for at least three months, and ideally six months, prior to conception.
3. Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers
Even moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy—considered safe for adults—can adversely affect fetal development. Heavy drinking significantly increases the risk of fetal malformations and intellectual disabilities.
Research indicates alcohol affects all stages of fetal brain development. Heavy drinking during early embryonic formation can cause severe fetal alterations, while heavy drinking in late pregnancy may result in functional deficits in specific brain regions. Alcohol can also affect infant health through breast milk. For the baby's well-being, abstaining from alcohol throughout lactation is strongly recommended.
4. Individuals planning to drive
Alcohol diminishes judgment and motor skills while impairing vision. When driving under the influence, the brain requires more time to process visual information, making decision-making difficult. Commands to bodily muscles are delayed, slowing reaction times and increasing accident risk. Studies indicate that ninety percent of traffic accidents involve drivers operating vehicles after consuming alcohol.Thus, alcohol consumption has become the number one killer of human health! The only safe approach is: Don't drink and drive. Don't drive after drinking. 5. People who blush after drinking Those who blush after drinking are often mistakenly thought to be heavy drinkers. In reality, the opposite is true—people who blush after drinking are actually poor at metabolizing alcohol.Under the catalysis of the first enzyme—alcohol dehydrogenase—it is metabolized from ethanol to acetaldehyde. Under the action of the second enzyme, acetaldehyde is converted into acetic acid, which is finally oxidized into carbon dioxide and water and excreted from the body. This can be simply understood as:
Ethanol → Acetaldehyde → Acetic acid →carbon dioxide + water
If the first enzyme functions normally, ethanol → acetaldehyde conversion proceeds smoothly. However, if the second enzyme (due to genetic defects) malfunctions, acetaldehyde cannot be converted into acetic acid. This leads to acetaldehyde accumulation in the body, causing dilation of facial capillaries and ultimately facial flushing. Therefore, individuals who flush when drinking should avoid alcohol.
6. Individuals with certain medical conditions
Those with conditions such as fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, other liver disorders, heart disease, or hypertension, as well as those with alcohol allergies, should not consume alcohol.
7. Individuals taking medications that may interact with alcohol
Alcohol can significantly affect many medications, potentially reducing their efficacy, rendering them ineffective, or even making them harmful or toxic to the body.For example, cephalosporin antibiotics are closely related to us. Additionally, some medications can exacerbate ethanol's damage to the body. For instance, ranitidine reduces gastric acid secretion, worsening ethanol's damage to the gastric mucosa; metronidazole inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, intensifying ethanol poisoning reactions.
In fact, even after discontinuing medication, drinking alcohol may still trigger adverse reactions if the drug hasn't been fully metabolized. Therefore, abstaining from alcohol is essential not only during treatment but also for a period afterward.
In summary, moderate consumption of low-alcohol beverages may offer some benefits for cardiovascular disease prevention; however, long-term heavy consumption of spirits poses significant health risks. Given alcohol's detrimental effects on multiple systems—including digestion, the central nervous system, and reproduction—along with potential safety concerns, experts do not recommend moderate drinking as a measure for preventing cardiovascular disease.
While the aroma of wine may be enticing, excessive drinking brings no benefits—it only harms both yourself and others. Maintaining your own health is paramount. Avoid overindulgence whenever possible, and give yourself and your family a happy, warm home.