Alcohol and Heart Health: Separating Myths and Facts
It should be no surprise when we tell you that alcohol can affect your heart health. What’s more, alcohol can affect your mood, emotions, and many other everyday things that you go through. You may have heard that moderate alcohol consumption, especially red wine, can benefit your heart. In general, wine can provide a few health benefits if you drink it responsibly.
Since wine is generally healthy and tastes good, many people join wine clubs so that they can have access to the best wines, prices, and more. Click here to find out more about the best wine clubs. Even though the fact about wine and health is true, it doesn’t mean that all myths are as well.
So, which myths are actually true and which are just false narratives that cannot be proven or backed by any medical professional? Let’s find out!
#1: Alcohol Warms Your Body
One of the most common myths that can be heard and read is that if you drink some alcohol, you will get warm, especially in the winter. However, that belief is false. According to numerous studies and research over the years, it is proven that alcohol decreases your body’s core temperature, regardless of whether it is hot or cold outside. With every sip of alcohol, your body’s core temperature will decrease for as long as you consume it.
#2: Alcohol Rises Your Blood Sugar
This myth is both a little true and false. Namely, if your drink alcohol in moderate amounts, it can cause your blood sugar to rise. However, if you drink a lot of alcohol, i.e., much more than a moderate amount, your blood sugar level will decrease, sometimes by quite a lot.
#3: Alcohol Has Many Cardiovascular Health Benefits
This is, in fact, true. As we mentioned, a glass of good wine can prove quite beneficial to you and can help you possibly avoid strokes and heart attacks. However, doctors and other medical professionals are still unsure what exactly helps you avoid such cardiovascular problems, whether it is the dose, the product itself (like wine or beer), etc.
#4: Alcohol Increases Your Heart Rate
This myth is true. Excess amounts of alcohol will speed up your heart rate. Also, going overboard with the amount that you drink can also cause nausea and slurred speech.
#5:You Can Use Alcohol as a Supplement for Food
Everyone knows that alcohol, especially sweet drinks, has a lot of calories in them. However, those drinks do not have any nutritional value and should be treated as a supplement for food. What’s more, drinking on an empty stomach is not healthy at all.
#6: Women and Men are Affected by Alcohol in the Same Way
This myth is completely false. Alcohol does not affect women and men the same way because they metabolize it differently. How we metabolize alcohol depends on our hormones, muscle-to-fat ratio, hormones, and other factors that are different in women and men.
#7: You Are an Alcoholic If You Drink Every Day
Many people think that people experience alcohol abuse problems only if they consume it daily. However, that is not true. Namely, there are alcoholics of different kinds, which include but are not limited to those who drink daily. Alcoholism isn’t measured by how often someone drinks. Rather, it is measured by whether they can control their drinking once they start. So, those who cannot control their drinking, even if they drink only once a month or year, are still considered to have alcohol consumption problems.
#8: You Can Drink as Much Alcohol as You Want, as Long as It Is Not Hard Liquor
This is definitely not true. No matter what kind of alcohol you consume, excess amounts of any alcoholic drink can lead to many negative health outcomes, including heart conditions such as strokes, cardiomyopathy, obesity, and more.
Final Thoughts
If you fear that you have been consuming too much alcohol and feel like it is affecting you, do not wait for it to pass or sleep it off. You should call your doctor immediately or schedule an appointment.
Many people do not consult their doctors when they experience nausea or other alcohol-related symptoms because they are ashamed to tell the receptionist or the nurse why they are calling to schedule an appointment. However, many medical practices and clinics allow people to schedule appointments online, where they can simply inform the doctor that they need a check-up without having to discuss why they want to come in with other people. There are many other reasons and benefits because of which doctors and clinics offer online appointment scheduling, but overall, it can help people get over their fear of going to the doctor and even scheduling a simple appointment.
In the end, the moral of the story is: Wine and other alcohol are fine, only if drunk responsibly and in moderate amounts!
