How often does the phrase “Russian people have always drunk, since antiquity!” sound, but is it true? Recipes for making alcohol-based drinks are really familiar to people from
of ancient times, but few people know that beer, wine and other ethanol-containing drinks in those days were a medicine. After all, in fact, beer is an alcohol tincture of m alt and hops and a product enriched with B vitamins. In the days of natural medicine, beer was used in very limited quantities to treat diseases of the urinary tract. The same goes for wine. In fact, in ancient times, alcoholic beverages were prepared not for entertainment for the holidays, but for the purpose of treatment, like an alcoholic tincture of echinacea, calendula, propolis now, and over time, some individuals began to abuse them. Then, with the advent of Christianity in Russia, the production of beer and wine became the prerogative of the church, and then the monopoly of the state in order to manipulate society. The harm of alcohol, or rather its systematic and uncontrolled use, was well known to the ancient peoples. So, in Russia in later times,when the tradition of drinking wine at weddings appeared, it was strictly forbidden for newlyweds to drink, since everyone knew about the results of conceiving a child on their wedding night immediately after a feast with alcoholic beverages. However, the harm of alcohol on the human body is not limited to the teratogenic effect. Modern medicine says that alcohol abuse has the following consequences:
- First of all, the human nervous system suffers. The state of intoxication is a manifestation of toxic damage to the brain. In addition, there are irreversible changes in the vessels of the brain, necrosis (death) of its individual sections, microhemorrhages, microscars and ulcers. To a greater extent, ethanol affects the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for intellectual and emotional activity, than subcortical structures. In the last stages of alcoholism, subcortical structures are also affected, then the spinal cord.
- The entry of ethanol into the blood provokes the destruction of red blood cells, hyper- or hypoglycemia.
- Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver is one of the most well-known consequences that confirms the harm of alcohol.
- Some alcoholic beverages have a specific effect on the body. So, beer contributes to the formation of the so-called bovine heart and, accordingly, disruption of its work and, in addition, as a result of the load on the excretory system, there is a violation of kidney function.
- The harm of alcohol on the body is also pronounced for the gastrointestinal tract. Ethanol reduces synthesisdigestive enzymes, damages the mucous membranes of the digestive tract, resulting in the formation of ulcers, up to malignant neoplasms.
- Over time, under the influence of the systematic use of alcoholic beverages, the sexual function of both men and women is inhibited.
Despite all these facts, there are many common misconceptions about the benefits of drinking alcohol, in fact, only confirming the harm of alcohol:
- People believe that alcoholic beverages successfully treat colds, which, of course, is a gross mistake: ethanol, on the contrary, reduces human immunity. Recently, with the increase in the number of oncological diseases, even “methods of treating cancer” with the help of vodka and sunflower oil have appeared, leading to a significant reduction in the life expectancy of patients.
- It is also believed that alcohol can keep you warm. In fact, when drinking alcohol, the threshold of sensitivity decreases, so there is a subjective sensation of warmth, however, all human tissues and organs continue to suffer from cold, which is no longer controlled by the brain. In addition, the body in such stressful conditions has to spend additional energy not on heating vital organs, but on the breakdown and detoxification of alcohol.
- Alcohol is good to drink as an aperitif before dinner to increase appetite and improve digestion. In fact, ethanol reduces the synthesis of digestive enzymes, and consuming it before meals, on an empty stomach, is highly likely to develop gastritis.
The harm of alcohol to human he alth rarely stops people, but besides this, there is also a close relationship between social status, family well-being, personality traits and alcohol consumption. So, even with a single intake of ethanol, irreversible changes are observed in the cells of the cerebral cortex, which inevitably affects intellectual abilities over time. Simply put, a person degrades with every glass or bottle of beer they drink! Of course, this cannot but affect his appearance, career, relationships with other people, including in the family, and, most importantly, the he alth of his future children. So are a few hours of euphoria worth a tangible and irreversible decline in the quality of life?
