Alcohol and Health
Alcohol and Health
Alcohol refers to the general term for spirits, yellow wine, beer, wine, and other beverages. It is a drink containing ethanol, produced by fermenting sorghum, barley, rice, grapes, or other fruits.
Due to its fragrant aroma and smooth taste, moderate consumption of alcohol can induce a sense of dizziness, pleasure, and excitement, while promoting blood circulation. Therefore, when people feel depressed or burdened, they often turn to alcohol to relieve sorrow (sense of dizziness); during joyful occasions, they freely indulge in drinking, enhancing festive atmosphere (sense of pleasure and excitement); on cold winter nights, sipping a small amount of alcohol warms the body (promoting blood circulation). Thus, alcohol has become one of the most beloved beverages worldwide. The great Chinese poet Li Bai was famously known as the "Immortal of Wine"; the renowned Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu called himself the "Drunkard," a tale passed down through generations.
However, history records many cases of health damage and shortened lifespan due to excessive drinking. Even this famed "Wine Immortal," Li Bai, drowned after attempting to catch the moon reflected in water while drunk. The poet Bai Juyi, who loved drinking heavily, often drank until he passed out, resulting in "alcohol illness affecting all limbs" by age 40, with declining poetic output. The genius writer Cao Xueqin, also a heavy drinker, died at only 40 years old; his wife wrote in her elegy: "I blame no hardship, but Du Kang."
Thus, for thousands of years, has alcohol benefited or harmed? Is it praised or condemned? Opinions have long been divided.
The Yuan Dynasty's "Yinshan Zhengyao" already detailed the relationship between alcohol and health. It states: "Alcohol can dispel all evils, promote blood flow, thicken the stomach and intestines, and alleviate sorrow," but must be consumed "in moderation"—drinking excessively like water will inevitably harm the spirit and shorten life. Ming Dynasty's Li Shizhen, in "Compendium of Materia Medica," said: "Alcohol is highly hot and toxic." "Moderate drinking promotes blood circulation, but prolonged drinking harms the spirit and shortens life."
Excessive drinking may lead to facial flushing, mental disturbances, incoherent speech, unsteady gait, and in some cases even loss of reason, violence, or destruction of property. Chronic drinkers may suffer from poisoning, digestive issues, malnutrition, cognitive decline, hand tremors, polyneuritis, and severe cases may result in liver cirrhosis. At toxic doses, alcohol can suppress brainstem centers; without timely rescue, acute poisoning can be fatal.
Clearly, moderate and appropriate drinking does not harm health, but for the elderly, whose constitution is weak and digestive function diminished, abstaining from alcohol is preferable. Long-term or excessive drinking is detrimental to health.