This is not something most of us want to hear given its bedrock lubrication of our way of life but it’s official, alcohol is unquestionably bad for us. According to new guidelines released by the Canadian health authorities, consumption of more than two drinks per week would be harmful, a circumspect ploy to counsel abstinence. This constitutes a dramatic reversal in conventional wisdom given the notion that drinking in moderation is actually beneficial. In fairness it has to be said that the relationship with heart disease is a little complicated with research suggesting that drinking 1-4 glasses of wine per week reduced heart disease risk but this was attenuated by lifestyle factors pointing to the fact that favourable effects might have something to do with health promoting lifestyle habits rather than the proposed antioxidant benefits of red wine. A caveat supporting the claim proposed by experts that no amount of alcohol is protective to the heart.
Alcohol is actually categorised as a class one carcinogen by the World Health Organisation placing it in the same league as cigarettes suggesting that it has similar cancer-causing effects as smoking two cigarettes per day, a risk already referenced on this site.
Depression, anxiety and insomnia have all been linked with alcohol. Testosterone production and insulin function are compromised by alcohol consumption indicating that both sexual dysfunction and diabetes could be triggered and exacerbated by this practice. The immune system is weakened by alcohol which in the Covid era is another reason for sobriety.
In America they’ve just transitioned through a temperate January while in Australia July is the time to be dry. If we’re going to extend our salubrious capital we might need to observe much longer periods of denial.