Friday Favorites: Is It Better to Drink Little Alcohol Than None? Do Any Benefits Outweigh Risks?
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- Опубликовано: 18 авг 2022
- Even if alcohol causes cancer and there is no “French paradox,” what about the famous J-shaped curve, where excessive drinking is bad, but light drinkers appear to have lower mortality than abstainers?
Hold on. HDL isn’t “good” cholesterol anymore? Check out my ashtray and gym shoes analogies in reference to causal risk factors in my Coconut Oil and the Boost in HDL “Good” Cholesterol (nutritionfacts.org/video/coco...) video.
How much cancer does alcohol really cause, though? You might have missed the first video of this series: Can Alcohol Cause Cancer? (nutritionfacts.org/video/can-a....
What about resveratrol and the French paradox? See The Best Source of Resveratrol (nutritionfacts.org/video/The-B...) and What Explains the French Paradox? (nutritionfacts.org/video/what....
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-Michael Greger, MD FACLM
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Regarding the reverse-causation argument in the video: it's not just alcoholics who represent the "sick quitters". People might also quit due to unrelated disease, because they are informed by their doctor that their drugs cannot be taken together with alcohol. This is because ethanol is an inducer of major enzymes that metabolize drugs. So it makes perfect sense to assume many abstainers are people of poor health from this perspective as well.
And the other way, it could be assumed that abstainers are also more health concius and might have other habits that are healthier too like better diet and more exercise. The type of person that doesn't bother with making their diet healthy might be inclined to enjoy a few drinks as well.
Hard alcohol definitely makes diverticulitis worse
@Engelbert Humperdinck that's complete bullshit. If you want more hair look into fenugreek seeds NAC supplement and an unprocessed food diet change
I am a moderate drinker, and I know it is unhealthful. I've never tried to argue otherwise. I maintain a healthy diet and I exercise regularly, and I don't smoke or do illicit drugs. I enjoy drinking and I try to limit it. But I don't kid myself into thinking that drinking is good for me. It's interesting, however, how ingrained this idea is that moderate consumption is healthy. I've even heard it from doctors!
Apparently doctors tend to be drinkers. Well, they used to be smokers.. not anymore.
As a life-long non-drinker(besides red wine at church as a kid), I have heard the J curve story so many times, and every time I have explained that it is reverse causation; sick people give up drinking. Thank you for making these videos to put that old story to rest.
Also, it's worth mentioning the slippery slope of alcohol consumption. I find it likely someone who drinks a little alcohol will be likely to have periods of drinking more than usual, which would wipe out the supposed "benefit" in the first place.
the only time u drank alcohol was as a kid at a church lmfao wtf
@@veganchiefwarrior6444 True facts ;)
None is better.
I worked in winerys in Northern California for 5 years. There is no wine as satisfying as Welch's Grape juice.
Appreciate the insight as a light drinker. With data I can make the right decisions. As a side note: Thanks, prefer these types of videos where we see you once and that's it, then I can read along with the video, see the titles and citations as you go. Retired the purple highlighter or maybe I got lucky. At any rate the human pace of the citations keeps me focused on the story and is much less distracting.
What I love is that many of the studies I read about "moderate drinking" used wine as their source of alcohol. I wonder what the results would be if they all just ate grapes instead...
greger did a video on this! haha
I quit drinking two years ago, a few months prior to going vegan. Not only is my brain and body happier, so is my wallet.
You cant be living in France then. In France wine is cheaper than water.
@@pleaseenteravalide-mailaddress Ridiculous comment.
@@DBASSDAN nope.
must have got a girlfriend
@@veganchiefwarrior6444 cant be because that causes people to drink more alcoholic drinks.
Quit 3 weeks ago. Not as hard as I feared.
Well done. Thank you.
I’ve finally gone vegan thanks to channels like yours and mic the vegans. But I’m not gonna lie, about once every 2 or so months I visit family and have some tequila or beer. It’s fun. Oh well 🤷♂️
I think if you eat healthy 95%+ of the time, an occasional treat won't negate it... as long as you can keep it occasional! It can be a slippery slope for some of us.
Same, I'll have a drink once a month or so on the weekend with friends as a little social lubricant. It's good to be straight with the facts, but also nothing wrong with accepting a little risk in life with open eyes.
If youre vegan and watching channels like this and mic, then you need a drink to help accept our reality lol
Aye, still vegan!
Funny to have this recommended to me while I was having a bit of whiskey for the first time in a while 😁
I never bought into the idea that light drinking was healthy. The video on this channel a few years ago covering red wine confirmed this for me. Thus I keep my drinking sporadic and limited to small amounts and try to reduce the cancer risk by giving myself a bit of a antioxidant boost. It's of course still a risk, but I think a rather minor one as long as I stay very conscious of how I manage it.
I’ve been drinking non alcoholic beer after a big day at work and on holidays.. I get the same dopamine rush that I got from cracking a cold one with half the calories and added benefit of it also being hydrating as the alcohol content is less than 0,5%
Great video! So sad that the consensus public health advice regarding moderate alcohol consumption is based largely on statistical invalidity!
The fact that we need massive statistics to find out if moderate consumption is problematic might be the problem. We should not drink alcohol because a meta-analysis said that it will give us a probable benefit; neither should we abstain for this reason. Show me the pleasure and I'll show you the cancer. Anxiety over moderate alcohol might also contribute to cancer since that connection (to anxiety) has already been well established. Chocolate, seed oils, wine, bread, red meat, fish, mouthwash, toothpaste, etc. are all bad according to some study or another. Simply put, there are a lot of companies funding research and a lot of students who need to graduate. There is so much vacillation about what is good in the nutrition space that we forget that we are mortal beings that will die of something. The temptation is to believe that we can control it, and our diet is one of the few things we can control (in developed nations). I can't imagine what net benefit there is living 1 year longer if it meant I spent that year worrying about weather there was a statistically significant chance that the cherished evening I spent with an old friend over a pint at the pub would do me in.
I think it's an unfortunate state of affairs that meeting a friend has become associated with a consumption of a substance deltorious to health. People used to smoke everywhere and sit around in smoke-filled rooms. I chose to socialise with friends but only doing activities that are neutral or health-promoting.
[Question] Long seating time is really harm for human?
Thank you.
👍👍
Yeah (said in a long, dragged out and very sad way.) I knew this was coming. And now that we are here, there’s no kidding ourselves anymore.
I love this channel!
I thought I would do what Rasputin did ( a little bit of poison and the body adapts) and have small amounts of alcohol (sporadically, like in cough syrup) to keep my alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme levels active. I never liked alcohol "going to my head". That is a sure sign the liver is not breaking it down fast enough. Does my theory of it not going to your head mean the liver is breaking it down safely? Especially if I never allow myself to feel “intoxicated”? Lastly, what levels of sucrose and or fructose lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver?
no it's not
@@redauwg911 you say that with such confidence. How can you be so sure? I don't even care about what you're replying to; I just don't appreciate when people on these channels think they know everything
@@parsonsfra Alcohol is a known carcinogen. This means that alcohol causes cancer. There is strong evidence that drinking alcohol increases people's risk of cancers of the female breast, liver, mouth, throat (pharynx and larynx), oesophagus and bowel.
@@redauwg911 in what dose is it a carcinogen? In large enough doses anything is toxic. Strong evidence may only come from heavy drinkers.
@@redauwg911 radiation, for example, is never beneficial to health; however, in small enough doses, it isn't necessarily harmful. Background radiation or flying on an airplane will probably not increase risks of disease from radiation.
Years ago I was told that drinking everyday can be healthy. Before you knew it I was drinking a fifth of vodka everyday. All those years went by and I was thinking I was at the Pinnacle of my health. I gave up the vodka. Now I just drink a 12 pack of beer daily.
What % is it...? 💀
I can't stop doing 6-8 pints every few days... 6%+.... ✌🏻💀
Little by little, you are killing yourself. 😁
🤣😂😅
make your own beer .. tepache at home. The beer you buy at stores has vits but v little to none of the good lactic bacteria and yeast. the home made has tons of good gut bacteria that protect your kidneys and liver. fermentation makes more vitamin C and B's and makes minerals available to you.
Apple-holics anonymous - love it! 😀
Apple made it too difficult for me to get addicted, so I prefer Android. 😂
Darn!
I don't think people are looking for health benefits when choosing to consume alcohol, but rather for temporarily reduced social anxiety. Although I'm bordering on underweight so the extra calories in mild beer compared to say alcohol free beer seem like a positive.
It’s tricky to argue based on mendelian inference that light alcohol drinking for people who can tolerate alcohol normally has any measurably significant negative health outcome for them.
But people say, one glass of red wine per day is healthy....
Because of the resveratrol.
Nobody considers that in one glass of red wine is so little resveratrol, it doesn't do much. You would have to drink 10 litres of red wine to see some effect from the resveratrol.
Well, it's the biggest killer of all drugs along side nicotine. I think I'll continue to abstain.
This was my justification for alcohol as it truly relaxes me and lowers my stress and anxiety. It physically loosens my tight muscles and improves my back and neck pain. I’d rather find healthy ways to do this though. Maybe some herbal tea, praying, meditating, counseling, or talking with friends and family. Anyone have some recommendations that work for them?
Alcohol increases anxiety overall and lowers mood. See Andrew Huberman talk about alcohol on RUclips, he's a Stanford Neuroscientist. It feels relaxing in the moment but globally your anxiety will be worse. Same is true for smokers who tend to think it relaxes them - actually their anxiety levels drop after they quit
My recommendations (tested on myself): reducing caffeine intake, regular sports, sauna, hot baths, cold baths, getting enough sleep, doing a job that you like, not hanging around with axxholes, boundaries, standing up for yourself, having positive contacts with people, hobbies you love, contact with nature.
Would be interesting to see a video about psychedelic drugs from dr Greger
Why not show the linear graph? Very odd.
I never bought the red wine argument when I discovered that red grapes also have resveratrol. I usually avoid eating large amounts of grapes because they are simply too high in simple sugars: glucose and fructose. And it is easy to overdose this type of fruit. Dr Gregor keeps citing how healthy berries are, they are definitely less sweet.
Is resveratrol bad? As for the simple sugars, that's why they're used for wine - the sugars turn into alcohol. A dry wine will have none of the simple sugars left as it will all have turned into ethanol (and possibly trace amounts of methanol from pectin?).
Red grapes fight breast and other cancers, though. I eat them for snacks as well as red apples for the same reason.
To all non beer drinker... Live a little...
Reduce stress . 😎
I don't drink but am not convinced by the Mendelian argument. I guess the inability to metabolize alcohol has a direct influence on his damage potential. Suppose I'm one of those unlucky, if I don't drink it's all good, if I drink just a little bit I may experience more damage than a normal person. In this view the absence of a j curve may be due to the worse effect on moderate drinkers than a positive effect of no drinking.
I think you misunderstood the study. The moderate drinkers in the study weren't carriers of the abnormal genetic variant; only the abstainers were.
@@TasteOfButterflies for what I can understand, it's a continuous mix of various gene variants that are associated with different consumption of alcohol. It's not yes or no. Can't find what you say, instead they say:"despite efforts to minimize the effects of pleiotropy, it remains possible that the associations between alcohol intake and cardiovascular disease represent a shared genetic basis, rather than a direct causal relationship.".
I'll drink to that.
I don't know about that final statement in the video. I'm pretty seriously addicted to my daily oatmeal-with-fruit breakfast.
What a buzzkill, man. Sike. I just quit drinking 3 weeks ago. It's nice to be reminded that it's the healthier lifestyle.
I totally stopped drinking alcohol. For some reason I feel sick after a glass of wine (without food). And liver pain comes on just after 1 1/2 beers. I also have a fatty liver. I had tests done and my liver is OK (not cirrhosed?). I think I "burned my liver" so to speak, because I drank a lot when I was young. Tequila in Mexico; be careful that stuff is poison. Now, Even a beer makes me sick, without food. I don't miss it anyway.
I drink 8 oz. of dry red wine daily but only with a meal. Doing so destresses me greatly and helps with digesting my food, which is mostly plant based, fresh, and often uncooked.
Damien Hirst Cherry Blossoms? Ok Doc I see you
An apple a day doesn't even know what it would do to you, so the saying goes!
“Since last tuesday” 😂
The only real benefit I can think of is reducing stress.
Red wine has a lot of Flavonoids, but you can get those from fruit and vegetables, no need to drink alcohol .
And perpetual stress kills. That's why moderate drinkers live longer.
Alcohol increases anxiety overall and lowers mood. See Andrew Huberman talk about alcohol on RUclips, he's a Stanford Neuroscientist. It feels relaxing in the moment but globally your anxiety will be worse. Same is true for smokers who tend to think it relaxes them - actually their anxiety levels drop after they quit
Alcohol (red wine) in moderation is good for me - about one to 3 glasses per week. It helps me digest some certain foods faster. I don't have issues with liver cirrhosis since I am on very diverse diet - I take liver protective foods each week. Same with blood pressure - its almost on the lower end most of the time since I found out that ginger lowers my blood pressure. So, I take ginger almost daily.
I even add wine to some plant powders to take a tot about once a week.
RIP to the much worshipped alcoholic J-curve.
I'm an appleholic
It's very much possible that alcohol in small quantities, say like 2-4 glasses/week provides hormetic benefits. The dose always makes the poison. A little bit of poison actually makes our body more resilient. You also see this effect in many plant foods. Ofcourse, this is all highly individual and a slippery slope with alcohol. Also I dont hear much talk about calories in alcohol. Most people are already in a caloric surplus, combine that with alcoholic beverages and you will get fat much faster.
I've actually heard that exact argument from a pregnant woman who wanted to smoke. To make her baby stronger, of course, not because she was clinging to a weak excuse to keep her addiction going.
My liver loves me. My kidneys however keep trying to leave my body and punch me in the face for eating bacon and red meat.
* Appleholics Anonymous. 🤣🤣
Devil's advocate here, how can you subtract wine from a Mediterranean diet? Isn't a Mediterranean diet still supposed to be pretty healthy?
👍🖖
First of all, I think that everyone is different and should assess what their own risk is. Some people drink life long and live a very long time. To simply say it's black and white is a fallacy.
Its a statistical analysis, of course there are differences between people.
But you don't know how you will react to daily drinking (at least until our genetic analysis improves drastically).
The question becomes how harmful something like light drinking is compared to resulting depression or anxiety that may come from constantly abstaining from any potentially harmful thing someone might enjoy. Having a few beers on the weekend will probably benefit your mental health rather than worrying constantly or never having any fun.
@@thesleepinggirl you're literally crazy. Also, because it's a depressant doesn't mean it makes you depressed; it just slows down the CNS. When I say a few I mean like 3 drinks a weekend.
@@parsonsfra If you're needing alcohol to escape from your mental health problems then maybe you should stop the alcohol and deal with the mental health problems.
If you keep having to drink alcohol to deal with your anxiety and depression it's obviously not not helping the problems, it's just escaping them for a while.
@@5t4n5 Look, never said self treatment is good for depression or anxiety. I am saying that constant restraint and lack of having a good time can worsen anxiety and depression
@@thesleepinggirl anytime ;)
@@parsonsfra If you're having to restrain yourself from having a drink because you can't have a good time without it then you have an alcohol problem.
I don't drink at all, i don't need to restrain myself from alcohol use, and i have plenty of good times in my life without it.
And yes, i used to drink, so i know exactly what alcohol does, and it doesn't solve anxiety and depression, it causes it.
It's like smokers reaching for their next cigarette because of the anxiety that comes from withdrawing from the last one. They think the next cigarette is solving their anxiety, but it's the last cigarette that actually caused it. It's the same with alcohol. It'll leave you wanting every time, which is why you can't have a good time without it and find that you have to actually restrain yourself (your words, not mine) if you wanted to stop yourself from doing it.
So can anyone tell me, any Doctor, scientist, "what is actually healthy to consume"!? As far as I can see, "there's nothing that is healthy that Americans eat"! What? Bread, steak, hamburgers, pizza, pasta, orange juice, sodas, popcorn, potatoes, grapes, milk, salad??? American food is probably high on the "do not consume list"! Can we eat Fried food, baked food, are we supposed to eat foods Raw or cooked??? Let's find the healthiest humans on the planet and "watch what they eat"! I'll bet you, they are Not eating 100% healthy foods! And don't forget, "we are supposed to enjoy our short lives here on this planet"???
Absolutely not what I wanted to hear, but is inherently obvious.
i get smashed every weekend, you gotta.. its the only life worth dying for and we all gotta die one day
In 3 weeks I’m running a marathon in France with 20 food and wine stops on the course. What do I do to the J curve?! 🤣
Keep running and have your wine, but with food.
So he is saying the alcohol industry is putting their profits before my health. Like big tobacco , crazy
For those folks in the blue zones who do consume alcohol it makes me wonder maybe all their other activities negate the effects?
At least in Sardinia and Ikaria they drink mostly locally made, probably organic, red wine. Alcoholic drinks are not all made equal.
Also reducing stress is a real benefit as stress is as harmful as a little alcohol might be.
This was my justification for alcohol as it truly relaxes me and lowers my stress and anxiety. I’d rather find healthy ways to do this though. Maybe some herbal tea, praying, meditation, counseling, or talking with friends and family.
Alcohol does reduce arterial plaque but at the cost of other things. There is no net benefit.
Vitamin c reduces arterial plaque
What about kombucha, contains some alcohol.
Kombucha’s nasty. I never touch it
Usually not enough to keep minors from buying it. Not worth worrying about. More worrisome is the fact that effects of kombucha on the gut are not understood at all. With some of the stuff Dr. Gregor has been saying lately about fermented foods that is what concerns me.
@@justwhistlinpixie good to know, reconsidering my beverage choices.
Any fermented food, including sourdough bread, sauerkraut, and yogurt, contains some alcohol. It's not a big deal: they're tiny amounts compared to the alcohol content of proper alcoholic beverages.
Unhealthy food and alcohol are sports. Pastimes.
Benefit for me is not going crazy and needing psych drugs to keep me from "sorting out" some of the woes of society today.
I love WFPB, but also a good beer or wine. WFPB changed my life so much that the alcohol is far less dangerous to me than before. I've also dramatically reduced my alcohol consumption. I quit for six months and can go without now, but prefer not to.
So much cope in the comments. Lol
Probably same issue with coffee, reverse causation. People that can not tolerate coffee are probably not as healthy.
Nothing beats a good scotch after a successful hunt; pairs well with liver
As a heavy drinker, I take it I am not concerned.
(Edit)
🍺 got *gluten* it don't it?
🍷 got *glyfocate* in it
Gluten free beer is sold here starting this year, I have been buying it.
@@cyberfunk3793
Wine has pesticide
@@UHaulShorts I don't drink wine and probably one can find some wine without pestices too.
@@cyberfunk3793
I hope not gmo seed?
@@UHaulShorts Gmo seed what? Gmo or not, what difference does it make when the issue is what is actually in anything, not how it is made.
Alcohol is a drug
Timothy 5:23
Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.
Isn’t that also because back then it was much safer to drink wine than water because of bacteria and other stuff in the water?
True
Yes it was because of bacteria. But I think that's why Alot of people still believe a little is good
@@mr.daughtry7549 might be!
Where'd Timmy get his degree?
As a Muslim I'm glad I've never had even a sip of alcohol. Thank God for Islam.
Ever since I discovered dry red wine as a young college student, I have enjoyed drinking a glass with my main meals, except breakfast. The Mediterranean diet with lots of leafy greens, 40 min. of Tai Chi, 40 min. of Heavyhands, walking with my dogs, and working in my yard have transformed my nearly 70 year old body: 5'7", 135 lbs., resting heart rate 55 per min., and BP 115/65. Wine in moderation is good for me, but only one component of a satisfying lifestyle.
To cancel this Charleton is a step in the right direction for your health.
no meat, no alcohol, no butter, no sugar, no salt, no cheese, no olive oil, no fish, no honey, no eggs.... is there anything left to sell your hairshirt wholefoods diet of nuts beans brocolli and brown bread to sane thinking people?
i eat sauerkraut with my beans very salty and very delicious, also there are healthy drugs like psychedelics i doubt he is against those
@@RealJonzuk didn’t he do a video saying pickled veggies are a carcinogen to your stomach? The kimchi video.
Presumably "sane thinking people" are capable of judging the results of scientific studies for themselves. Still, please fill free to continue poisoning yourself in anyway you see fit.
If we're really strict: no brown bread either (which is most if the time just coloured anyways), only intact whole grains ;)
But no way I'm giving up bread as well lol
Scientific evidence.
Your videos are great, Instagram business inquiries, looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks!