The Pros And Cons Of Alcohol

2082 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: exercise and healthy eating benefits

What is alcohol? Where does it even come from? Is it bad? What effect does it have on the body? What are the benefits? These popular questions are the focal points of this discussion. The moral and religious debate of whether or not alcohol is wrong to consume is not in the scope of this conversation. Alcohol is a widely used substance by many people, and I intend to take an objective, factual, and practical approach to this topic. What is Alcohol? Chemistry is at the heart of all nutrition. Thus, to truly grasp alcohol, one must know the basic molecular compounds that the body consumes and divides. The most accessible energy resource the body ingests is carbohydrates (rice, beans, breads, pasta, sugar, fruit, etc…). Carbohydrates are made …show more content…

Moderate drinkers are also less likely to be overweight than heavy drinkers according to the 1985 health interview survey (1). Though alcohol has a host of biological benefits, one must not forget the social aspect of alcohol. After a long, stressful day/week people need something calming. Fellowship with friends and family with a nice cold beer can often satisfy that urge and release endorphins in the brain to send a sense of euphoria throughout the body. Conclusion It is impossible to give a clear answer to whether or not alcohol is bad or good for the body. However, one can conclude that heavy alcohol consumption only presents adverse effects. Everybody is different, and the effects of alcohol on a person varies depending on the person’s age, gender, stage in life, genetic makeup, family history, and current fitness level. One must also consider that these benefits and adverse effects of alcohol are influenced by nutrition and physical activity habits. The positive effects are inhibited if someone is not active or mindfully eating healthy. Conversely, the negative effects are enhanced with a similar lifestyle. The facts are presented in this article about the composition and effects of alcohol on the human body and culture. One ought to take into consideration whether the rewards outweigh the risk of drinking alcohol, and if so, what quality and quantity. Whatever the position, one cannot deny the benefits of healthy, active

Show More
Related

  • Alcohol: A Toxin Beyond Personal Harm

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is a clear and colorless liquid with a profound odor. Ethanol is used as a beverage; whether the drink is beer, wine or hard liquor, it is a liquid drug that slows down the central nervous system just like a sedative. Ethyl alcohol is actually classified as a food because it has calories, although it does not have any nutritional value therefore the calories are measured as empty calories. Ethanol is not digested or transported to the bodies’ cells like the normal digestive process; instead it is absorbed directly into the blood stream. Alcohol travels throughout the body by diluting itself in the water already present in the organ systems. Most vital organs, such as the brain, need a large amount of water and blood to function and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of ethyl alcohol. Other than being used as a beverage, ethyl alcohol can be used to clean surfaces from micro organisms, for that reason, one can presume it is toxic to the

    Read More

  • Alcohol And Nutrition Essay

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    The three basic nutritional components found in food--carbohydrates, proteins, and fats--are used as energy after being converted to simpler products. Some alcoholics ingest as much as 50 percent of their total daily calories from alcohol, often neglecting important foods. Even when food intake is adequate, alcohol can damage the mechanisms by which the body controls blood glucose levels, resulting in either increased or decreased blood glucose (glucose is the body's principal sugar. As a result, alcohol causes the brain and other body tissue to be deprived of glucose needed for energy and function. Although alcohol is an energy source, how the body processes and uses the energy from alcohol is more complex than can be explained by a simple calorie conversion value. For example, alcohol provides an average of 20 percent of the calories in the diet of the upper third of drinking Americans, and we might expect many drinkers who consume such amounts to be obese. Instead, national data indicate that, despite higher caloric intake, drinkers are no more obese than nondrinkers. Also, when alcohol is substituted for carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, subjects tend to lose weight, indicating that they derive less energy from alcohol than from food

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Drinking Age

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alcoholic beverages make their appearance in many places other than the local bar or liquor store. These drinks have been known to be consumed at social

    Read More

  • Alcohol abuse among the elderly

    332 Words  | 1 Pages

    Alcoholism accounts for more than 15% of health care costs in the elderly. It is associated with an estimated 100,000 deaths per year in the United States. Alcohol consumption can produce both benefits and risks. In terms of benefits, men who drink two to six alcoholic beverages per week have decreased mortality rates and lower cardiovascular disease when compared with abstainers. On the negative side, two studies of 300,000 men demonstrated increased mortality among those consuming more than 2 to 3 drinks daily. Women, are more affected by less alcohol than men, perhaps because they have a lower blood volume, and so it’s distribution and decreased activity for gastric alcohol dehydrogenase are increased.

    Read More

  • Alcohol: “How Far Will Consumption Go?”

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alcohol can be an addictive substance if abused on a daily basis or consumed in large quantities. Alcohol is technically defined as, “a colorless flammable liquid that has the active principle of intoxicating drinks” (HarperCollins Publishers 2009). One of the leading causes of death in the United States is deaths induced by alcohol. There are many types of alcohol that are produced and distributed throughout the country. Common alcoholic beverages that are sold regularly are vodka, beer, rum, wine, whiskey, and much more. Each type does as much damage to the body as the other one, though they differ in amounts, or percentage, of alcohol. It depends on a person’s body type how alcohol will affect them personally. Weight, height, family background, and gender are common factors associated with a person’s blood alcohol content (HealthCheck Systems 2012).

    Read More

  • Alcohol and its effects

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    This article is aimed towards a large study to estimate the global burden of disease attributable to alcohol. The article tries to identify the relationships between average volume consumption, patterns of drinking, disease, and injury outcomes. The article also gives many numbers to back up its points.

    Read More

  • Alcohol Essay

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alcohol is a colorless, volatile flammable liquid that is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel. Alcohol is a drug and it is classed as a depressant, meaning that it will slow down vital functions. Alcohol is made out of a chemical called ethanol. To make alcohol, they need to have the grains, fruits or vegetables go through a process called fermentation.

    Read More

  • The Use of Alcohol in Society

    2051 Words  | 5 Pages

    Every society has its own views on how the consumption of alcohol should be handled and regulated. Their differences create a trickle effect of how it is used, and is distinctive to that culture or society. Many cultures drinking habits go hand in hand with religion, and social customs. Drinking alcohol is in many cases a part of extensive learned tradition, where people pride themselves with their ability to hold their liquor. In countries where alcohol is part of the “norm”, the outcomes of drinking habits or the effects of alcohol are much different, “A population that drinks daily may have a high rate of cirrhosis and other medical problems but few accidents, fights, homicides, or other violent alcohol-associated conflicts; a population with predominantly binge drinking shows the opposite complex of drinking problems”#. It has been observed that cultures with rich traditions and acceptance of alcohol use tend to deal less with the typical alcohol related problems, compared to the cultures who treat alcohol as an escape or something that will make them better in the eyes of others. In these societies, like the U.S. alcohol hasn’t always been present and grown to be...

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Drinking

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    Drinking alcohol is associated with many adverse health problems in the short and long-term. These include cancer, stroke, heart disease, miscarriage, premature birth and unintentional injuries. Despite the fact that alcohol brings many negative impacts, many people still choose to drink and do not overcome their drinking habit. They have been successfully seduced by alcohol until drinking has become their addiction. However, some of them try to quit drinking, but they still cannot break the addiction. Basically, quitting alcohol is difficult and almost impossible for them because of brain-craving, lack of belief and support, and weak willpower.

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Drinking Alcohol

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Let’s ask a question: why do people start using alcohol at the first place? And why they start doing it at such young age? Well, just “like other adult drinkers, college students expect alcohol to produce a series of positive effects – relaxation, socialization, sexuality – and the strength of these positive expectancies is related to drinking” (Walters & Baer, 2006). And who wouldn’t take a couple drinks to gain a group of friends? It lowers social inhibitions, so it is very well known among shy individuals as well. However, this activity can be also pressurized by peers. In this case, pressure wouldn’t be effective on people who do not accept or see positive aspects of occasional drinking. That means, everyone starts by saying ‘yes’ to a glass.

    Read More

  • Alcoholism In Paula Hawkins's The Girl On The Train

    1613 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alcoholism is of interest to many people in the world today. This paper examines what has recently been learned about alcoholism, especially how serious of a disorder it actually is. Some of the aspects that are explained are what exactly alcohol abuse involves, the negative effects alcohol has on the human body, and options for treatment.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: The Problem Of Alcohol Consumption

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    Health problem and drunk driving hit the list. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. In addition, alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion [3]. Not only that, alcohol can also increase the risk of developing certain cancer. But almost every drinker knows these horrible diseases above, then why they never stop drinking? The point is, a short-term alcohol consumption does tiny harm to human’s body, only long-term alcohol consumption can impair the body badly. Nevertheless, the contradiction is apparent to find out: when a drinker finds that there is something wrong with their health, it is too late. And in a drinker’s early life, they can not completely realize which kind of damage that alcohol consumption can lead because they were healthy at that time——at least on the surface. Alcohol just like a chronic disease, making drinkers less vigilant, and brings on severe health consequences in the end.

    Read More

  • Alcohol Informative Speech Essay

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alcohol is made through a process called fermentation (how alcohol is made). It is the process of sugar being broken down into carbon dioxide and ethanol. The main ingredient in fermentation is yeast. Yeast breaks down grains, fruits, and its main function is to get the alcohol

    Read More

  • The Effects of Drinking Alcohol

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    People started drinking alcohol socially for fun years ago, but after experiencing the effects of alcohol and with the amounts of stress people are facing nowadays; drinking alcohol became an addiction that in some cases is out of control. Alcohol is also considered a drug and it is addictive, and it has many bad effects. The main effect of drinking alcohol is causing disease; it has a lot of bad effects on an alcoholic’s human body organs and may cause death in some cases. There are other health related effects of alcohol that include: immediate effects and long term effects. As I mentioned addiction is one of the bad effects of alcohol, and it may cause people to lose family members, jobs and money if not treated. Drinking alcohol is also very dangerous for pregnant women, and has a lot of bad effects on women and their babies; some of these effects may be fatal. Withdrawal problems after quitting drinking alcohol are also bad and include symptoms like nausea, anxiety, and many more that will be discussed in the following paragraphs. The last effect of drinking alcohol that will be discussed in this essay is treatment; costs and effectiveness. Drinking alcohol affects the human body, mind and life in a very bad way, and just like drugs; alcoholics have to deal with the negative effects of drinking alcohol.

    Read More

  • Essay About Alcohol Abuse

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problem of alcohol use is very relevant nowadays. Today alcohol consumption characterized by vast numbers in the world. All of society is suffering from this, but primarily jeopardized the younger generation: children, teenagers, young people, and the health of future mothers. Because alcohol is particularly active effect on the body that are not formed, gradually destroying it. The harm of alcohol abuse is evident. It is proved that when alcohol is ingested inside the body, it is carried by blood to all organs and has harmful effect on them until destruction. Systematic use of alcohol develops a dangerous disease such as alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is curable as other diseases. The big problem is that most of the alcohol products which are made in private places contain many toxic substances, defective products often leads to poisoning and even death. All this has negative impact on society and its cultural values.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Alcohol

Open Document