The harmful effects of alcohol

Alcohol is toxic to the body and can cause various diseases, from liver cirrhosis to cancer. It does not provide nutrients of any kind, just calories, therefore it does not have a useful function for the human body; indeed, on the contrary, it can cause very serious damage to various organs, particularly the liver and the brain.

Alcohol can be addictive and in this sense it is even more dangerous than many illegal drugs. However, the negative effects of spirits and alcohol in general do not end here. According to data released by the World Health Organization , alcohol abuse is the cause of about half of all accidents: road accidents, domestic accidents, workplace accidents ... and over a third of the murders.

How much alcohol is in spirits

Alcohol, when abused, always hurts, but alcoholic beverages are not all the same in qualitative terms, or rather, there are intelligent (and moderate) ways of drinking. There is indeed a big difference between a glass of wine or beer at the table and drinking to get drunk or make heavy use of spirits. Wine and beer, in fact, if taken in moderate quantities and in healthy conditions, can bring some benefits to the body, which are due to the substances contained in the ingredients of which they are composed, the resveratol in wine and the xantumol in beer, as much to give two concrete examples.

It may be objected that many spirits come from the same raw materials as wine and beer, but it is not the same thing as the alcohol content of spirits is, as the name suggests, much higher than what can be found in a glass of wine or in a glass of beer. To understand the difference between these drinks just look at how many milliliters are sufficient for each of them to reach an alcoholic unit, conventionally considered the unit of measurement to establish the "safe" alcohol doses that can be taken in a day.

One unit of alcohol is 12 grams of pure alcohol . An adult man can safely take two alcoholic units within 24 hours, while an adult woman only one unit. These are purely indicative indications as the ability to metabolize alcohol depends on several factors, including, for example, body weight and general health, but it is a convention that helps us better understand how to drink with intelligence.

As for the effects of spirits , just think that with just a small glass of a 40 ml super-alcohol you will reach the alcohol unit; or a quantity of alcohol equal to that contained in 125 ml of wine and in 330 ml of beer. If we think that spirits are often added to soft drinks and sweet drinks or used for the preparation of appetizing cocktails for the palate, we can better understand the hidden risks.

Alcohol alters psychophysical conditions

But what are the immediate effects of alcohol on psychophysical conditions, based on the quantity taken ? Here is a list, bearing in mind that an alcohol level of 0.5 g / l is reached with about two alcoholic units in adult women and about three units in adult men. Children under the age of 16 should not consume even minimal amounts of alcohol, as the enzymes that allow their metabolization, before that age, are not yet developed.

• With 0.5 g / l: reduction of the reaction capacity, of the visual field, of the perception of luminous and sound stimuli
• With 0.6 g / l: delayed perception of obstacles and movements
• With 0.7 g / l: reduction of the coordination of movements linked to driving
• With 0.8 g / l: reduction of the ability to assess distances, vehicle trajectories and dimensions
• 1 g / l: euphoria, with motor disorders that reduce balance
• Over 1 g / l: mental confusion, total loss of lucidity

The source of this data is the Higher Institute of Health .