You’ve probably seen headlines in the media many times like, "Scientists have proven that a glass of wine a day prolongs life. " This is not worth believing for several reasons.
First, scientists do not "prove" anything. They test hypotheses under certain conditions and draw conclusions that are correct with some probability.
For example, a special study could test how alcohol is linked to the deaths of white European men. Even if as a result it turns out that a glass of wine a day is associated with a longer lifespan, it is not a fact that this connection is causal.
Perhaps a third factor is to blame - for example, income levels: wealthy men in Europe can afford a daily glass of wine, as well as quality food and good medicine. Or the cause and consequences are confusing: it is not alcohol that improves health. but those who are relatively healthy can drink a little. Finally, in such a study nothing is known about women, people of other races and nationalities, and there are still many unaccounted for factors. Therefore there is no way to extend the findings of one study to all people.
Another thing is that, even if you analyze all the studies, it turns out that there is no connection between small doses of alcohol and better health. There is such a scientific method as meta-analysis - scientists collect all relevant research on a particular topic, summarize it and draw conclusions. In the meta-analysis, the errors of individual scientific papers are corrected, and their conclusions are more or less applicable to the life of each of us. Thus, according to a meta-analysis, there is no difference in the health of people who drink little and those who do not drink at all.
So alcohol in small doses - no more than 10 grams of ethanol a day (around a glass of wine, beer or a glass of vodka) will hardly improve your well-being in any way, but it won't get much worse either.
Wait, but alcohol and a healthy lifestyle are incompatible!
Let me tell you more - modern life is generally not very compatible with a healthy lifestyle. If you live in the city and drive a car, you no longer lead a healthy lifestyle.
For example, there are so many carcinogens in the air in a car - vodka was never dreamed of! Running on a busy highway is more deadly than those 20 grams of pure alcohol. And even if you smoke, it doesn't matter what you drink.
That doesn’t mean you can drink as much as you want, because everything is lost anyway.
The alcoholism of "beer" is worse than "vodka". There is no "beer", "vodka", "pynonoir" and other types of alcoholism. There is only one type - ethanol dependence.
For this addiction, it does not matter at all in what form alcohol will enter the body. Another thing is that over time, the alcoholic's need for ethanol grows. It happens that a person is no longer able to drink as much beer or wine to achieve a "state" - because the size of the stomach is limited. Therefore, most alcoholics eventually switch to vodka - it is ideal for them in terms of price / quality / performance.
Let’s just say switching to vodka is an indication that the addiction has gone far enough. Few people start drinking right away - usually "light alcohol" is used at first, like beer and wine. But just as there are no "easy drugs", there is no "light alcohol" - any drink can be addictive - and it's not far offof vodka.
If you drink, don’t mix drinks!
Once again, the body doesn’t care from which drink it got ethanol. The severity of intoxication (and the consequent hangover) depends only on how much pure alcohol you drink. Stir, don’t stir - if you overdo it, it will be bad in the morning anyway.
There are, of course, nuances - some drinks contain "aggravating" substances, the same methanol. It is most often found in products, especially domestic, raw materials used pectin-rich berries - pears, apples, cherries, to a lesser extent - grapes. you mix vodka and calvados, in the morning you will feel the effects of ethanol and methanol. About the same after cognac with beer - the hangover will simply be "brightly colored", with "notes" of toxic substances typical of both drinks. Just in case.
You can warm up in the cold by drinking 100 grams
You can not. On the contrary, you can freeze even more, all the way to death.
Alcohol causes blood vessels to dilate through which heat is released. If you enter the room from the cold and drink a little, it can help you warm up faster: the blood vessels will dilate, but the heat will stay with you because it is warm around you as well. But if you drink alcohol on the street, the heat through the dilated vessels will quickly leave your body - and you will freeze even more.
Due to this "special effect" of alcohol, drunk people freeze on the street even at + 20⁰C: the temperature of the air and soil is lower than the body temperature, the body very quickly gives off too much heat and catches a cold - to death.
Alcohol is a good sleeping pill
Alcohol actually suppresses brain activity, making you feel sleepy and fall asleep quickly. But such a dream will most likely be short and unproductive.
The effect of alcohol is similar to the effect of some sleeping pills. You fall asleep quickly, but the sleep phases are disturbed and you can wake up in the middle of the night - and not fall asleep again until morning.
"Alcoholic" sleep is not physiological, incomplete, it does not bring normal rest. Therefore, it is not recommended to use alcoholic beverages as sleeping pills, and it is generally advisable not to drink just before bedtime.