Exploring the Advantages and Disadvantages of Alcohol

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Humans have known alcohol since ancient days.

Chemically, it is ethanol or ethyl alcohol.

Besides human consumption, it also finds many uses in daily life.

There are different opinions regarding its consumption and the chances of damage to social harmony.

Hence, alcoholic drinks are manufactured and distributed on a large scale under strict government regulations.

Even to minimize the misuse, governments levy heavy excise taxes and employ excise officers to check alcohol production, transport, and usage in society.

Of course, tax on alcoholic beverages is one of the most significant sources of revenue for governments in some countries.

Here, we will discuss the positive and negative effects of alcohol on the body, its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of alcohol consumption

Many of them consume alcohol, but few people are addicted to it. Some consume it in limited quantities daily, while others take it occasionally.

People who prefer it believe that the advantages of its consumption are as follows.

1. Relieves mental stress

  • It is believed to relieve mental tension after daily activities. Hence, its consumption provides relief from stress.
  • It is said to lower the control in some brain regions, leading to a decrease in stress.

2. Celebration

positive and negative effects of alcohol
  • This is quite common, and most celebrations and parties include alcoholic beverages to warm up the show.
  • It is also the reason why people open up and build stronger relations.

3. Provide better sleep.

  • Alcohol has a sedative effect, and hence, drinking it promotes sleepiness.

4. Increases in appetite.

  • People tend to crave food after drinking.
  • Alcohol raises blood flow to the stomach and gut and also irritates the gut locally.
  • This property raises hunger and, thereby, food consumption.

5. Keeps the body warm

  • Drinking alcohol keeps the body warm, especially during winter and cold conditions.
  • It increases blood flow to the skin and thus produces warmth.

6. Helps put on weight

  • Alcohol provides a high amount of calories by metabolism, thereby adding to the body’s fat content.
  • This might seem advantageous to those who are slim.

7. Helps neglect severe pain

  • During an injury or accident, alcohol intake can make the person less sensitive to physical pain.
  • Because the centers in the brain that feel the pain are sedated, leading to less sensation of pain.

Benefits of alcohol other than drinking

  • It is a suitable solvent for many extraction procedures. Since it is an organic solvent, it is suitable for extracting plant constituents, drugs, nutrients, etc.
  • It is an excellent antiseptic, disinfectant, and sterilizing agent. At 70% concentration, it is an effective disinfectant to kill all germs. Hence, it is incorporated into most deodorants and antiperspirants. It is also believed to reduce sweating.
alcohol benefit
Antiseptic lotion.
  • It is a good preservative. Alcohol’s presence in any medical preparations is an excellent preservative, as seen in homeopathic drug preparations. Drugs or medicinal preparations stay safe for a long time.
  • Astringent: It precipitates and denatures surface proteins, making tissues soft. In long-term bedridden patients, it is used to harden the bony surfaces of the back.
  • Cooling agent: Alcohol acts as a refrigerant by cooling the skin’s surface when applied. When a pack immersed in alcohol is placed on the head, it produces a cooling sensation in times of fever with high temperatures.
  • Reduces pain:  When alcohol is used to massage over the surface of painful muscle regions, it relieves deep-seated pains.

Disadvantages of alcoholism

1. Loss of self-control

  • Drinking leads to a loss of self-control with awkward and troublesome behavior.
  • In medical terms, it is a sedative, and in high doses, the person loses self-control in the body, which can lead to accidents.

2. Damage to the liver

  • Heavy consumption can damage the body’s organs and systems. The liver, stomach, and brain are especially affected.
  • Since alcohol is mostly metabolized in the liver, it is the organ that is impacted most. It may lead to fatty liver.
  • Besides, it can also lead to cardiovascular troubles and high Blood pressure. So, limiting drinking is needed to rescue the organs.

Further, having a protein-rich diet is necessary to rejuvenate the liver.

3. Effect on heart

Moderate to high doses cause tachycardia as a symptom with a faster heartbeat.

Chronic alcoholism is found to cause heart disease like cardiac arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, and even hypertension.

4. Nerve damage

  • It causes slow and progressive degeneration of the nervous system.
  • Chemically, it is a lipophilic solvent, and hence, it can readily penetrate into fat tissues like the brain.
  • At high concentrations, it can damage the neurons.

5. Leads to obesity.

  • It can put on excess weight. This is due to the low utilization of carbohydrates taken in the form of food.
  • So other calorie-generating foods, especially carbohydrates and fats, are not used up, leading to their accumulation and weight gain.

6. Addiction

Advantages and Disadvantages of Alcohol
  • It is addictive, and people are prone to drink it unnecessarily. This leads to a disturbance in a healthy lifestyle.
  • He may reach a stage where his daily routine does not happen without drinking.

7. Sedation and death

  • Alcohol is a sedative at lower doses. But heavy consumption can lead to coma and death.

8. Accidents and social trouble.

  • Socially, alcohol has an impact as there can be accidents due to drinking and driving.
  • Also, one can lose his senses and misbehave, causing trouble for others. Besides, a costly drink so can put an economic burden on low-income people.

9. Alcohol poisoning

When taken in large amounts, it could be harmful and lead to toxicity. The toxicity is categorized into two types as

  1. Acute poisoning
  2. Chronic poisoning.

Acute alcohol poisoning

This occurs due to the sudden intake of large amounts of alcohol. The person may go into sedation, coma, and even death.

The best way to manage this is to take him to the hospital. The person is given respiratory support and other measures to save their life.

Chronic alcohol intoxication

Here, the intoxication occurs due to the long-standing intake of alcohol. The person becomes addicted to it, so he does not get the euphoria at normal doses and tends to take large doses.

This can lead to organ damage and death. Hence, he has to be discouraged from consuming any amount of alcohol further.

References

  1. Alcohol’s Effects on Health
  2. Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health: The Dose Makes the Poison or the Remedy
Dr. Ranga Reddy N, PhD (IIT-BHU)
Professor and Head of Pharmacy Practice

Dr. Ranga Reddy N teaches pharmacology, clinical toxicology, therapeutics, and AI in healthcare at St. Johns College of Pharmaceutical Sciences and builds learning apps for health students. On StudyRead, he writes evidence-based content across the medical sciences for health science students.

Profiles: ResearchGate | ORCID | Google Scholar

Leave a comment

  1. For those who consume alcohol socially or daily, PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Alcohol is NOT the problem. People’s ability to be RESPONSIBLE is.

  4. To whom it may concern,
    Hi everyone,
    I hope this text message finds all of you well.

    I lost my father in January 2023 due to a liver cancer caused by alcohol and I carry vividly memories of the pain he was going through until his death. He was a personal trainer and held all the pro-alcohol viewpoints plus a well-structured body in his 60s. When the cancer came it sounded unbelievable to him, particularly by seeing his arguments overwhelmingly defeated. My father died in my arms.
    For sure, drinking alcohol can potentially be one of the worst decisions ones can make.
    Although I know that I´ll always lose the debate dealing with that specific topic, and that I cannot change the world, I still think it’s completely pragmatic to advise you not to go into that path. Enjoy your mental sanity while you have time.

    Warm regards,
    Daniel

  5. These so called benefits are in general very wrong. It says what people believe to be benefits. They are what people tell themselves and others to justify drinking.

    Alcohol does not improve sleep. It might help or make you fall asleep but the quality of the sleep is very bad.

    There are much better ways to relieve stress at the end of the day, sport for example.

    Alcohol only momentarily relieves stress (that it has probably helped to create).

    Alcohol is the only drug that you have to justify NOT taking. It's a poison.

  7. Too much of every thing is bad,of it is good cos it help’s body system, but too much harm’s body system too.

  8. I find drinking beer or spirit quiet helpful. I drink moderately, of purse, and after the days work. It helps me to cool off – I mean, it helps to forget the stress of the day, and makes me happy. What can I do without alcohol?

  9. It’s great to know that alcohol can help relieve mental stress. My friends like to have a drink after work at a pub inside the mall. No one in my family drinks, but I guess a glass of wine will not harm at all.

  10. I like how you mentioned that alcohol can help relieve mental stress, and help you feel better after a long day. My friends all love drinking alcohol, but I’ve never joined them because I didn’t know how I felt about it. After learning about all of the benefits of drinking alcohol, I will definitely consider joining my friends next time.

  11. I hope that in the short future all humans in the world stop drinking Alcohol. Alcohol destroy yourselves and your society.

  12. I drink alcohol when I cant sleep at night…….and I drink coffee to keep me awake in the morning / afternoon………so far…..so good baby !!!

  13. it brings positive effect to my body……….before I start drinking………I always stay up late at night ( 2/3 am ) but after i drink alcohol at dinner……I get sleepy right away…….so i guess it benefits me to drink alcohol right ?

  14. The cardinal rule of toxicology- everything is poison, only the dose permits something to not be poison…

    Every drug can be good or bad. Just depends how you use it.

    If you don’t have the willpower to control yourself, probably better to stand clear of alcohol.

  15. I agree that alcohols have bad effects. Thorough they can say that it can improve your health. Because if someone is living without alcohol I am assuring you that they can live a 100 percent healthy life rather than to take and end up in so many social problems.

  19. I want to say when I have a cold the alcohol heals me up. It is really best madison for me
    and also it brings a good condition

  20. alcohol is bad and is abusive to human body. no matter how good it is it will still bring out a bad result.

  21. Visit any house and ask if anyone did any good social/civil act after drinking alcohol, and u may find none. Ask if anything bad act done, and u would find numerous. Most crimes of father raping their own daughters happens under influence of alcohol.
    Let alcohol be used in medicines only, and not be part of our regular day-to-day life.

  22. There is a disadvantage attached to every advantage of alcohol intake, so it is better to avoid that devil holding a bible in one hand and a gun in another.

  25. intake of alcoholic will only make you enjoy your soul that war against the Spirit. and will also give you unreliable temporary relief.

  26. To be honest alcohol is never good it has destroy many lives of the young and old people. if you remove the intake of alcoholic drinks there will be less corruption. men will rather go to God for solution than alcohol. alcohol will only add more to your problems.

  28. The benefits of alcohol are mostly external, like for preservation, cooling effects, massage etc, so if u say drinking it is good what is very important advantage does it have inside your body

  29. Hi guys i think u r all right ..there is no benefit frm drinking alcohol but only adding problems to our life,

  34. hi friends.i think alcohol has more disadvantages to advantages in our life.it has advantages for those who sell it but even the its income is not good for sellers because the problems make to those consume it.our body makes alcohol in low quantities through our metabolism happening in our body.so we don t need excess drink more than is needed

  38. Hi friends Just two or three month before I started drinking but only thrice I drank.I am reading this advantage and disadvantage of alcohol because last night when I was with my friends they were not drinking in limited manner and it was over the limit. And after two three hour every one started falling down vomiting and all which makes me so scared and of course I was not drinking last night but I was thinking that I ll not consume alcohol now, but I think consumption of alcohol in limited manner is good as mentioned above by someone.

  39. I Agreed With Dr.Ashwini That Alcohol Is Not Bad All Tht Way Just Depends On The Consumptional Rate So You Don’t Fall Into It’s Disadvantages.