Positive Effects of Alcohol

Red wine has recently been proved to possess the medicinal properties of countering harmful viruses that attack human body! Due to the increasing popularity of alcoholic beverages in the medical field, parliament is initiating a bill to label alcohol as a medicine! Sounds astonishing, right? Well, we all are aware of the fact that no government will pass a law like that. 

Now you might be wondering the purpose of these lines in the article. The purpose of such a fantasy is merely to break down some strong notions you happen to possess for alcohol and other spirited beverages. We all have heard stories of excessive alcohol consumption or alcohol abuse by a person causing negative health implications.

However, contrary to the popular belief and opinions, the purpose of this article is not to bring forth the ill effects of alcohol and discourage you from consuming it. This write-up will familiarize you with alcohol health benefits. 

Various medical studies and scientific research have been able to prove that alcohol, if consumed in moderation, can provide certain health benefits as well. Read on further to come across these benefits levied by alcohol consumption. 

Alcohol Health Benefits:

• Moderate consumption of alcohol is considered to be beneficial to health as per hundreds of studies conducted by different countries. The studies bring out result that might please moderate consumers of alcohol. According to these studies, people who take in a sensible quantity of alcohol have lower risk of coronary heart diseases.
• These studies bring forth that all the three forms of alcohol beer, wine and distilled spirits, all protect from heart diseases only if the quantity is kept under check. Wine is proved to be more protective than the other two forms. The study also emphasises on controlled consumption of alcohol, which if abused, can make a person prone to coronary heart diseases and cancer.
• Alcohol consumption, especially wine, is said to have a positive impact on blood triglyceride profiles and helps in controlling high blood pressure cases.
• Reasonable intake of alcohol is also said to defy the affects of insulin resistance and lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. Alcohol, if consumed as recommended, is also said to reduce the risk of certain form of cancer like lymphoma and kidney cancer.
• Research conducted also shows that people who consume limited quantity of alcohol are less prone to illness in general and therefore, tend to live longer when compared to people who consume alcohol in excessive.
• Alcohol being a warm beverage keeps your body warm and is the perfect friend in severe chilling winter nights. Moreover, increase in body temperature with every sip of alcohol also speeds up your metabolism rate, thereby making you feel energetic.
• Alcohol is also said to be a brain depressant and intake of alcohol in small quantity takes away the feeling of hesitation, caution, self-criticism and restraint, making you a free man in real sense. This effect of alcohol indirectly eradicates anxiety and elevates your mood and positive feelings.
• Alcohol can also serve the purpose of a stimulus to your heart and skeletal system, which will increase your heart rate and muscular activity thereby making you feel active and energetic. When alcohol runs through your system, it increases the intrinsic adrenaline release in your body that makes you feel active.
• If consumed within limits and as recommended alcohol is also believed to be an aphrodisiac that instils aggressive sexual behaviour since restraints and inhibitions are all swayed away.
• Red wine is rich in antioxidants, ingredient needed by the body to purify self. Therefore, consumption of red wine can provide the required amount of antioxidants to the body further providing a healthy and happy life.
• Alcoholic beverages are not just used for drinking. We are well aware of beer being used as hair conditioner. This property of beer being an excellent hair conditioner adds on to the positive effects of alcohol on humans.

These are some facts about positive effects of alcohol. Now that you know them, think twice before accusing a person of drinking, if he/she is consuming in moderation.

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Alcohol Poisoning Signs

Alcohol! Now, can there be anything bad about it? When you are down and out or battling the blues, a peg or two of alcohol can help give wings to your mood. Unfortunately, as much as you would like to believe otherwise, alcohol in moderation is just fine, but in excess, it is a killer! When you indulge in too many pegs of drinks, you cause grave risk to your health. 

Bingeing on alcohol, apart from other side effects, can lead to alcohol poisoning. It is a known fact that alcohol depresses nerves that control involuntary actions that ranges from breathing to gag reflexes and more. 

Fatal doses of alcohol or alcohol poisoning can tamper with the execution of these functions. It is a scary thought that a seemingly ‘harmless’ thing as alcohol can be such an evil. Go ahead and delve deep into this write-up for valuable insights on signs of alcohol poisoning.

Symptoms Of Alcohol Poisoning:

Contrary to the popular belief, it is not difficult to differentiate a person who is plain drunk from someone who is suffering from alcohol poisoning. In fact, there is a fine line that helps to demarcate the difference between these two dissimilar predicaments.

The first thing to look out for if a friend of yours has transcended into serious stages of alcohol poisoning is to check for signs of mental confusion. When a person is drunk, he/she may mouth  a lot of gibberish. This, however, does not mean that the person is suffering from alcohol poisoning. However, if your friend looks dazed and confused and can hardly talk except for making a few muted sounds, you can safely assume that your friend is suffering from alcohol poisoning.

Inebriated people often tend to pass out. This is a normal side effect of intoxication. A person suffering from alcohol poisoning will also zonk out, but then there is a difference. It will be almost impossible to rouse someone who is suffering from alcohol poisoning from his drunken stupor.

People who hail from medical backgrounds will tell you that it is easy for a person suffering from alcohol poisoning to slip into coma. Make it a point to look out for this symptom since it is one of the easiest giveaways of this condition.

While a person who is sloshed will throw up once or twice, a person who has slipped into the treacherous terrains of alcohol poisoning will vomit continuously. It will be almost impossible to stop the victim from barfing. A sure shot way to tell if a person is suffering from alcohol poisoning  is to watch out for this sign.

If you think that alcohol is all about ‘relaxing’ and ‘unwinding’, you are wrong. If consumed in excess, alcohol can pose as a serious trouble. A victim of alcohol poisoning can easily experience seizures. So the next time you see a friend moving like a maniac at a party, don’t just assume that it might be a new and crazy dance move. 

It might just be one of the seizure attacks. So, keep an eye!

Slow breathing doesn’t necessarily mean relaxed breathing. Medically speaking, slowly breathing is a cause for alarm. This is because, we as human beings are expected to breathe a certain amount of breaths per minute. Anything lesser than the normal breath count can prove critical. A victim of alcohol poisoning will breathe slowly and at times descend to even fewer than eight breaths per minute.

Apart from slow breathing, a victim of alcohol poisoning will also breathe irregularly. Irregular breathing really makes for a classic symptom of alcohol poisoning. Anything more than a ten-second break between breaths can be categorized as irregular breathing. Keep an eye out for this one, since it can be difficult to spot.

Lastly, there is hypothermia and pale skin, which is another crucial sign of alcohol poisoning. Hypothermia is nothing but low body temperature. If you notice shallow breathing, weak pulse, slow reflexes, shivering and stiffness in the limbs, rush your friend to the doctor immediately.

Having read the signs of alcohol poisoning, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to tell if a person is suffering from alcohol poisoning or not and maybe even rush him to the hospital in case of an emergency.

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Alcohol Hangover Symptoms

Would you think of alcohol as a ‘magic potion? Well, in one way, it surely is a magic potion. When you are down and out, it’s alcohol that can help to raise your spirits to unattainable heights and give wings to your mood. If you look at it from a fresh perspective, you will know why alcohol is called a spirit. It’s because a peg of alcohol can lift your sodden spirits to great heights and drive you from melancholy to a state of sheer bliss. 

However, with alcohol, it’s not just about the high, it’s also about the low! Just like how alcohol can give you wings, it can also cut them short, which in turn can only bring you crashing down. For the ‘crashing down’ or ‘the fall’, there is a better term- ‘hangover’. People all over the world dread hangovers for it always leaves them with a little more than just a pounding head. Read on to discover for yourself the obvious symptoms of an alcoholic hangover.

Symptoms of Alcohol Hangover:

To speak the truth, it is very easy to tell if you or your friend is experiencing a hangover. A person who is blitzed will experience overall fatigue during the morning after. The hangover can also make the affected person feel extremely thirsty and considerably weak too.

The nasty sting of pain can easily inflict its harm on a person experiencing a hangover. In most circumstances, a person going through a hangover will experience subtle to sharp headaches. The muscles of the victim can also hurt when in a hung-over stage.

Try observing the mood of a person who you know has been on a bizarre drinking spree. You will notice that the individual will seem to be irritable, depressed and overtly anxious. This really is one of the biggest flipsides of alcohol. While it may all seem like fun and play during the first three pegs, when you knock your ‘x’ number of drink during your binge-drinking session, the next morning is likely to be a pain for you. This is exactly why it is particularly advisable to never cross your limits with alcohol.

Hangovers are bad news in more ways than you can ever imagine. Anyone who knows a thing or two about hangovers will tell you that ‘hyperactivity’ is one of the distinct symptoms of alcohol hangover. A person experiencing a hangover will almost always have to put up with frequent tremors and break into sweat at the drop of a hat. An increase in the rate of the pulse and systolic blood pressure too is bound to be experienced by a person down with a nasty hangover.

Not many people may know this, but after a night of drinking-spree, a hung-over person may have to deal with vertigo. Another easily recognizable symptom of a hangover is a decrease in the span of attention.

The REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep is when a person gets to rest the most. However, a person experiencing a hangover will find it extremely difficult to break into the REM stage of sleep. This may not make for a very noticeable symptom of a hangover. Nevertheless, it is one of the major signs of hangover.

Gastrointestinal ailments make for yet another symptom of hangover. Of all the gastrointestinal ailments that can plague a hung-over person, vomiting makes for the most obvious one. A person who is completely sloshed will not just throw up immediately after consuming a ‘thousand’ drinks. In fact, a hung-over person can go on a puking-spree after bombing his system with excessive alcohol.

With these many flipsides to drinking and hangover, it's best to withhold yourself from going overboard with your pegs. Not only will it save you from a nasty headache, nausea and weakness the next day, but will also save your senses from going haywire. Know that with alcohol, moderation is the key.

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