How does alcohol affect our health in general? On this page you will learn how alcohol affects us according to the scientific state of the art.

Alcohol and health are important issues. Whisky.com earns a living with Whisky. The inexperienced reader might be surprised that Whisky.com takes a critical look at the topic at this point. A short-term maximisation of turnover through sweet talk would be harmful in this respect. We would be delighted if you were still one of our customers at the age of 90. We think long-term.

ATTENTION! We do not assume any guarantee or responsibility for the correctness of the statements reproduced from the current literature!

It is our declared aim to persuade you to consume less alcohol! However, to avoid our business from suffering as a result, we recommend replacing large quantities of cheap alcohol (canned Beer, discount Wine, Schnapps, etc.) with small quantities of high-quality Whiskies. There are different institutions, where you can find information on the subject: Drink aware, Responsible drinking, Drink smart.

The reaction of individuals to alcohol is still largely unexplored. The literature listed after this text should therefore only be a part of your information.

If a person consistently consumes alcohol in the form of Beer, Wine or spirits, he or she should visit his or her family doctor regularly for a health check. And, in addition to the possible medical problems, we would like to point out the addictive potential of alcohol. Therefore our appeal: Drink less alcohol!

But please drink high-quality alcohol. Do not drink alcohol thoughtlessly on the side, but consciously and controlled. Ask yourself the question, whether you can refrain from alcohol and check it from time to time.

Enough of the preface: Do you remember Queen Mum? Despite her daily Gin consumption she has lived to be over 100 years old.

But wait: Instead of 'despite', shouldn't it be 'because'? Before we go after such a long and busy life, let's ask ourselves what is the reason for our premature end? Then, maybe we can do something about it.

Heart attacks, strokes and cancer are the number one cause of death in Central Europe.

In contrast to the greatly reduced external causes of death, people today die from within. We are living safer and safer and at the same time longer and longer. Nevertheless, we have to die sometime - that is the course of events - we cannot change it.

In terms of health, Whisky stands for alcohol, which in larger quantities acts as a neurotoxin (nerve poison). In the course of its evolution, man has adapted to alcohol as a source of nutrition. The liver produces an enzyme that helps break down alcohol into usable food. How much alcohol can we consume in this way?

Experts currently speak of about 70 grams of alcohol per day for men; for women about half of this amount applies. With the simplification 1 gram = 1 millilitre, men can alternatively drink 1.5 litres of Beer (5%), 0.56 litres of Wine (12.5%) or 0.175 litres of Whisky (40%) per day.

ATTENTION! These maximum amounts per day are certainly already in the addiction range and must be avoided at all costs.

Even though alcohol consumption in Central Europe has been declining for decades, there are still many people who regularly exceed this limit of three bottles of Beer or half a litre of Wine per day. But how many connoisseurs are there who drink a quarter bottle of high-quality Whisky in the evening? Almost none!

High quality Whisky is much more a drink that you take with 1 to 2 dram (1 dram = approx. 24ml = 1/6 gill) in the evening. If you, as a Whisky connoisseur, want to save on alcohol, then skip Beer or Wine. Water helps against thirst, as well.

If we consume too much alcohol, it becomes poisonous and damages our body. Typical alcohol-related conditions include liver diseases, neurological disorders, brain shrinkage, bone cancer and many more. Shouldn't you avoid alcohol altogether? Is it possible to avoid these diseases? This argument is often put forward by anti-alcoholics and ascetic people. But appearances are deceptive. Studies, compiled by Pollmer and Warmuth, show that deaths due to heart attacks increase even without alcohol intake.

As so often, the optimum is somewhere in the middle. Statistical studies have shown that people who consumed alcohol had fewer vascular diseases (heart attacks) than people who abstained from alcohol altogether.

It is apparently irrelevant in which form the alcohol is consumed. Red Wine is often presented as a vasodilator. In fact, it is probably ‘only’ the alcohol that ‘cleans’ the vessels, protects them from deposits and prevents heart attacks. It even goes further - the higher the amount of alcohol ingested, the less often a person dies for vascular reasons.

However, as the amount of alcohol consumed increases, other diseases increase, too. If the daily alcohol intake is low, first a little, then later significantly. In the literature, a maximum life expectancy is given for the 1 to 2 drams per day mentioned above.

Who of us does not know an old grandmother or aunt who became as old as the hills in spite of or because of the regular glass of Port Wine or Liqueur? Let's think of Queen Mum - It's not for nothing that in Scotland they say: "With the right amount of Whisky a day we live forever."

These statements were statistically determined by the sources indicated. Individually, however, everything is possible with humans. Periodic heavy drinkers become 100 years old or die after a short time. Even reluctant people can be affected quickly. That is why the responsible use of our favourite drink Whisky is so important. Beware of the dangers of addiction and enjoy consciously.

Udo Pollmer, Susanne Warmuth: Lexikon der populären Ernährungsirrtümer

Holahan et al.: Late-Life Alcohol Consumption and 20-Year Mortality, Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research, Vol 34, No 11, 2010: PP 1961-1971.

Int. Herald Tribune, 18.04.2001: Heart Attack Survival - A Drink or 2 May Help

E.B. Rimm et al.: Moderate alcohol intake and lower risk of coronary heart disease, British Medical Journal 1999/319/p.1523

R.L. Sacco et al.: The protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption on ischemic stroke, Journal of the American Medical Association 1999/281/p.53