A must-have for the Spring Festival, how can you drink it well during the New Year?

As the saying goes, "After three rounds of wine, the dishes have five flavors." Fine wine and delicious food often go hand in hand. During the Spring Festival, various dishes are served one after another, and naturally, wine is indispensable to add to the fun. Among the constant calls for "eat well, drink well", how can we "drink well"?

Who can’t drink alcohol?

First of all, patients with chronic diseases should not drink alcohol. Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia are metabolic diseases and are closely related to lifestyle. They can cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke and acute myocardial infarction; and a large-scale study in 2019 showed that drinking alcohol will further increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Secondly, pregnant women and minors should not drink alcohol. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy may affect the development of the fetus and cause intellectual disabilities. Minors are growing up and have poor ability to metabolize alcohol. Studies show that 25 grams of alcohol, which is about a cup of strong liquor, can cause death in children.

Finally, people who are related to the new crown should also avoid drinking alcohol. Drinking alcohol during vaccination may interfere with the immune system and affect the production of antibodies; during treatment, antipyretics and antibiotics can interact with alcohol, which may aggravate side effects or even cause liver failure; even during the recovery period, you should be careful - when you are recovering from a serious illness, your body needs various nutrients, but alcohol will affect the absorption of nutrients such as zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin B1.

How much is appropriate to drink?

Seeing this, some readers will definitely ask: How much is appropriate for an average adult to drink? The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents published in 2016 recommends that adult males should not drink more than 25 grams of alcohol per day, and adult females should not drink more than 15 grams; in 2022, the Chinese Nutrition Society updated this: regardless of gender, no more than 15 grams per day. From the change in quantity, you can also see the attitude of nutritionists towards alcohol.

The "15 grams" here refers to the mass of pure alcohol. If converted, for beer, it is roughly equivalent to one can; for red wine, it is about one glass; if you use a small wine glass to drink medium-proof liquor, two glasses are about the same.

What does it mean to be drunk?

The effect of alcohol on the human body can be roughly divided into two steps: first, it enters the blood through the digestive system and stimulates the circulatory system; then, it enters the brain through the blood circulation and acts on the nervous system. To be more specific, the effect of alcohol on the nervous system can be divided into two steps, first excitation and then inhibition.

Alcohol metabolism

Because of this, after drinking, you will soon feel hot all over. This is not due to an increase in the body's heat production, but rather to the expansion of blood vessels under the influence of alcohol, which creates an illusion in the skin receptors. Then you will become talkative and reckless, as if your courage has doubled. In fact, your fine motor skills have been affected, so it is best to stop. When you reach the inhibition period, your speech becomes slurred, and your breathing becomes slow or irregular, and your body is on the verge of alcohol poisoning.

On the one hand, alcohol poisoning can interfere with metabolism and cause harmful substances to accumulate in the body; on the other hand, it continues to interfere with the nervous system, causing coma, respiratory failure, and in severe cases, death.

Therefore, when you meet with relatives and friends, you must learn to "observe words and expressions": a bluish or pale face means that the body lacks heat; slurred speech and decreased self-control mean that you have entered a period of nervous inhibition; and changes in breathing, such as breathing less than 8 times per minute, or an interval between two breaths of more than 10 seconds, are the most vigilant signs.

What to do if you drink too much?

Alcohol poisoning is not well known, but its impact is huge. A study by the emergency department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital shows that there are at least thousands of cases of alcohol poisoning every year, with the peak period being the Chinese New Year in January. A study in Shenzhen shows that the number of cases of alcohol poisoning has increased almost every year, and it is time to pay attention to it.

Symptoms of acute alcohol intoxication

What is the right thing to do when you encounter friends and relatives who have drunk too much?

First, try to make the drinker comfortable. Prepare some thick clothes and small blankets to help them keep warm; prepare some boiled water in case they are thirsty. Second, try to keep them sitting and awake. If they want to lie down, make sure they lie on their side. Lying flat or prone may cause vomitus to enter the respiratory tract and cause suffocation. Third, it is best to send someone to accompany them. As mentioned before, excessive drinking can cause nervous system depression, making the drunk lose the ability to save themselves or call for help.

In short, drinking is a small matter, but it can cause big problems. I hope everyone can understand this and enjoy themselves without hurting their health.

References:

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[2] Alcohol poisoning[EB/OL]//nhs.uk. (2017-10-17)[2023-01-11]. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alcohol-poisoning/.

[3] JIANG H, ROOM R, HAO W. Alcohol and related health issues in China: action needed[J/OL]. The Lancet Global Health, 2015, 3(4): e190-e191. DOI:10.1016/S2214-109X(15)70017-3.

[4] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022) [M/OL]. People's Medical Publishing House. Year of publication: 2022-4-1, 2022 [2023-01-11]. https://book.douban.com/subject/35885945/.

[5] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Reference Intakes for Chinese Residents (2013 Edition) [M/OL]. Science Press, 2015 [2022-11-28]. http://book.ucdrs.superlib.net/views/specific/2929/bookDetail.jsp?dxNumber=000030071716&d=CAE07AF527CC94602D23EAC3794EBFD6&fenlei=1604050103.

[6] Tanya Altman. American Academy of Pediatrics Encyclopedia of Child Care (7th Edition) [M/OL]. Translated by Tang Ya et al. Beijing Science and Technology Press. Original title: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, 7th Edition: Birth to Age 5, 2020 [2023-01-11]. https://book.douban.com/subject/35218443/.

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[9] Meng Jinming, Wen Ying, Zhou Qiang, et al. Epidemiological analysis of 120 emergency patients with alcohol poisoning in Shenzhen from 2013 to 2017[J]. Modern Preventive Medicine, 2019, 46(16): 2910-2913.