Correct Drinking Habits Can Help the Elderly Live Longer
It has always been advocated to smoke less and drink more. Drinking alcohol has a long and storied history for the Chinese nation, from which a lasting wine culture has emerged. From the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, where entertaining guests "must be served with wine," to the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai, who could write a hundred poems after a斗 (dou) of wine, it shows the position of wine in political activities, social etiquette, and in the hearts of the people.
Invigorates Blood Circulation, Expels Wind, and Disperses Cold
Wine is warm in nature and sweet and pungent in taste. Moderate drinking has the effects of invigorating blood circulation, activating blood to resolve stasis, expelling wind to disperse cold, and guiding medicinal properties to expel pathogenic factors. The *Neijing* (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) already contains records of ancient treatments using wine. The *Qian Jin Yao Fang* (Essential Formulas for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces) collected a large number of medicinal wine formulas for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. For example, Duhuo wine treats bi (painful obstruction); Niuxi wine treats muscle spasms; Fuzi wine treats abdominal distension; Zishi wine treats deficiency and cold; Duzhong wine treats lower back pain, etc.
The *Xiu Xiu Ben Cao* (Newly Revised Materia Medica) states that wine "mainly guides the action of medicinal herbs and kills all kinds of evil, full, and toxic qi." Tao Hongjing once gave an example to praise the benefits of wine: "When great cold freezes the sea, only wine does not freeze, which shows its hot nature is unparalleled among all things. The medical world often needs it to guide the action of medicinal herbs. When people drink it, it makes all their ailments and the spirit dull, which is because it is toxic. In the past, three people walked in the fog in the morning; one was healthy, one was sick, and one died. The healthy person drank wine, the sick person ate congee, and the dead person had an empty stomach. This shows that the power of wine to ward off evil is superior to food."
Moderate Drinking for a Longer, Healthier Life
In addition to its disease-prevention and treatment effects, wine can also be used to prolong life and promote longevity. As people age, their yang qi gradually declines, their blood circulation becomes sluggish, and they are susceptible to invasion by wind, cold, fog, and dew. If one can drink reasonably and in moderation, it can expel wind, clear the collaterals, and lead to a light body and a long life. The Tang Dynasty medical expert and "King of Medicine" Sun Simiao was a long-lived person. In his *Qian Jin Yao Fang*, he proposed, "Take two or three doses of medicinal wine in winter, and stop at the beginning of spring. If this method is followed for a lifetime, then a hundred diseases will not arise." The *Bao Sheng Yue Lu* (Monthly Record for Nurturing Life) records, "On a summer morning, stir-fry scallion heads and drink one or two cups of wine to make the qi and blood flow smoothly"; "In winter, it is advisable to drink alcohol early in the morning to dispel cold, or hold a piece of ginger in the mouth to ward off evil." This shows that the combination of wine and medicine can enhance the health-preserving and life-prolonging effects.
In the Qing Dynasty, Xu Yuanqing's *Yi Fang Cong Yu* (Collected Words on Medical Formulas) cites from *Gui Tian Suo Lu* (Miscellaneous Records of Returning to the Fields) the "Duke of Zhou's Hundred-Year Wine," which can "treat deafness, brighten the eyes, blacken hair, and preserve a youthful complexion." "Three generations of my family have taken it, and no one under seventy has inherited it." Throughout history, there have been no fewer than several hundred life-prolonging medicinal wine formulas, many of which have proven effective in practical use, such as goji wine, rehmannia wine, ginseng wine, Atractylodes macrocephala wine, Chinese yam wine, Yangchun wine, and Baibu Yianling wine, to name just a few.
Many Types of Wine, Choose What You Need
There are many types of wine, and their effects are not all the same. White liquor is mostly used for steeping medicinal herbs, rice wine is often used as a medicinal guide, and yellow rice wine is mostly used for invigorating blood and relieving pain. Wine, when consumed in small amounts, can strengthen the heart and refresh the mind. The *Xiu Xiu Ben Cao* says it "can resolve phlegm and break accumulations." Beer, made from fermented barley malt, is nutritious and can aid digestion. The amount and method of drinking should be determined according to each person's different physical condition and cannot be generalized. The general principle is to drink less and drink light, opposing excessive drinking and mixing different types of alcohol. For example, *Yang Sheng Yao Lun* (Essentials of Nurturing Life) cites the words of Ruan Jianzhi: "Light wine, small cups, sitting for a long time and talking softly—not only is it entertaining for guests, but it can also nourish life." *Qing Yi Lu* (Miscellaneous Records of the Qing) points out: "Wine should not be mixed; if you drink a mixture, even a good drinker will get drunk."
Excessive Drinking Harms Health
Excessive drinking harms health, leads to illness, and can even cause death. As early as in the *Lüshi Chunqiu* (Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals), there is the record: "Rich meat and strong wine, striving to make each other strong, this is called food that rots the intestines." In the *Han Feizi*, it is said: "Delicious, beautiful, and crispy flavors, strong wine and rich meat, are sweet to the mouth but cause phlegm to form." In the *Guanzi*, it is recorded that Duke Huan of Qi asked Guan Zhong to drink wine, Guan Zhong poured out half and said: "Abandoning the body is not as good as abandoning wine." In the Liang Dynasty, Chen Xuan was addicted to wine and considered "not drinking a fault."