The Four Best Practices for Healthy Drinking
Drinking alcohol, like eating and drinking, involves many rules and knowledge. If you master the tricks of drinking and learn to drink correctly and scientifically, it will not only not harm your body but also be beneficial to your health. Below, the best way to drink is explained in terms of the best time, best type, best amount, and best food to pair with alcohol.
The Best Time to Drink
Morning and late morning are not suitable times for drinking, especially the morning. During this period, the concentration of alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme in the stomach that breaks down alcohol, is at its lowest. When consuming the same amount of alcohol, more is absorbed by the body, leading to a higher concentration of alcohol in the blood, which can cause significant damage to organs like the liver and brain. (Learn why alcohol makes you drunk). Drinking after 2 PM is relatively safe for the body, with 3-5 PM being the most suitable time. At this time, not only is a person's perception sharp, but also because they have eaten a large meal at lunch, the sugar content in the blood increases, and the tolerance for alcohol is stronger. Therefore, drinking at this time is less harmful to the body. Additionally, drinking on an empty stomach, before sleeping, or when you have a cold is also very harmful to the body, especially for hard liquor. (Follow-up question: Is the harm of drinking baijiu on a regular basis also greater than other types of alcohol?)
The Best Type of Alcohol
There are many types of alcohol, such as baijiu, beer, yellow wine, and wine. From a health perspective, red wine, one of the fruit wines, is the most beneficial to human health. According to research, red wine contains a plant pigment component called quercetin. This pigment has dual effects of antioxidation and inhibiting platelet aggregation, which can maintain the elasticity of blood vessels and keep the blood flowing smoothly in the body, thus reducing the risk of cardiac ischemia. Therefore, regular consumption of red wine can reduce the incidence of heart disease. A Dutch doctor observed 805 men and found that the risk of heart disease for regular red wine drinkers was halved. The French benefit from this and suffer less from heart disease. Although white wine is of the same "family," it loses all its quercetin during the brewing process and therefore has almost no protective effect on the heart.
The Best Amount to Drink
The human liver can metabolize about 1 gram of alcohol per kilogram of body weight per day. A person weighing 60 kg should limit their daily alcohol intake to less than 60 grams. Those weighing less than 60 kg should reduce it accordingly, preferably to around 45 grams. Converted into various finished alcoholic beverages, this should be: 50 grams of 60-proof liquor, 1 kilogram of beer, or 250 ml of whiskey. Although red wine is beneficial to health, it should not be consumed in excess; 2 to 3 small glasses per day is ideal.
The Best Food to Pair with Alcohol
The harm alcohol does to the body is closely related to the concentration of alcohol in the blood. Drinking on an empty stomach often leads to a sharp increase in blood alcohol concentration, which is more harmful to the body. Choosing ideal food to pair with alcohol while drinking can not only satisfy the drinker's palate but also reduce the harm of alcohol to the body. From the perspective of alcohol metabolism, the best foods to pair with alcohol are those high in protein and rich in vitamins. This is because the breakdown of alcohol by the liver requires the participation of various enzymes and vitamins. The higher the alcohol content, the more enzymes and vitamins are consumed, so they should be replenished in a timely manner. Foods rich in methionine and choline are particularly beneficial; for example, when drinking, one should eat more fresh vegetables, fresh fish, lean meat, beans, eggs, etc. Note! Avoid using cured fish, smoked sausages, cured meats, etc., as side dishes with alcohol, because these foods contain large amounts of pigments and nitrosamines, which react with alcohol in the body, not only harming the liver but also damaging the oral and esophageal mucosa, and even inducing cancer.