"A thousand cups of wine are too few when meeting a true friend." During holidays and festivals, when family and friends gather, raising a glass for a good time is perfectly understandable. Moreover, drinking in moderation can be beneficial to one's health. As the "Bencao Bei Yao" says: "Wine and spirits can invigorate the blood, promote circulation, and dispel cold. For the elderly, it can strengthen the body, warm the stomach, and soothe the mind."
Elderly people who drink small amounts of fruit wine, grape wine, yellow wine, rice wine, or beer with an alcohol concentration of less than 20% can benefit their health. Some American scientists believe that wine can be used as an adjunctive treatment for certain diseases and is a good tonic for the elderly, the frail, or those suffering from insomnia and listlessness. Furthermore, red wine has a stronger antiviral effect than white wine. However, the amount of wine consumed each time should not exceed 100 ml, as excessive drinking turns benefits into harm. Some believe that hops in beer have antibacterial and preservative properties, and also functions to clear heat and detoxify, calm the nerves, invigorate the stomach, and promote urination. Some doctors also use a "beer therapy" to treat tuberculosis, neurasthenia, gastrointestinal dysfunction, blood system diseases, hypertension, and heart disease, with a particularly significant effect on habitual constipation. Data shows that moderate drinking can also increase the level of high-density lipoprotein in the blood, reduce lipid deposition on blood vessel walls, and play a certain role in preventing and treating atherosclerosis.
However, excessive drinking is harmful and of no benefit. It can "harm the spirit and consume blood, damage the stomach and deplete essence, stir up internal heat and produce phlegm, induce anger and strengthen desire, leading to various damp-heat diseases," and is "the source of losing one's life." Some elderly people are addicted to alcohol; they can go a day without food but not a day without drink, which is harmful to the body. After alcohol enters the human body, it first passes through the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream, of which 90% is metabolized by the liver, while the other 10% is metabolized by the kidneys, lungs, etc. Therefore, long-term or heavy drinking will affect liver function, damage liver cells, and lead to senile liver dysfunction or atrophy.
Surveys show that among long-term heavy drinkers, 30-50% suffer from fatty liver, and 10-20% suffer from cirrhosis.
Excessive drinking is even more harmful for patients with heart disease because alcohol can cause tachycardia, thereby increasing the heart's oxygen consumption and leading to abnormal cardiac function. For elderly people with coronary atherosclerosis, excessive drinking can lead to myocardial ischemia, causing angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and even endangering life. In addition, elderly people must not drink alcohol before, after, or while taking medication, as alcohol can affect the efficacy of the drugs and even lead to serious consequences.
In summary, it can be concluded that drinking large amounts of strong alcohol for a long time is very harmful to health. For the sake of their health and longevity, the elderly should quit their bad drinking habits. Even when drinking low-alcohol beverages, they should do so in moderation. The ancient saying, "Fine wine should not be overindulged in," is scientifically sound.