The Way You Drink Matters

Regular moderate wine consumption, under circumstances, has been associated with several health benefits in adult individuals. However, the risk increases drastically with each drink above moderation! Drinking more than what is recommended in the guidelines will not provide more benefits, only more harm.

However, not only the amount but also drinking pattern is believed to be relevant when considering the health aspects of alcoholic beverages.

It is better to drink moderately and regularly with the meals than to drink the same amount at a single occasion. Exceptions are young people, combining alcoholic drinks with certain medications, during pregnancy and with a history of addiction, who should avoid drinking.

Many reports show that even though the European Mediterranean region accounts for the highest alcohol consumption per capita, it is the region that can be observed drinking patterns that pose fewer health risks; for example, alcoholic beverages are primarily consumed at home with meals, not in bars/restaurants and not without food.

In fact, harmful drinking patterns are considerably less common in predominantly wine producing countries, where wine is consumed more regularly, almost exclusively with meals and the volume of alcohol consumed at each drinking session tends to be much lower than in the Nordic countries, or the UK and Ireland which have among the highest levels of binge drinking.

In parallel, growing evidence indicates that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial to human health. A Mediterranean diet is characterised by a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, minimally processed cereals, moderately high intake of fish, high intake of olive oil, low-to-moderate intake of dairy products, low intake of meats and a regular but moderate consumption of wine.

Traditionally, most European cultures consider wine a refined choice, a view which is consistent with moderate consumption. While wine consumption in the EU has fallen considerably over the past 20 years, there has been a gradual increase in the misuse of alcoholic beverages among young people, particularly in the form of “binge drinking”.

This trend highlights the importance of drinking patterns and the need to promote responsibility and moderation when consuming alcoholic beverages.

Governments have set low risk drinking guidelines, so that any potential harm to the human body is minimized and any potential benefit is maximized. Some guidelines include recommendations to drink with food, to alternate alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks and ‘to pace’ drinking.