Why are some people in good health despite drinking every day?

Drinking will damage your liver, smoking will damage your lungs, and not smoking or drinking will make you sad. This is the best portrayal of some tobacco and alcohol students.

Nowadays, everyone is saying that drinking is bad and harmful to the body. Smoking is not only bad for your own body, but also affects the health of others. Let’s not talk about smoking. Regardless of whether it is harmful or not, it does affect other people.

Speaking of drinking, every year the country and some institutions around the world publish some data on the diseases that drinking can cause, or how many people die every year due to drinking, etc. But in our daily lives, we often see people who smoke and drink and live well into their eighties or nineties.

Let’s just talk about my grandpa, but he has passed away now. He used to drink almost every day. Then when he was over 80 years old, the doctor refused to let him drink. Then he stopped drinking. After a few years, he drank. He passed away in 1999, over ninety years old. But the time in his life when he didn't drink was probably when he was a child and the last few years when he didn't drink. The rest of his life was spent drinking, and sometimes he was often drunk.

In fact, the most critical issue when drinking is moderation. In fact, no matter what you do, you must drink in moderation. Too little is not good, and too much is definitely worse. Eating too much is not good, let alone drinking alcohol? Therefore, you can only control yourself. It is okay to drink a small amount every day, but you must not get drunk.

Secondly, it is also based on people's physical fitness. Everyone's physical condition is also different, so you cannot just say that others have problems with drinking, then all people will have problems with drinking.

Of course, for those who cannot drink, such as those with physical problems or liver problems, we all know that China is the country with the largest liver disease in the world, and one in ten people has liver problems. , the drinking of these people must be controlled. People with high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, stomach problems, etc. should still drink less.

People nowadays have to drink in society, but no matter what, they know their own bodies, so people who can’t drink must not drink. The body is your own, and you can make money with it. , but money may not necessarily buy a healthy body, so you still have to be careful when drinking.

Nutritionist Xiaotang is here to answer your questions. This actually amounts to a one-sided view of the problem. Everyone says drinking is harmful to the body, so why do some people stay healthy despite drinking every day? Xiaotang believes that there are the following reasons.

1. Drinking amount. Drinking a small amount of alcohol every day is actually not very harmful. The alcohol content of men's daily drinking should not exceed 25 grams, and the daily alcohol content of women's drinking should not exceed 15 grams. Within this range, our body can relatively easily metabolize alcohol. So, it makes sense to have a drink and enjoy yourself.

2. Personal physique. We have to admit that everyone’s physique is different. This is just like some people get fat as soon as they eat, and some people don't gain weight no matter how much they eat. Some people have good health and live to be in their seventies or eighties even if they smoke and drink every day. Therefore, God is indeed unfair. What Pin dad originally fought for was the body given by his parents.

3. Other factors, such as diet, exercise, mentality, etc., are all important factors affecting health. Who doesn’t have the bad habit of smoking, drinking and staying up late? But these people are working people, they can still live healthy if they exercise for a long time, eat plainly and have an optimistic attitude.

Therefore, when we look at the problem, we cannot just look at one point, but look at it comprehensively. Everyone has bad habits. Different physiques and different living conditions create different physical conditions for everyone.

We cannot imitate others just because they have been drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes their entire lives. Because many people get serious diseases due to smoking and drinking, but you just don’t see it.

I have met many people who drink every day. I have two friends who drink all year round. Their experiences are worth sharing with everyone.

He drank three times a day, his heart beat 250 times, and died early

Lao Lin, 54 years old, from Fujian, worked in the tea business here. He was addicted to alcohol and was the first person to wake up every morning. The first thing is to drink. You must not skip three meals a day. On average, you drink at least 1.5 to 2 pounds a day.

I told him more than once, don't drink so much, something will happen; but he said: "I have been drinking for my whole life, and I can't quit, so let's do it!"

One weekend night, I happened to be on duty, and the emergency department called for a consultation on arrhythmia. I ran over and saw Lao Lin lying on the monitoring bed. The emergency doctor had already shocked Lao Lin twice.

Lao Lin suddenly fainted, and his family sent him to the hospital. An electrocardiogram showed tachyarrhythmia, ventricular tachycardia, torsades de pointes, and a heart rate of more than 250 beats. He fainted twice after being admitted to the hospital. The doctor has ruled out the condition. Tremble twice.

Afterwards, intravenous infusion of rescue drugs was given, but the patient still suffered from repeated ventricular tachycardia and had to be defibrillated repeatedly, more than 20 times before and after. Later, after more than 3 hours of resuscitation and other treatments including potassium and magnesium supplementation and anti-arrhythmia treatment, his condition was finally stabilized.

He continued to drink while he was in the hospital. There was no other way. He would go crazy if he didn’t drink. When he was finally discharged from the hospital, we still advised him to stop drinking, but this was in vain.

A few months later, Lao Lin fainted again and was sent to the hospital. His heart had stopped. Lao Lin was gone and could no longer drink.

The disease was caused by Lao Lin’s long-term alcoholism, which led to such a severe arrhythmia and eventually death.

Heavy drinking will not only cause this malignant arrhythmia, but also increase the degree of atherosclerosis, aggravate hypertension, increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, increase the risk of myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, sudden death, etc.

You can live without food, but you can’t live without wine. Drinking alcohol can lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer

Lao Wu is the son of an old patient, because his father is a veteran cadre and is older and in poor health. Unfortunately, he was hospitalized for a long time. Later, Lao Wu stopped going to work and stayed with his father all year round.

Later, I discovered that Mr. Wu’s ward had been smelling of alcohol for a long time, and then I realized that Mr. Wu loved drinking and was addicted to alcohol. He could not survive without drinking for a day or even a meal.

During one of my ward rounds, I discovered that his palms were red and had liver palms. I told him to drink less and see what happens to his liver. Lao Wu asked me how I knew his liver was not good, and I said that his liver would get better sooner or later because he would have cirrhosis.

Less than a year later, Mr. Wu had not left yet. His son, Mr. Wu, passed away first due to liver cancer.

Alcoholic cirrhosis is cirrhosis of the liver caused by long-term heavy drinking. It is the end stage of alcoholic liver disease. The occurrence of alcoholic cirrhosis is related to the drinker's drinking style, gender, genetic factors, nutritional status and whether hepatitis virus infection is combined. Drinking a large amount at one time is more harmful than drinking a small amount in divided doses, and drinking every day is more harmful than drinking intermittently. Women who drink alcohol are more likely to develop alcoholic liver disease than men. Cirrhosis of the liver can easily lead to cancer and death.

Big data on drinking:

The world's top magazine "The Lancet" included a study with a sample size of nearly 600,000 people. The harms of long-term drinking are as follows:

It leads to a significant increase in the incidence of stroke; it leads to a significant increase in the incidence of heart failure; it leads to a significant increase in the risk of coronary heart disease; it leads to a significant increase in liver cancer; it leads to a significant increase in the risk of gastrointestinal ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding Significantly improved.

Surveys show that among the more than 32 million people who die from various causes around the world every year, drinking directly causes 2.8 million deaths, making it the seventh leading cause of death!

There was an article in "The Lancet" in 2019, which selected 28 million people and conducted a detailed analysis of the gender, age, drinking volume, drinking frequency and other factors of drinkers, thus thoroughly clarifying the impact of alcohol on health hazards. The final conclusion is: There is no so-called moderate amount of drinking that is good for health. In other words, no matter how much alcohol you drink, it is harmful!

Why is it okay for some people to drink every day?

1. Everyone’s metabolism and tolerance of alcohol are different, which means the amount of alcohol we talk about is different. Some people get drunk after drinking 1 tael, while others don't get drunk even after drinking 1 jin. But not being drunk does not mean there is no harm. Being drunk is even more harmful. People who drink every day, especially those who drink heavily, will not be in good health.

If there is, he is also a character in a martial arts novel, but the author of the martial arts novel, Gu Long, was a heavy drinker. After the doctor told him that he must stop drinking, he drank heavily for three days and passed away at the age of 47.

2. We only see a small sample of events, which means it is easier to remember who drank and lived to be 90 years old, and to forget those who died after drinking. Do you still remember Shi Shengjie and Zang Tianshuo who died of drinking last year? Do you still remember Gu Long who died of drinking? Do you still remember the many people around you who died early due to drinking? Don't even remember. Everyone is more willing to believe that the young commander drank and lived to be 100 years old.

3. Single-factor drinking will definitely have an impact on health and lifespan, and it is generally accepted that alcoholism will definitely affect health and shorten lifespan. As for people who drink and live longer, they have good genes, including longevity genes and alcohol metabolism, and good overall conditions, which means that other factors lead to longevity, not drinking. There is no evidence that drinking to live longer.

4. We do not rule out some people who drink a little wine every day, or a dose that is relatively safe for them personally, and at the same time, combined with a comprehensive healthy lifestyle and a healthy mentality, can live a long life. But this longevity is not the result of drinking, but the comprehensive result of a small number of comprehensive health methods and mentality, genetics, etc.

Is there a safe dose of alcohol?

First of all, everyone’s alcohol capacity is different. Secondly, as mentioned above, drinking no amount of alcohol may be good for the body, but we really cannot do without alcohol.

Based on personal circumstances, if adults want to drink alcohol, men should not exceed 25g of alcohol per day, and women should not exceed 15g of alcohol per day.

25g of alcohol is equivalent to 750 ml of beer, or 250 ml of wine, or 75 ml of 38% liquor, or 50 ml of high-strength liquor.

15g of alcohol is equivalent to 450 ml of beer, or 150 ml of wine, or 50 ml of 38-degree liquor, or 30 ml of high-strength liquor.

Eat less wine and know more!

Zhang Xueliang lived to eat, drink, go whoring, gamble and take drugs, and lived for more than a hundred years.

If you say this, doesn’t it tell people that they can live longer even if they want anything?

If you really think so, then congratulations, you only saw the surface again.

We all know where Zhang Xueliang was born and what his medical background is (a specialized private doctor). You don’t need to think about it.

Talking about the young marshal is too far away, let’s talk about the great men in modern times! He is a smoker and has lived for more than eighty years. The problem is that he is the leader of a country. Can ordinary people compare? His medical treatment, his diet, and his daily life are all planned by professionals to make up for the damage to the body caused by smoking as much as possible.

Many people are still in good health after drinking a lot of alcohol. This is just the surface you see. You cannot see the liver problems behind them. He won't tell you the problems behind his back because of his drinking. Of course, it cannot be denied that some people are in better shape and have no major health problems with drinking, but you have to know that this does not mean that you can do it too.

As doctors, we advise others to drink less and not to smoke. We never talk about personal feelings, but only speak from data. We go to the doctor’s respiratory department to see how many patients are caused by smoking. . Go to a liver examination place and ask how many are caused by drinking alcohol.

There is a common logical fallacy in life, such as survivor bias, which means that you can only see the results of a certain screening, but are not aware of the screening process, so you ignore the results of the screening. Key information filtered out. A lot of what you see now is actually a minority in my eyes, and what I see are more diseases caused by smoking and drinking, some of which even destroy the body.

A person who does not smoke or drink will most likely have better health than a person who often smokes or drinks. Of course, if you insist on arguing, then there are so many smokers and drinkers in the world. I haven't seen anything big, so I have nothing to say. I just hope that if you smoke and drink, you can still say this decades later without regrets.

I have seen too many people who initially sneered at doctors who advised them not to smoke and drink less. But when the day came, they regretted why they didn’t listen to the doctor earlier. I hope you don’t. Become such a person.

The most typical one is Zhang Xueliang, a young marshal who was proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and still lived for more than 100 years.

If you really want to think so, you are wrong.

You must know that Zhang Xueliang's "degenerate career" did not last long.

When Zhang Xueliang was young, his family background was average, and he would not be allowed to play so many "flowers".

It was in Zhang Zuolin's later years and after the rise of the Feng clique that Zhang Xueliang became "crazy".

The good times did not last long, Zhang Zuolin died within a few years, and the young marshal wanted to be the master of his own country, so he would not be so "random".

Only when you become the head of the family do you know what it means to be busy with affairs. Zhang Xueliang is overwhelmed with all kinds of things every day, but he still has time to eat, drink, and gamble.

When Zhang Xueliang was still a "playful young man" and "the fourth son of the Republic of China", it was said that he could not sit still for ten minutes and had to find a place to take a puff or two, which shows how "addictive" it is.

But since his father's death, it is rare to hear the young marshal smoking opium.

It didn’t take long for Zhang Xueliang to live like this, and he was immediately imprisoned.

During the days of being imprisoned, he was given enough food and drink, but no special care was given. This was equivalent to forcing the young marshal to quit smoking.

Later, he retreated to Taiwan and was imprisoned again, losing even his personal freedom.

It is conceivable that Zhang Xueliang lived a life similar to that of an "ascetic monk" for the past 50 years.

It can be said that Zhang Xueliang has severed ties with tobacco and alcohol for decades.

Speaking of the past, the wine Zhang Xueliang drank was not the wine blended with alcohol now. The wine at that time was really the essence of grain, and the harm to the body was not that serious.

In addition, Zhang Xueliang has a dedicated doctor around him, so he has always been in good health.

So don’t believe that drinking a lot of alcohol every day can keep you in good health. You may not notice anything when your body is strong at first. In the long run, the damage to the body will be serious.

Speaking of drinking, it has always been a pain point for Dr. Li. It was the first time to drink at a party after graduating from high school. Everyone was in high spirits and raised their glasses frequently. It was the first time I drank beer and I thought the beer tasted bitter. I didn’t feel any discomfort, so I drank it one cup after another. When I drank the fifth bottle, I felt like my stomach was churning, my blood was surging, and I felt like I was "not happy without vomiting". I hurried to the bathroom, and because I was inexperienced, I squirted out of my mouth and nose together. After vomiting seven or eight times, he fell asleep and was sent home to sleep until the next morning when he woke up with his throat and esophagus feeling like they were on fire.

From then on, even if I drank no more than three glasses of beer, my whole body would become hot and my skin would become red and itchy. At the same time, the stomach is bloated and uncomfortable, and vomiting is quickly followed. So why do some people drink but nothing happens, and they even don’t get drunk after a thousand cups?

The human body has hangover enzymes, including alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. The main component of the wine we drink is acetaldehyde, and alcohol dehydrogenase decomposes ethanol in the body into acetaldehyde. Then acetaldehyde dehydrogenase decomposes acetaldehyde into acetic acid, so that it becomes acetic acid. As it breaks down, it can be excreted through urine.

Therefore, the innate physical relationship between whether one can drink alcohol is very important. Some people who have these two enzymes are the legendary "wine baskets". People who continue to be fine after drinking and going to the toilet are really able to drink.

There are also some who only have alcohol dehydrogenase, and they become red and hot after drinking alcohol. Because acetaldehyde can dilate blood vessels and is metabolized slowly through other pathways, the blushing of people like Dr. Li will gradually subside after a few hours after drinking. Long-term accumulation of acetaldehyde is very harmful to the body and can lead to liver cancer.

What’s more, they don’t have these two enzymes. After drinking alcohol, ethanol flows throughout the body with the blood, but they will not blush, and even become whiter the more they drink. Ethanol circulates throughout the body with the blood. Although such people are less likely to get drunk, ethanol takes longer to be eliminated from the body and does the most damage to the body.

Finally, let me talk about a problem. Many friends say that some people drink every day but are in good health. I can only say that individual cases cannot represent the general rule, and everyone’s life and work environment are different, and their congenital conditions are also different, so developing good habits is to be responsible for oneself rather than to argue with others.

Everyone’s physical health is different. I also like to drink. We all know that drinking a small amount of wine is good for the mood, but drinking a lot is harmful to the body. They all say that drinking a small amount of wine is good for our bodies, but we When drinking, sometimes you will drink a lot more if you feel you are in good health, and you will get drunk if you are not in good health. Although the stomach does not absorb the most alcohol, which is why you won’t get drunk immediately if you drink it immediately, because the alcohol will not be absorbed in large amounts until it reaches our intestines, but the stomach is the one that hurts the most! Because alcohol is at its highest concentration at this time. It would be beneficial for some people to pay more attention to ensure that there is no problem with their health. In order to protect their stomach, they actually make preparations early.

Don’t drink on an empty stomach! This is common sense when drinking. We should protect ourselves while not drinking on an empty stomach. For example, drinking some milk can protect our stomach.

Others who do not have fatty liver or alcoholic liver disease naturally protect the liver very well. When drinking alcohol is unavoidable, we can eat more liver-protecting foods, such as lemons. Lemon can help detoxify the liver. Mung beans, when it comes to clearing away heat and detoxifying, mung beans are definitely good at clearing away heat and detoxifying. Especially for people who drink a lot or drink for a long time, mung beans have a more significant effect on liver recovery, so you can drink a bowl of mung bean juice every morning and evening to protect our liver. . Nowadays, friends who get drunk as soon as they drink should pay more attention to their bodies. If you can't drink it, just drink less, so your body won't be so burdened. Please be careful when drinking and drink in moderation.

As long as the harm of tobacco and alcohol to the human body is mentioned, many people will sneer and give examples. For example, my grandma smoked cigarettes all her life and lived for more than 90 years. My grandpa drank three times a day and his body was damaged. Very good, never been to the hospital etc. There is also a funny joke on the Internet. A 90-year-old grandmother tells everyone that the doctor who advised me to quit smoking and drinking is dead. Some people have very strange logic and always like to use some examples to refute the truth and find various excuses for their bad habits. Just like running a red light, are all the people who like to run red lights killed? No, after all, only some people have accidents.

There is no doubt that alcohol is harmful to human health. Long-term heavy drinking can damage brain cells, causing confusion, memory loss, etc. At the same time, it will also increase the burden of oxidative decomposition on the liver, causing damage to liver cells. As a first-level carcinogen, alcohol is related to more than ten types of cancer, including esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, intestinal cancer, breast cancer, etc. Moreover, alcohol can damage the vascular endothelium and increase the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, and stroke.

But there are indeed some strange phenomena. There are a very small number of people who drink every day and look good. What is the reason?

1. I don’t drink much alcohol every day. Although I drink every day, my self-control ability is very good. I only drink 1-2 taels each time. This dose can be metabolized by the liver in time.

2. The amount of alcohol consumed by people with high liver enzyme content is related to the alcohol deoxygenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase contained in the human liver that decompose alcohol. People with good alcohol capacity , the content of these enzymes in the body is relatively high, and alcohol will be metabolized quickly without remaining in the body, which will have a much smaller impact on organ function. There are obvious individual differences in the levels of alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, which are related to personal genetic genes.

3. Other living habits are very good. Although some people often drink alcohol, they do not have other bad living habits. They do not smoke, do not stay up late, insist on exercising, and do not eat and drink indiscriminately. , so that other good habits will offset part of the harm that alcohol does to the body. After all, there are too many factors that affect physical condition, including internal and external factors, and drinking is only one factor among many external factors.

4. Some people who are still young may seem to be in good health even if they drink alcohol every day. The harm of alcohol to the human body is slow and gradually accumulated. It may take several days for quantitative changes to qualitative changes. Ten years, so if you are still young, this injury will not show obvious symptoms. We sometimes encounter lung cancer chemotherapy patients whose liver function is obviously abnormal after just one cycle of medication. Such patients often have a history of drinking and have poor liver reserve function, which is reflected as soon as they take medication.

5. Although some people look good on the surface, it does not mean that they are really healthy. Drinking alcohol every day may cause abnormal liver function. , fatty liver or mild cirrhosis, esophageal and gastric mucosal erosion, etc., but they often have no symptoms and are difficult to detect without blood tests, gastroscopy, B-ultrasound and other examinations.

I am Fu Dad, a clinical nutritionist. I hope my answer is useful to you.

Wine is one of the three major beverages of mankind. The other two, coffee and tea, are considered to have health benefits for the body. Wine is more controversial. It is generally believed that drinking a large amount of alcohol for a long time is really bad for the body, but there is no consensus on the effect of drinking a small amount of alcohol for a long time on health.

In fact, the effect of alcohol on human health is very slow, especially a small amount of drinking has a relatively small impact on the human body, and no good or bad effects can be seen in the short term. Reliable results must be obtained by observing a large number of people over a long period of time. In August last year, a blockbuster paper on drinking was published in the top medical journal "The Lancet", which clearly stated: Any degree and any form of drinking is harmful rather than beneficial! Drinking alcohol is related to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer and many other chronic diseases. This paper involves multiple countries, a large population is included in the statistics, the experimental design is reasonable, and the data statistics are accurate, so it should be relatively credible.

In our daily life, we do see some people suffering from high blood pressure and alcoholic cirrhosis due to drinking. At the same time, there are also some people who drink every day, and drink a lot, but they are still in good health until they are sixty or seventy years old. This inevitably brings confusion to people. Is drinking alcohol good or bad? Aren’t scientists’ research conclusions also credible?

The reason is that there are many factors that affect human health, and drinking is only one of them. Luck

Yes, you read that right, it’s luck! Drinking alcohol only increases the probability of contracting certain diseases. It does not mean that drinking alcohol will definitely make you sick. Whether you get sick after drinking or not really has a lot to do with luck. There was an interesting paper published abroad last year, which suggested that under the influence of the same carcinogenic factors, the main factor in not getting cancer is actually luck! Although this paper caused a lot of controversy, the ideas proposed in this paper are indeed consistent with many phenomena observed in our daily lives. Innate genetic factors

When studying the relationship between smoking and lung cancer, scholars found that some people have certain genes. People with these genes are innately sensitive to tobacco and are more likely to develop lung cancer. People without these genes are less likely to get lung cancer even if they smoke. The effects of drinking alcohol on the body are also influenced by genes. This is the impact of innate genetic factors on health, which is called a good foundation. It seems that fighting for mom and dad is really important