In today’s society, drinking alcohol in some form or fashion is considered a right of passage and a good way to pass time. For some it’s even a social status symbol. A recent study has found some breaking news! NO levels of alcohol consumption are safe.

 

 

Leisurely Substance Abuse

Alcohol today has become an acceptable drug in most places across the world. In Fact many studies are being released on the benefits of alcohol, causing an increase in the consumption of beers, wines and other fermented beverages. Though countless studies are being done on the benefits of alcohol, be aware of the existence of false science and false interpretation. What most scientific studies do not tell you, is that there are many possible factors and correlations that may be linked to the benefits which we associate with the “moderate” use of alcohol. Some factors of certain groups of individuals who drink moderately may include being more health conscious, temperate in other aspects of their lives, like exercising regularly and so on.

About 1 in 3 people (32.5 percent) drink alcohol, which is equivalent to 2.4 billion people worldwide, including 25 percent of women and 39 percent of men. Check out this video below to learn more about the harmful effects of alcohol.

 

 

 

The Lancet Study ¹

The comprehensive Lancet Study, which analyzed information from millions of people in nearly 200 countries, found that alcohol is tied to nearly 3 million deaths globally each year, with about 1 in 10 deaths linked to alcohol use among people ages 15 to 49.

Drinking alcohol in moderation is more harmful than previously thought, according to a new study that concludes there’s no “safe” level of alcohol consumption.

 

“The widely held view of the health benefits of alcohol needs revising,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published online Aug. 23 in the journal ‘The Lancet’, “Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none.”

 

Specifically, for people who consume one drink a day, the risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related health problems increases by 0.5 percent over one year, compared with someone who doesn’t drink.

But the risk increases rapidly the more people drink. For people who consume two drinks a day, the risk of developing one of the 23 alcohol-related health problems increases by 7 percent over one year, and for those who drink five drinks a day, the risk increases by 37 percent over one year.

Researchers have shown that although more heavy drinkers report problems related to their drinking, greater absolute numbers of moderate drinkers have alcohol-related problems.²

 

What is Alcohol?

Alcohol, or ethanol, is the intoxicating agent found in beer, wine and liquor. Alcohol is produced by fermentation of yeast, sugars, and starches.³ Fruits such as grapes, and grains like barley and wheat are most commonly used for wine, beer and liquors.

Common fermented or alcoholic Drinks

• Beer
• Wine
• Water Kefir
• Kombucha
• Rejuvelac
• Vinegar

 

Moderate alcohol consumption is linked to a broad range of negative outcomes and dangers.

• Alcohol consumption creates significant hardships for families.⁴ A report by the Schneider Institute for Health Policy notes that 20 percent of men and 25 percent of women indicate that drinking is a cause of family conflict and a major cause of divorce.
• Alcohol Fatalities. Moderate drinkers account for fully 50 percent of all drinking drivers in fatal crashes. ⁵
• Risk of Addiction.Alcohol is a known addictive substance. The likelihood of becoming a problem drinker (alcoholic) depends on numerous factors. In the overall population, there is a likelihood that 13 of every 100 people who regularly drink alcohol will become alcoholics.
• Alcohol is a known carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) whose use is associated with breast, colorectal, and liver cancers. As with other deleterious effects of alcohol, there is a dose-response relationship: that is, the more alcohol consumed, the higher the level of ill health. The World Cancer Research Fund Report of 2007 confirmed that the consumption of alcoholic drinks is one cause of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer.
• Impaired thinking and behavior ⁶
• Impaired cognitive function above many others ⁷

 

The Bible & Alcohol

 

What does the bible tell us on the topic of alcohol consumption?

” And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit”
– Ephesians 5:18

Many take this to mean we can drink alcohol in moderation but the greek word for “excess ” is “asōtia” which is translated as riot and riotous living (1 Peter 4:4). Moderate drinking is the school in which men are educated for the drunkard’s career.

 

What does the bible teach about fermented wine?

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
– Proverbs 20:1

 

Will drunkards enter the kingdom of God?

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

 

The nutritive grains, the healthful, delicious fruits, are converted into beverages that pervert the senses and madden the brain. As a result of the use of these poisons, thousands of families are deprived of the comforts and even the necessaries of life, acts of violence and crime are multiplied, and disease and death hurry myriads of victims to a drunkard’s grave. Ask the Lord for strength to overcome the liquor habit, and He will provide that strength.

 

1. Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/63420-alcohol-no-safe-level.html
2. Norman Kreitman, “Alcohol Consumption and the Preventive Paradox,” British Journal of Addiction: 81:3 (1986):353-363.
3. Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Substance Abuse: The Nation’s Number One Health Problem (Princeton, New Jersey: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2001).
4. Robert B. Voas, et al., “Drinking Status and Fatal Crashes: Which Drinkers Contribute Most to the Problem?” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 67:5 (2006):722-729.
5. Haken Kallmen and Roland Gustafson, “Alcohol and Disinhibition,” European Addiction Research 4:4 (December 1998):150-162.
6. Menahem Krakowski, “Violence and Serotonin: Influence of Impulse Control, Affect Regulation, and Social Functioning,” The Journal of Neuropsy-chiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 15:3 (August 2003):294-305; Mario Carta, Manuel Mameli, and C. Fernando Valenzula, “Alcohol Potently Modulates Climbing Fiber Purkinje Neuron Synapses: Role of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors,” The Journal of Neuroscience 26:7 (March 2004):1906-1912.
7. National Institutes of Health (NIH). National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Drugs of Abuse: Alcohol. Retrieved 1/17/2012. http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/alcohol