| Most of us like an alcoholic drink now and then. You | | | | alcohol you're likely to eat much more than you really |
| may enjoy wine with a lovely meal or a drink when | | | | need since alcohol stimulates your appetite. |
| you go out with friends. Alcohol is simply an | | | | 5. Alcohol affects your brain |
| enjoyable and harmless part of your normal life. | | | | In the short term that means all the symptoms of |
| One of the changes we all notice as we get older - if | | | | intoxication - how bad it gets depends on how much |
| we drink at all - is that we can't drink as much or as | | | | you drink and other factors like your size, how tired |
| frequently as we did in our youth. If you don't want | | | | you are, when you drink and whether you eat as |
| to age prematurely - you need to find out just how | | | | well. In the long term alcohol destroys brain cells |
| alcohol affects your body. Here's a quick list of seven | | | | contributing to memory problems and dementia. |
| things you might want to bear in mind next time you | | | | 6. Alcohol affects women more than men |
| pop that cork: | | | | The less you weigh the more likely you are to |
| 1. Alcohol causes liver damage | | | | become drunk because heavier people have more |
| Most of us already know that this is one of the | | | | blood and water in the body to dilute the alcohol. |
| worst aspects of excessive drinking and can | | | | Also as alcohol is stored in fat and women tend to |
| ultimately in extreme cases cause liver failure and | | | | have more fat than men - it takes us much longer to |
| death. Bear in mind that to your liver alcohol is a | | | | eliminate the alcohol from our bodies. |
| poison - the more you take in the harder it works to | | | | 7. The effects of alcohol worsen with age |
| eliminate it. | | | | From the age of 40 onwards we tend to store more |
| 2. Drinking alcohol makes you more likely to develop | | | | fat so the time the body takes to process and |
| osteoporosis | | | | eliminate alcohol increases. So if you feel that you |
| This is one effect of alcohol not many people are | | | | can't drink as much as you used to without feeling |
| aware of and it matters quite a lot - especially to | | | | the effects - you're right. |
| women. Osteoporosis is one of the most aging | | | | If that all sounds like bad news on the alcohol front - |
| conditions you can have and is most likely to affect | | | | consider the experience of the French. French people |
| women. Alcohol interferes with the absorption of | | | | eat a diet that contains one of the highest levels of |
| calcium in your body and the more alcohol you drink | | | | fat in the world and despite this they have a 42% |
| now the more chance there is of developing brittle | | | | less heart disease than Americans. |
| bones later in life. | | | | They owe their increased resistance to heart disease |
| 3. Alcohol ages your skin | | | | largely due to wine consumption - although it is |
| Not to be taken lightly this one. You may be | | | | probably true that the healthier French diet has |
| prepared to cope with the health risks of alcohol but | | | | something to do with it. |
| what about the aging effects of alcohol on your skin. | | | | Scientists have linked the protective effects of wine |
| Alcohol causes the small blood vessels to widen, | | | | to an organic compound known as 'resveratrol' that's |
| producing flushed skin and often broken veins. And | | | | found in red wine. Not all wines have the same |
| what's more, because alcohol is dehydrating, your | | | | amount of resveratrol and Californian wine has one |
| skin will also be more prone to premature wrinkling. | | | | of the highest resveratrol counts in the world. |
| 4. Alcohol will pile on the pounds. | | | | So consumption of a very moderate amount of the |
| The problem is that drink you love is just calories - | | | | right kind of alcohol - plus a healthy diet - is the way |
| completely empty of any nutritional value | | | | to go. Drink wisely and the effects of alcohol on the |
| whatsoever. To get rid of the extra calories from | | | | body can be positive. Drink unwisely and not only will |
| one drink you need to walk a mile - consider that | | | | your health suffer but you'll see the results in the |
| over your next glass of wine. In fact if you drink | | | | mirror and on the scales! |