By Suzana Is There a Direct Link Between Alcohol and Cholesterol?
Too much of anything can ruin your life but a little of it may give you a lot of benefits. Desiring to drink a couple of wine is good but being addicted to it is bad. Experts have said and have even proven that wine can protect your heart. But when you lose control and drink too much then your drinking will probably cause you more harm than good.
Then there is this other controversy when you look at alcohol, cholesterol and heart disease. Most of you would say that red wine is the only alcoholic drink that is beneficial to your health. And this is supported by many studies.
However, there have been many other studies that show that when you drink small amounts of any type of alcohol whether it is white wine, liquor or beer your heart will benefit. In other words, they say that what is important is the amount not the type of alcohol you drink.
Although there have been no studies made to prove that alcoholic drinks can lessen the ldl (bad cholesterol), the benefit of drinking is to increase the hdl or the good ones in our body. However, red wine in particular prevents the ldl from getting into the blood vessels, and blood vessel blockage is the root cause of heart ailments. It also lowers triglycerides.
Regarding red wine, it has been said that a couple of drinks a day can lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It has many beneficial compounds. It contains a lot of antioxidants compared to other kinds of liquor. In particular the substance resveratrol is known to be good for the heart. Other powerful antioxidants found in red wine are the procyanidins and proanthocyanidins.
Alcoholic drinks such as beer and other kinds of wines have the same properties, although they have lesser amounts of antioxidants. For people who want an option, red and purple grape juice also contains the same compounds so it can be used as a better and more natural substitute for a glass of wine.
Ask yourself why you must subject yourself to the toxicity and addictive qualities of alcohol if you can get resveratrol in red grape juice? So always bear in mind that whatever health benefits you may derive from drinking alcohol don’t let it become an addiction. It can actually cost you more trouble because drinking problems can lead to serious illnesses and problems.
For drinkers, The American Heart Association recommends just one glass for women and two for men. But if you are not yet a drinker it would be better not to get started. It would be better to look for other alternatives rather than to push yourself into trying the alcohol-cholesterol remedy.
For more information and ideas, please visit us on the web at alcohol and cholesterol.