Current mainstream medical advice is to limit alcohol intake. However, these recommendations are controversial as much higher intakes than are recommended appear to be protective of health. While overconsumption of alcoholic beverages is associated with a deterioration of health, it is not exactly clear what constitutes overconsumption. Further, the amount of alcohol that is either protective or damaging will vary from person to person. Safe levels of alcohol that can enhance the health must therefore be considered on a case by case basis, and in this respect the individual must show some responsibility and understanding in order to be able to determine their own beneficial levels of alcohol consumption. Regular alcohol consumption has been shown to be protective of myocardial infarction, and this may relate to the way that alcohol affects the fluidity of cell membranes. By increasing fluidity, the alcohol decreases the risk of a blood clot and this explains the 24 hour protection from myocardial infarction post alcohol consumption.
Red wine is the alcoholic drink perhaps most associated with protection from cardiovascular disease, and this has been suggested to originate not only due to the alcohol, but also from the high concentration of polyphenolic phytochemicals in the wine. Polyphenols have been shown to be biologically active in humans, where they may confer antioxidant and antiinflammatory protection from oxidative stress and proinflammatory states, respectively. Studies have investigated the protective effects conferred from the alcohol and the polyphenolic components of wine and shown that both may be involved in producing the health effects that have been observed through regular wine consumption. However, many other alcoholic beverages contain polyphenols along with their alcohol content, with polyphenols being present in white wine, beer and cider. However the levels of polyphenols and the range of polyphenols may be lower in these drinks, which may explain the superior health effects reported for red wine consumption.
The metabolic effects of alcohol are numerous and there possibly exists as yet undescribed effects. One consistent finding from studies is that alcohol consumption appears to increase the high density lipoprotein (HDL) to low density lipoprotein (LDL) ratio, through an elevation of the HDL fraction of the blood. A number of authors have suggested that this is the mechanisms by which alcoholic drinks have be protective of cardiovascular disease. However, changes in lipoprotein ratios are not the cause of changes in the risk of cardiovascular disease, but instead are just associated with it. Therefore it is likely that alcohol changes some other parameter relating to cardiovascular disease, and that these also improve the lipoprotein profile. As lipoproteins are synthesised and metabolised mainly in the liver, the possibility exists that alcohol somehow improves lipid metabolism in the liver, perhaps by enhancing fat oxidation, and it is this that improves the risks associated with developing cardiovascular disease.
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