healthy
The nutritionist and author of this section continues the approach from her previous article, in which she questioned whether sugar or alcohol is worse. To do this, compare the impact of these two products on our health conditions, as well as their addictive capabilities or potential.
As the World Health Organization (WHO) has been warning for some time, there is strong evidence that excessive consumption of certain sugars (added and free sugars) may harm our health by leading to overweight, obesity and dental caries. Endocrine or metabolic, cardiovascular and cancer related diseases. Generally speaking, although the damage caused by alcohol is directly proportional to the level of drinking, for some diseases, such as gastrointestinal diseases, cancer and other injuries, there is no safe level of drinking.
Simple drinking is related to hypertension, gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcer, depression, liver cirrhosis, heart disease, cognitive impairment, encephalopathy, dementia, cancer, etc.
There is currently no scientific consensus on how addictive either is and whether one can talk about sugar addiction. Some researchers believe that sugar triggers neural and behavioral responses similar to those observed with drugs of abuse, while others believe that the concept of sugar addiction is unfounded because many of the defining characteristics of drug addiction are not Seen in context: Eating behavior. In short, it’s not clear whether this is an addiction to a substance or a behavioral addiction. In contrast, alcohol is classified as an addictive drug that has a depressant effect on the central nervous system, gradually inhibiting brain function. This is a substance that can cause dependence.
The risk of developing alcoholism depends on factors such as individual susceptibility and age of onset, i.e. the earlier you start drinking, the greater the risk of addiction. Finally, how much you drink, although we remember that the World Health Organization warns that there is no “safe” amount below which there is no risk.
While long-term excess consumption of added sugar can seriously affect our health, both directly and indirectly, consuming it alone does not cause the same damage as alcohol, it is not a psychoactive substance, and it is not clear whether it can cause addiction on its own. Alcohol, on the other hand, is a potentially addictive drug and there is no safe level of consumption.
So while no health care provider today would advise us to eat bread, nutritionism being what it is, based on current scientific evidence, no health professional or institution should recommend drinking alcohol (no, not even a glass of red wine) to improve health .