Is moderate drinking healthy?
Henk Hendriks: "One of the interesting findings of numerous large-scale surveys of the population into the effects of alcohol consumption on health is the fact that a moderate alcohol consumption, that is to say, one or two glasses a day, results in a reduced risk of cardio-vascular diseases. That is an important conclusion, because these conditions are still cause-of-death Number One in the Western World. But we definitely wave this conclusion around and decide that alcohol is therefore necessarily healthy. Nor do we want to advocate prescribing the drinking of alcohol in moderate quantities as medicine against cardio-vascular diseases. The matter is far too complex for that."

What are moderate, healthy amounts of alcohol?
Henk Hendriks: “That varies somewhat according to population group and individual. Men and women metabolize alcohol differently, a question of difference in body weight and a different fat-to-muscle ratio. Eating habits, lifestyle and age also have to be included in the equation. There are, in other words, a large number of factors that influence the effect of alcohol on the body. And all these factors together determine the end-effect that a given amount of alcohol will have on a specific individual. It is therefore extremely difficult to generalize."

What is your opinion of the positive reports on alcohol consumption?
Henk Hendriks: "In all the positive reports on alcohol we must not lose sight of the fact that there are also risks attached to alcohol consumption. The combination of alcohol and driving in traffic is still as downright irresponsible as ever it was. Alcohol consumption presents risks for pregnant women, and it’s a hard fact that excessive consumption increases the risk of all sorts of conditions for everyone. Yes, we have now found a relation between moderate alcohol consumption and a reduced risk of cardio-vascular diseases. But there are also other diseases. What effect does alcohol have on them? What exactly is the ‘healthy’ dose, and where is the limit - per group or individual - between risk-reducing and risk-increasing? Is it three glasses a day, is it four? It is, in short, still too unclear. And as long as that remains the case, I would advise caution."

Is there any difference between beer, wine and spirits as regards their effects on health?
Henk Hendriks: “As to the alleged differences of effect between wine, beer and distilled beverages, there’s still a great deal that we don’t know. I have no conclusive explanation for the different research findings, but, for the time being, I assume that the research method can be decisive. Take the Danish research; a number of factors were ignored, eating habits for example. Bearing in mind that wine is usually drunk with a meal and spirits are usually not, it’s not inconceivable that this will influence the measurements. However, our own research indicates that a very substantial part of the protective effect is caused by the alcohol in all three beverage types. But that’s still controversial. More research is still required in this field before there is clarity on all fronts. And, as long as we still have questions that go unanswered, our advice is not to start to drink alcohol ‘for medicinal reasons’. Certainly not if you’ve never drunk alcohol before. But if people enjoy a glass or two a day, that’s no cause for alarm. There’s no reason to stop."

  |terug|mail|print|top|