Life is a Cabernet?
Stars Action Research Programme:
Is Alcohol in moderation good or bad for you?
“Is alcohol in moderation good or bad for you?” One of the most debated issues in the world today. Quotes from Professor Roger Williams, James H. Stein and many others prove the depth and interest of the subject.
Surveys from Year 13 students, research papers and information and pictures from a leading chateau in the Margaux region of Bordeaux, France. Chateau Palmer!
Read this paper and discuss the issue!
By Charles Oliver
Introduction:
In this paper I am going to discuss one of the most debated issues in the world today: “Is alcohol in moderation good or bad for you?” ‘Why this title when alcohol is enjoyed by the majority of the adult population and can even have benefits in coronary heart disease? Asked Professor Roger Williams CBE. Not only is alcohol proving to be a problem in adult society but is now causing premature deaths from cirrhosis of the liver in younger age groups.
Over the course of this paper I’m going to explain to you: the benefits of drinking alcohol (the positive side), the disadvantages of drinking alcohol (the negative or adverse side), the methodology behind my report including details of a visit I made to Chateau Palmer, the findings of my survey which I sent out to Year 13 students at my school and then a conclusion followed by a bibliography.
“Society, and particularly people of school and university age, deserves better, and if France and Italy have more than halved their alcohol consumption over the time it has doubled in the UK, then so can we. The dangers of alcohol consumption need to be given greater attention”
Director – The UCL Institute of Haplology
Methodology: Chateau Palmer
To enhance my knowledge of this subject and also further my research, my father and I took a vacation down to the Medoc region of France, near the town of Bordeaux. On the Thursday we had a private tour around one, Chateau Palmer. Whilst there we visited the refectory, the cellars and the Cuvier or vat house. Special thanks must go to Charles Sichel for arranging such an experience!
Château Palmer was placed very strategically with its vineyards running down towards the banks of the River Gironde. This is because in the past, not now, the river would burst its banks and cover the soil in a layer of silt, which was full of natural vitamins and minerals.
The soil quality at the chateau is rather poor, which means that to find all the goodness they need, the vine roots must go deeper and be stronger to produce a better tasting wine.
In 2005, Bordeaux experienced a drought and there was just 400mm of precipitation in the 12 months preceding the harvest – as compared with 925mm in a normal year. To quote from an official Palmer vintage record sheet:
“In order to find nourishment,
the vines had to rely on the
furthest expanses of their root
system. Although drastically reduced,
water supply was sufficient to ensure
the proper development of the
leaf canopy and ripe grapes”
After fermentation and the first few months of barrel ageing, it was clear that Palmer’s superb terroir and winemaking expertise was able to adapt to the vintage’s exceptional weather. 2005 will surly be a bench mark for Chateau Palmer.
Is Chateau Palmer’s superb ’96 and ’05 vintage good or bad for you, as this will link in to my question. The chateau’s wine is red not white and as James H. Stein says “Purple grape juice is an excellent source of flavanoids which comes from grape skin and seeds”. His paper also states that:
“Although it’s true that moderate
alcohol levels can raise levels of
HDL or good cholesterol and make
blood less likely to clot, most of
the protective effects are related to
drinking red wine rather than beer
Or spirits”
Palmer has recently invested in some brand new stainless steel vats and computer equipment which can monitor and or change the temperature in every vat, the curvier, the refectory and the cellars. This was all installed to make the wine taste better, but, there is obviously no health problems related to this. If anything this would make the wine better for you as you do not have any uncontrollable aspect seeping in!
Despite not being classified as one of the top wine producers in the world, Palmer continues to produce wine that rivals and sometimes beats the chateaus classified as ‘the best’. Just before our departure, we were lucky enough to be able to taste some wine and I must say it was gorgeous. You could taste all the grape types and to prove it was good wine, we had the aftertaste for a long time after!!
The Findings: Survey, Information, Costs and Income in the EU and beer.
The findings during this part of the paper I’m going to explain to you the costs and incomes of alcohol in the EU, beer and its alcohol levels, my survey which I carried out on year 13 students, the effects of alcohol on the human body and the effects of alcohol on the younger age groups.
Alcohol and the economy in Europe:
Europe is at the centre of the global alcohol market, acting as a source of a quarter of the world’s alcohol and over half the world’s wine production. Trade regarding alcohol in Europe is even more centred on the EU, with 70% of alcohol imports and just under half the world’s imports involving the EU. Although this trade is between EU countries it still contributes about €9 million to the EU as a whole.
It is hard to estimate the amount of smuggling in the EU, although the EHLGF (European High Level Group on Fraud) estimated that €1.5 billion was lost to alcohol in 1996. At least 1 in 6 tourists return from trips abroad with alcoholic drinks, carrying an average of 2 litres of alcohol per person. Prices therefore play a more active role in-cross border shopping.
The economic role of the alcoholic drinks trade is considerable in many European countries. Alcohol excess duties in the EU’s fifteen countries amounted to €25 billion in 2001, excluding sales and other taxes. €1.5 billion is however given back to the supply chain. Due to the demand for alcohol the average tax rates are a much better predictor of a government’s tax revenue than the level of consumption in a country.
Alcohol is also closely linked with vast number of jobs including over three-quarters of a million in drinks production (mainly wine). There are also jobs in pubs and bars.
Recently the total substantial costs of alcohol to the EU were estimated to be €125 billion, roughly equivalent to the amount for tobacco. However, the intangible costs show the value that people place on pain, suffering and loss of life due to the social, criminal and health harms caused by alcohol. In 2003 these were estimated at €270 billion, other estimates came in at €150 billion to €760 billion. According to the figures I have obtained above, the EU is currently making a loss on alcohol!
The Use of Alcohol in Europe
The EU is the heaviest drinking region in the world, although the 11 litres of alcohol drunk by each adult per year is still a substantial fall of 15 litres in the mid-1970’s. Most Europeans drink alcohol but 55 million abstain; taking this into account, the consumption per drinker reaches 15 litres per annum.
Just under half the amount of alcohol consumed is beer (44%), with the rest divided between wine (34%) and spirits (23%). Within the EU 15 northern and central parts drink mainly beer, while those in southern Europe drink mainly wine. Drinking in excess varies across Europe, with fewer southern Europeans reporting getting drunk each month.
While 266 million adults drink alcohol equating to 20g women or 40g men per day, over 50 million adults (15%) consume above this level. We can estimate that 23 million Europeans (5% of men and 1% of women) are dependent upon alcohol in any one year.
In every culture studied, men are more likely to drink more often than women and to drink a lot more when they do. Although many women give up alcohol when pregnant, a significant number (25-50%) continue to drink, and some continue to drink to harmful levels.
Nearly all 15-16 year old students (>90%) have drunk alcohol at some point in their life, on average beginning to drink at 12.5 years of age, and getting drunk for the first time at 14 years.
The average amount drunk on a single occasion by 15 to 16 years is over 60g of alcohol, and reaches nearly 40g in the south of Europe. Over one in eight (13%) of 15 to 16 year olds have been drunk more than twenty times in their life, and more than one in six (18%) have ‘binged’ (in excess of five drinks on a single occasion) three or more times in the last month.
Although two countries saw more drunkenness on some measures in girls than boys for the first time in 2003, boys continue to drink more and get drunk more often than girls. Most countries show a rise in binge drinking from 1995/9 to 2003, and nearly all countries show this for girls. Behind this overall trend, we can see a rise in binge drinking and drunkenness across the EU, followed by a much more upward trend since 1993 to 2003.
The Impact of Alcohol on the Individual
Although alcohol brings a number of pleasures, alcohol increases the risk of a higher range of social risks (the higher the alcohol consumption the greater the risk). Injuries done by someone else’s drinking range from social nuisances such as being kept awake at night through to more serious offences such as marital harm, child abuse, crime, violence and homicide.
Apart from being a drug of dependence, alcohol is the cause of some sixty different types of diseases and conditions including injuries, mental and behavioural disorders, gastrointestinal conditions, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, liver diseases, skeletal and muscular diseases and reproductive disorders and so forth. However, a small dose of alcohol consumption reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, although the exact size of the decrease in risk and the level of alcohol consumption at which the greatest level of reduction occurs is still being debated.
It is alcohol mainly which reduces the risk of coronary heart disease rather than any specific beverage type. There is evidence that alcohol in low doses might lower the risk of vascular caused dementia, gall stones and diabetes.
There are health benefits for the heavy drinker from reducing or stopping alcohol consumption. Even chronic diseases, such as liver cirrhosis and depression rapidly improve.
The Impact of Alcohol on Europe
Alcohol is the third highest of twenty-six risk factors of ill health in the EU, ahead of overweight/obesity and behind only tobacco in high blood pressure. The cost of treating this ill-health is estimated to be €17 billion, together with €5 billion spent on treatment and prevention of alcohol dependents. Lost life can either be valued as lost production potential (€36 billion) or in terms of life itself (€145-€712 billion).
Young people shoulder a disproportionate amount of this burden, with over 10% of youth female fatality and around 25% of youth male fatality being due to alcohol. Little information exists on the extent of social harm in young people although 6% of 15-16 year old students report fights and 4% report unprotected sex due to their own drinking.
Conclusion on the Incomes, Costs and Impact of Alcohol in the EU
The EU have managed to place a value on all the bad aspects of alcohol but how can one place a value on the countless millions of citizens who enjoy a nice glass of wine or beer in moderation?
Source: EU Health Advisory Commission
Beer
Scientific evidence shows that beer is good for you in moderation. Beer has no cholesterol or fat and in comparison with milk considerably less sodium and more fibre – all of which reduce the risk of heart disease. Also, a glass of beer each day cuts the risk of kidney stones and contains substances that can fight cancers.
Beer is also an important source of silicon and this increases bone strength and diminishes the risk of bone decay and osteoporosis. Excessive consumption is however damaging to your heart and health.
Survey – Year 13 Students 17-18 years of age. We canvassed 100 students and obtained a response from 61
Area of investigation: Is alcohol in moderation good or bad for you?
(Moderation is the advised number of units by doctors, 21 for males and 18 for females in a week.)
Thank you for agreeing to help me in my survey it would be much appreciated if you could just simply complete the questions and some details about yourself and return to me via Ben Miller, Amy Churchill or Nathaniel McMeekin.
Age:
Gender:
- How many units of alcohol do you drink in a week:
1 glass of wine = 1 unit.
1 pint = 2.5 units
1 shot of a spirit = 5 units.
(0-3)(4-7)(8-9)(10+)
- How many units of wine do you drink in a week?
(0-3)(4-7)(8-9)(10+)
- Do you think wine is good for you in moderation?
(Yes)(No)
- How many units of wine would you limit yourself to for it to still be healthy?
(0-3)(4-7)(8-9)(10+)
- Do you think the advised number of alcohol units is correct to remain healthy?
(Agree)(Don’t Know)(Disagree)
- Do you think that red wine is better for you than white wine?
(Yes)(No)
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:
Question 5:
Question 6:
I devised this survey to find out what younger people’s attitudes towards alcohol were. I decided to put this survey out to only Year 13 students as they would be legally allowed to purchase and drink alcohol in public places, and they would also, hopefully, have the most mature attitude towards it anyway.
Drawing conclusion from my survey that males tend to drink more often and more heavily when they do than females and this would apply generally for all age groups, and these finding were backed up by an EU survey on alcohol commissioned in 2005.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have found out that alcohol is good for you in moderation. Also, through my survey and papers by Professors I found out that males have more immature attitudes towards alcohol.
Through visiting Chateau Palmer I discovered that red wine is better for you than white wine and also from a paper by James H Stein that is an excellent source of flavanoids including quercetin and tannins, which help to inhibit blood clotting and prevent LDL or bad cholesterol becoming oxidized into a form that causes blockages in heart vessels, and improves the ability of arteries to relax.
“In moderation, alcohol is good for you
but being human, who knows what moderation is?”
“A decent man who could not beat his demons”
Charles Kennedy
Former leader of the Liberal Democrats
References and thanks
- Charles Sichel of Château Palmer
- The UCL Institute of Heptology
- Professor Roger Williams
- Professor James H Stein
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- EU Health Advisory Commission
- Pro Quest
- Belfast Telegraph – “What drinking does to your Body”
- Jeremy Laurance, The Independent – “Life’s better on a Bottle”
- The Times – Life is a Cabernet
- Science Direct
- UK Department of Health
“Is alcohol in moderation good or bad for you?”
Stars Action Research Programme
Charles Oliver, 9EA2