Drinking alcohol is very bad for your health, even in small doses. If you still give in to temptation, know that it is better to get drunk during meals than on an empty stomach.
While alcohol is a well-known cause of cirrhosis, how it is consumed may also contribute to the disease, according to the findings of a new study published in The Lancet. It is better to avoid drinking every day, and when this is the case, it is better to do it during meals rather than at aperitifs and other afterworks.
“Alcohol is a known cause of cirrhosis, but it is not known whether the associated risk varies according to the frequency of consumption, when it is drunk and the type of liquid ingested”, explain the researchers in the preamble. “Our objective is to study the associations between alcohol consumption during meals, the daily frequency of consumption and cirrhosis of the liver”, they still indicate.
The incidence of cirrhosis increased markedly with the amount of alcohol consumed
One in four British women was included in the study, ie 401,806. All were born between 1935 and 1950, in good health and recruited between 1996 and 2001. In 2001, participants indicated whether they drank alcohol during meals, and how many times a week.
15 years later, 1560 of them have been hospitalized for cirrhosis or have died of this disease. The incidence of cirrhosis increased markedly with the amount of alcohol consumed. About half of the participants (203,564 out of 401,806) reported drinking usually with meals and, after adjusting for the amount consumed, the incidence of cirrhosis was lower in these drinkers than in the others. Those who drank heavily and without meals were most likely to develop cirrhosis.
Compensation is not a solution
“In women, the incidence of cirrhosis increases with total alcohol consumption, even at moderate levels of consumption. For a given weekly alcohol consumption, this excessive incidence of cirrhosis is higher if consumption is usually outside of meals and is daily,” the researchers conclude. Remember here that compensation is in no way a solution, because drinking too much once a week is also very harmful to your health.
Cirrhosis is a liver disease that irreversibly damages this digestive organ. Alcohol abuse is the main cause, but it can also occur as a result of chronic viral hepatitis or a rare disease. In France, cirrhosis of the liver affects 2 to 3.3 people per 1,000 inhabitants. It causes approximately 15,000 deaths per year and the average age of diagnosis is 55 years. Although alcohol sales are steadily declining in France, they remain among the highest in Europe.
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