Alcohol – slave or master?

We’ve all been eagerly awaiting the lifting of lockdown regulations so that we can go out and freely get that bottle of wine or ice cold beer. After all, we’ve all heard that “Moderate consumption of wine or beer is beneficial for your cardiovascular health” and many other encouraging news snippets to that effect. At the same time, our doctors in casualty units have stated that they have seen as much as a two-thirds reduction in alcohol-related trauma cases since lockdown regulations came into place.

Everything in moderation

What does that even mean? Are we always honest with ourselves when it comes to answering the question ‘what is moderate?’

National and international institutions agree that moderate drinking for women and adults over 65 is one drink per day or less, and two or fewer drinks for men under 65. One drink is equivalent to 340ml beer, 120ml wine, 60ml sherry or 25ml spirits.

Your general health also determines what ‘moderate’ means for you. If you have for example:

• a chronic condition;
• an existing liver condition;
• a family history of alcoholism; or you are:
• pregnant; or
• taking prescription medicine,

you’re better off not even thinking about drinking alcohol.

Good binge bad binge

Very few of us can say that we’ve never binged on a good television series, especially during lockdown! However, when it comes to drinking, experts speak about binge drinking as ‘the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time’. The South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) defines binge drinking as having 5 or more drinks in a usual drinking session. Heavy drinking is defined as having eight or more drinks (six or more for women) over the course of one week. That’s about one and a quarter bottles of wine over a week. The same journal confirms that of the 48 Africa regions as classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), South Africa has the highest per capita consumption. The WHO classifies countries’ patterns of drinking on a five-point scale, where 1 indicates the least risky pattern of drinking and 5 the riskiest pattern. South Africa, along with eight other countries, score a four. Only two countries (the Russian Federation and Ukraine, score a five). This tells us that we’re a country that has normalised heavy drinking. It’s time for us all to take an honest look at our drinking behaviour and realise that what we think is enough may just be too much.

Help is at hand

If you need help assessing your relationship with alcohol speak to your GP or contact an organisation such as Alcoholics Anonymous  South Africa (AA) or one of the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA) centres in your area. SANCA is the Scheme’s Designated Service Provider for the treatment of alcohol addiction, alongside Nishtara Lodge and Ramot Treatment Centre.