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Berkeley Wellness Alerts
June 25, 2010 | Comments: 0
Alcohol: Different for Women
Moderate alcohol intake is defined as no more than two drinks a day for a man, and one for a woman. Why the difference?
• Women end up with a higher blood level of alcohol and thus become more intoxicated and impaired than men from the same amount of alcohol. One reason: Women tend to be smaller and have proportionately more fatty tissue and less body water than men the same size (alcohol is diluted in body water).
• Another reason: The stomach enzyme that breaks down alcohol before it reaches the bloodstream is less active in women. This allows more alcohol to enter the blood.
• Thus, women are more likely to develop damage to the liver, heart muscle, and brain at lower levels of alcohol intake. Alcohol may also put women at increased risk for osteoporosis and breast cancer.
• Though women are less likely than men to drive after drinking, they have a higher risk of having a fatal crash at a given blood alcohol concentration. Studies suggest that alcohol has a greater effect on driving skills in women.
• Pregnant women who drink heavily risk having babies with fetal alcohol syndrome. No level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is known to be safe.
Words to the wise: For heart health, all it takes is regular consumption of small amounts of alcohol, perhaps as little as half a standard drink a day. A standard drink, according to U.S. government agencies, is 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, which all contain approximately the same amount of pure alcohol.
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