Alcohol and Health

By Michael C. Babb Senior Brewing Instructor, Siebel Institute of technology, Chicago, IL., USA. This paper was originally presented at the MBAA 112th Anniversary Convention, Keystone, Colorado, 1999.

Abstract
Considerable research continues to be published regarding the effects of the consumption of alcohol beverages on health, and the topic has an obvious far-reaching impact on the brewing industry. This generates opinionated debate as people become quite polarized in their personal views of alcohol beverages and health. On one side, the detrimental effects of alcohol beverage misuse and abuse on an individual and on society as a whole are used to justify a view of increased regulation and neo-prohibition. On the other side, the ben-eficial effects of responsibly and moderately consuming alcohol bev-erages are used to support a view that alcohol beverages should be part of our nutritional diet. These conflicting views leave the average consumer confused as to the true impact of ingesting alcohol bever-ages on individual health. The objective of this paper is to summa-rize existing medical research on the health effects of consuming alcohol beverages and to suggest practical guidelines in helping define appropriate use. Criteria are suggested for use in determining an individual's susceptibility to problems with the consumption of alcohol beverages. Specific attributes that might be considered for beer as a preferred alcohol beverage are also presented.
Keywords: alcohol, drinking, health, moderation, education  

Sintesis
Se contin�a publicando una considerable cantidad de investigaci�n con respecto a los efectos del consumo de bebidas alcoh�licas en la salud y el tema tiene obviamente una impacto profundo en la indus-tria cervecera. Esto genera un debate apasionado ya que la gente se vuelve bastante parcial en cuanto a sus opiniones personales sobre bebidas alcoh�licas y la salud. Por un lado, los efectos perjudiciales del mal uso y abuso de las bebidas alcoh�licas en un individuo y en la sociedad en conjunto, se usan para justificar una opini�n de mayor regulaci�n y neo-prohibici�n. Por otro lado, los efectos ben�ficos del consumo responsable y moderado de bebidas alcoh�licas se usan para apoyar una opini�n deque las bebidas alcoh�licas deber�an ser parte de nuestra dieta nutritiva. Estas opiniones conflictivas confun-den al consumidor promedio en cuanto al verdadero impacto del con-sumo de bebidas alcoh�licas en la salud del individuo. El objetivo de este documento es el resumir la investigaci�n m�dica existente de los efectos en la salud del consumo de bebidas alcoh�licas y el sug-erir normas pr�cticas para ayudar a definir el uso apropiado. Se sug-ieren criterios para usarse en la determinaci�n de la susceptibilidad del individuo a problemas por el consumo de bebidas alcoh�licas. Tambi�n se presentan atributos espec�ficos que pueden ser consider-ados en el caso de que la cerveza sea la bebida alcoh�lica preferida.