Page 217 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 217
Wine and health
to act as antioxidants at the cell level. The differences between absorption rates of different
animals are considerable.
Having described the positive effects of moderate quantities of wine, we should look at the
harmful results of excessive drinking. The moderate dose of alcohol in wine influences
alertness, but with a greater dose it no longer encourages greater activity but rather reduces
it. A person loses his or her ability to judge, reason and exercise caution, which is problematic
when he or she wants to drive. Alcohol gets absorbed into the bloodstream when still in
the mouth and even more in the stomach, but mostly in the small intestine. Alcohol also
reduces the acuity of vision, the eyes’ ability to adapt to rapid changes of light, and increases
reaction time. Through the bloodstream, alcohol reaches the liver, where it oxidises into
acetaldehyde and then decays with the help of alcohol dehidrogenase into acetal, which
causes liver damage – cirrhosis. The critical limits at which this effect is still prevented are
0.7 litres a day of wine for men and 0.25 litres for women. However, the effect varies from
person to person due to the differing composition of enzymes. Wine has a harmful effect
particularly when consumed on an empty stomach and when we consume an insufficient
amount of essential nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins and minerals. Long-term excessive
drinking of wine damages the central nervous system, the heart and brain. In moderate
drinking, the alcohol in wine is less harmful than an equal amount of pure alcohol. It has
also been proven that the effects of excessive drinking of wine are not the same as those from
consuming the same quantity of pure alcohol. Wine has other components which affect
the way we feel and this differs from person to person. In some wines, due to unsatisfactory
methods of production, there are various substances in increased quantities, which can
damage our health: particularly acetaldehyde, sulphur dioxide and its combinations with
acetaldehydes, which are released in the acidic stomach environment and slow down the
binding of oxygen with haemoglobin. There are also harmful sulphites, biogenic amins,
such as histamine, and higher alcohols.
The most dangerous effect of alcohol is addiction, which can be hereditary. In the chro-
mosomes of every cell there are over a hundred thousand genes, each one of which carries
“The saying that in wine there is truth is still taken far too seriously.” Souvenirs, 2006. Photo Staša Cafuta.
Milan Fridauer Fredi, Aljana Primožič, V vinu je resnica, resnost pa
ne / Vinsko pivski aforizmi in karikature (In Wine There is Truth, but
no Seriousness / Aphorisms and Caricatures Relating to Wine and
Drinking), in the collection Umetnosti Slovenije, Tovarna tradicij, Ptuj,
2006, page 50.
213
to act as antioxidants at the cell level. The differences between absorption rates of different
animals are considerable.
Having described the positive effects of moderate quantities of wine, we should look at the
harmful results of excessive drinking. The moderate dose of alcohol in wine influences
alertness, but with a greater dose it no longer encourages greater activity but rather reduces
it. A person loses his or her ability to judge, reason and exercise caution, which is problematic
when he or she wants to drive. Alcohol gets absorbed into the bloodstream when still in
the mouth and even more in the stomach, but mostly in the small intestine. Alcohol also
reduces the acuity of vision, the eyes’ ability to adapt to rapid changes of light, and increases
reaction time. Through the bloodstream, alcohol reaches the liver, where it oxidises into
acetaldehyde and then decays with the help of alcohol dehidrogenase into acetal, which
causes liver damage – cirrhosis. The critical limits at which this effect is still prevented are
0.7 litres a day of wine for men and 0.25 litres for women. However, the effect varies from
person to person due to the differing composition of enzymes. Wine has a harmful effect
particularly when consumed on an empty stomach and when we consume an insufficient
amount of essential nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins and minerals. Long-term excessive
drinking of wine damages the central nervous system, the heart and brain. In moderate
drinking, the alcohol in wine is less harmful than an equal amount of pure alcohol. It has
also been proven that the effects of excessive drinking of wine are not the same as those from
consuming the same quantity of pure alcohol. Wine has other components which affect
the way we feel and this differs from person to person. In some wines, due to unsatisfactory
methods of production, there are various substances in increased quantities, which can
damage our health: particularly acetaldehyde, sulphur dioxide and its combinations with
acetaldehydes, which are released in the acidic stomach environment and slow down the
binding of oxygen with haemoglobin. There are also harmful sulphites, biogenic amins,
such as histamine, and higher alcohols.
The most dangerous effect of alcohol is addiction, which can be hereditary. In the chro-
mosomes of every cell there are over a hundred thousand genes, each one of which carries
“The saying that in wine there is truth is still taken far too seriously.” Souvenirs, 2006. Photo Staša Cafuta.
Milan Fridauer Fredi, Aljana Primožič, V vinu je resnica, resnost pa
ne / Vinsko pivski aforizmi in karikature (In Wine There is Truth, but
no Seriousness / Aphorisms and Caricatures Relating to Wine and
Drinking), in the collection Umetnosti Slovenije, Tovarna tradicij, Ptuj,
2006, page 50.
213
