I love to relax over a glass of wine on Friday nights. Drinking is a very social activity in our culture. We get together with other couples over drinks, we meet friends for happy hour, we celebrate an accomplishment with a bottle of wine, we enjoy great cocktail hours on vacation. The list goes on. While this is all fine, we have to be careful to not overdo it. Drink in moderation, right?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines moderate drinking as ‘having no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men’. Also important to note is that this is not an average over a period of time but rather actual drinks per day.
So what if we don’t abide by this guideline? Well, other than the obvious short-term side effects, longer term we may experience cirrhosis of the liver, an increase in blood pressure, higher risk of stroke, and a greater risk of certain cancers. So why risk it? By all means, have fun! Just keep this in the back of your mind so your body stays in tip top shape.
