Many of us grew up with the notion that a small amount of red wine is good for the heart and can decrease our risk of developing heart disease, but a new policy brief published by the World Heart Federation (WHF) has corrected this myth.
In their brief, the WHF highlights the mounting evidence that has led to the fairly recent conclusion by global health researchers and the World Health Organisation that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption; any level of alcohol consumption affects our health.
In recent years, researchers have shown that alcohol consumption is linked to an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, digestive diseases, and intentional and unintentional injuries and some communicable diseases. Additionally, consuming even small amounts of alcohol can increase our risk of stroke, heart failure, coronary disease and other cardiovascular diseases.
If alcohol is so harmful to our health, then how did many of us come to believe that alcohol is beneficial to the health of our heart? The WHF’s policy brief explains that over the past thirty years some researchers, the alcohol industry and the media have been aggressively promoting the misleading message that alcohol can prolong life by reducing our risk of cardiovascular disease, with them pushing that red wine, in particular, is a heart-healthy beverage because of its resveratrol content and other alcoholic beverages are heart-healthy because of their high-density lipoprotein ( HDL) content. The WHF policy brief explains that these claims have now been refuted with high-quality research that shows the many negative health outcomes of consuming any amount of alcohol.
As part of their policy brief the WHF is calling for stricter alcohol restrictions and are specifically recommending the following with regards to advocating for change:
- Advocate for the adoption of WHO’s SAFER Guidelines
- Call for strict regulation of alcohol products
- Advocate for minimum pricing of alcohol products
- Build capacity internally and among peers to promote cessation of alcohol use and abstinence from alcohol
- Promote community, national, and global best practices and materials, such as the PAHO “Live better, drink less” campaign, and advocate for their uptake
- Communicate evidence on the harms of alcohol use, including the clear messages that no level of alcohol is safe and alcohol consumption increases the risk of CVD
- Prioritise alcohol control in national agendas for health and support policy coherence between health and other sectors
- Facilitate screening for the use of alcohol and other substances as a part of risk mitigation during the health assessment of individuals visiting a health care centre
- Set the example of non-collaboration with the alcohol industry and/or its public relations groups.
We applaud the WHF on publishing this policy brief and dispelling a very pervasive and harmful myth about alcohol. We hope that everyone – policymakers and the public- acts on this information and works towards eliminating the consumption of alcohol. From our point of view, we encourage healthy drinking and recommend that everyone select water as their drink of choice and both reduce their sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and abstain from alcohol.
For more information, you can read the WHF policy brief here and you can find out about our healthy drinking campaign, You’re Sweet Enough here.
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