by Lillian H. Stevens
The memes are everywhere, from T-shirts to social media. “Wine me up and watch me go!” or “I like to cook with wine. Sometimes I put it in the food.” Much of the hilarity is geared toward women, but the truth is simple: alcohol affects women differently than it does men.
According to the National Institute of Health, women tend to have alcohol-related problems even if they consume less alcohol than men. They tend to weigh less and, pound-for-pound, women have less water in their bodies than men. This means that drink-for-drink, since alcohol disperses in the body’s water, a woman’s blood-alcohol concentration will be higher.
This does not mean that every woman who enjoys a daily glass of wine must become a teetotaler. It just means that females should be cognizant about their bodies and lifestyles.
The amount of alcohol that a woman can safely drink depends upon a variety of factors. What does she weigh? How old is she? Has she eaten recently? Are there genetic markers such as predisposition to heart disease and certain kinds of cancer?
How much is too much?
The United States Department of Agriculture defines moderate drinking as: up to one drink per day for women (up to two drinks per day for men). A standard drink can be defined as one 12-ounce bottle of beer or wine cooler, one 5-ounce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.
Research shows that women who drink more than light to moderate amounts of alcohol are more vulnerable than men to certain liver disease, including hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver. Women are also more likely to die from liver cirrhosis, a chronic disease that progressively destroys the liver’s ability to aid in digestion and detoxification.
Still, alcohol consumption among women is on the rise. Indeed, the progression from light or moderate drinking to heavy or alcoholic drinking can be a slippery slope.
Are there signs?
“For all of us—women and men—it should be a ‘take it or leave it’ perspective,” says Dave Andrews, author of The 30-Day Sobriety Solution. “If you are honest with yourself, it’s just that simple. I like to compare it to gambling. I don’t have a problem with gambling. I can go to a casino and watch people gamble for hours.”
If in doubt, Andrews suggests a 30-day reboot.
“For one thing, it’s good for your health to give your body a break. For another, abstaining from alcohol for 30 days ought not to be a big deal. If you set out to do it and find that you are counting the days to day 30, then yes—maybe there’s a problem.”
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, it’s better to exercise regularly, keep a nutritious diet, maintain a healthy weight and abstain from smoking. For those who want to enjoy drinking, it’s important to know where to draw the line—and it’s important to redraw the line as they grow older. Some who drink in moderation will progress to alcohol abuse or even alcohol dependency. In fact, about half of all cases of alcoholism in women begin after age 59.
If it appears that even so-called moderate drinking can be risky, it is. “Research shows that women who drink are at higher risk for breast cancer, in particular,” Andrews says.
The bottom line? Women who drink should err on the light side because less is best.
Facts About Women & Alcohol
• Women who consume a drink a day have a 10 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who do not drink.
• Pregnant woman who drink heavily put their fetus at an increased risk for learning and behavioral problems and abnormal facial features.
• Women are the fastest growing segment of the alcohol abusing population.
• Due to lower levels of water retained in the body, women reach higher blood alcohol concentrations than men who drink the same amount.
• Women break down alcohol less efficiently than men.
• Excessive drinking may disrupt menstrual cycling and increase the risk of infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth and premature delivery.
• The risk of cirrhosis and other alcohol-related liver diseases is higher for women than for men.
• Research suggests that women are more vulnerable than men to the brain damaging effects of excessive alcohol use.
• Moderate drinking is defined as no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men.
• Women with household incomes above $75,000 are more likely to binge drink than those in lower income brackets.
• Women who abuse alcohol tend to seek out help four to five years earlier than their male counterparts.
• Alcohol dependence is twice as deadly for women as for men.
• Girls who start dieting in sixth grade are more likely to engage in alcohol misuse later in life.
• Birth control pills slow down the rate at which alcohol is eliminated from the body.
• Approximately 4.6 million (about one-third) of alcohol abusers in the U.S. are women.
• Women’s drinking tends to resemble that of their husbands, siblings and close friends.
