Learn to fight the effects of long-term alcohol consumption

Alcohol consumed with moderation is certainly not bad, on the contrary, we have already learned by now the benefits of red wine, able to lower the risk of heart attacks, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes when consumed in moderation, most probably due to the effects of some of the active constituents found on it as resveratrol and melatonin [2].

But having said so we also have to pay attention to alcohol abuse, which may be exponentially more detrimental for your health than the benefits of its moderate consumption.

Abusing alcohol consumption is not good at all. Among the long-term effects that the abuse of alcohol consumption may have we can cite cirrhosis, a severe and irreversible liver tissue damage that can even lead to death, and oxidative stress, a process in which our cells get damaged by the peroxides and free radicals. Oxidative stress is linked to many diseases, as aging, hearth failure, atherosclerosis, Parkinson's disease...etc.

But there are natural remedies that can help us to fight oxidative stress and try to recover our body from some of the damaged caused by alcohol. Quercetin, believed to have several benefits for the human body, among which we can mention the anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and antioxidant and with about four times the antioxidant properties of Vitamin C, can also excerpt a protective effect against oxidative stress produced by ethanol-induced oxidative damage [1].

Apples (mainly apple peel) are rich in quercetin, a flavonol from the group of flavonoids, which where discovered in 1938 by the Hungarian scientist Albert Szent Byorgyi. But there are other sources of quercetin, as green tea, onion, red grapes and cranberry among others. Another reason to keep having a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

REFERENCES:

[1] The protective effect of quercetin on long-term alcohol consumption-induced oxidative stress. Kahraman A, Cakar H, Köken T. Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, 03200, Turkey

[2] Resveratrol: a promising agent in promoting cardioprotection against coronary heart disease.
Penumathsa SV, Maulik N.
Molecular Cardiology and Angiogenesis Laboratory, Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-1110, USA.