Little and often

Guilty of Christmas excesses, many people give up drinking in January. But drinking moderately can actually have benefits, as Ben McFarland explains.

Oh dear. The bumper Christmas and New Year period, when the tills ring loudly and the number of pub-goers soars, is over. And in its place is the almighty annual lull driven by the dreaded New Year resolution - January is indeed a notoriously miserable month for licensees.

Feeling guilty about over-indulgence during the festive period, drinkers look to tighten their belts in more ways than one by embarking on a health drive that includes eating food normally reserved for rabbits, signing up at the local gym and, most disturbingly for publicans, refraining from drinking booze and visiting the local. Admirable though this abstention is, it is worth every licensee's while to point out to these righteous regulars that, regrettably, they are nothing but fools to themselves!

For drinking booze can be good for you, no word of a lie. Publicans should write it on their "A" board, pin a note on the back-bar or take out an advert in a local newspaper saying that refraining from a pint, a glass of wine or a short is not big, clever or particularly good for you.

There is a dazzling array of medical evidence to convince customers to switch from a lime and soda to something much more exciting (and profitable).

A first line of argument can be of the historical, and perhaps even a holy, variety. In the Old and New Testaments the benefits of booze are mentioned almost 200 times.

Ancient Egyptian tombs were adorned with pictures of wine being made and drunk, and red wine was dished out to troops in the Roman army to protect them from the kind of ailments and infections that eradicated the more alcoholically-temperate Barbarians in the chilly winter months.

Prior Vital Dufour, doctor of medicine for Pope Clement V in the 12th century, once wrote of Armagnac: "It cures gout, cankers and fistula by ingestion, restores the paralysed member by massage and heals wounds of the skin by operation.

"It enlivens the spirit, partaken in moderation, recalls the past to memory, renders men joyous, preserves youth and retards senility. It loosens the tongue and emboldens the wit, if someone timid from time to time himself permits."

A more contemporary quack, Dr Thomas Stuttaford, medical correspondent for The Times, argues that giving up alcohol for the month of January may benefit your self-worth but little else. "It is always good to know that you can stop drinking some time or another at will but giving up alcohol is only really any good for self-esteem," he says.

This is by no means a green light for embarking on a get-fit seven-night bender, however. "As far as physical health is concerned, the best way of taking alcohol is as a moderate daily intake," adds Dr Stuttaford.

"The bad news is that a 'moderate' dose is two to three rather small and miserable glasses of red wine.

"But the good news is that the average male drinking anything up to six glasses will live longer than his teetotaller counterparts."

The good news​

So what is so special about red wine? Well, according to Dr Stuttaford, a glass of merlot or shiraz protects the body from damaging oxidising agents in the same way that leaded paint prevents iron gates from becoming rusty.

The best bet are young wines that are grown in a moist but hot climate such as France and Chile. Apparently, the skin of these grapes is baked and dried and retains the all-important anti-oxidants.

By drinking a couple of glasses of red wine in the evening you will reduce the levels of low density cholesterol, which is the killer, and the platelets, which form blood clots, become less sticky.

While wine is traditionally associated with healthy living, the advantages of alcohol to your health are by no means confined to the grape.

Beer contains more than twice as many antioxidants as white wine (but only half the amount of red wine) and the malt, hops, barley and water provide some of the essential vitamins and minerals needed in a balanced diet.

A Scrabble-winning organism called helicobacter pylori, found in the gut and responsible for causing stomach ulcers, is undermined by all alcohol, while blood fat - responsible for heart disease - is carried in a less dangerous manner when alcohol is drunk.

Paul Hegarty, external communications manager for Coors Brewers, believes that brewers need to take a leaf out of wine's book and communicate the health benefits of drinking beer more effectively.

"There's lots of evidence that drinking beer is good for your health when drunk sensibly," he says. "It's a rich source of B vitamins and an excellent supply of dietary silicon which is good for bone health.

"Women approaching the menopause should also drink beer as it is a great way to prevent osteoporosis."

According to Oregon State University, hops are an excellent source of antioxidants called prenylated flavonoids, which keep LDL (bad) cholesterol from morphing into artery damaging form.

"The big thing is to drink in moderation all year round rather than giving up beer for a month and hammering it in February," adds Mr Hegarty.

The bad news​

The key concept really is moderation. Excessive drinking can cause short-term physical pitfalls such as reduced peripheral vision, decreased visual and aural awareness, slowed reaction time, impaired concentration and motor skills, dissipation of fear, increased risk-taking behaviour, stimulated urination, induced sleep and - most worryingly - decreased sexual function.

Doctors often point to the array of long-term physical hazards including sclerosis of the liver, foetal alcohol syndrome, high blood pressure, gout, memory loss and, er…whadyacallit… memory loss.

In the UK there are 20 deaths a year from alcohol poisoning or vomit inhalation, as many as 30,000 deaths a year from liver damage, accidents and suicide caused by drinking, and one in three people in the country have been involved in or suffered from alcohol-induced violence.

Counting the calories carefully​

You don't have to give up drinking a four-pack of lager to gain a six-pack stomach. Drinking beer and losing weight needn't be mutually exclusive, and the beer belly, contrary to popular belief, is a lie, according to Paul Hegarty from Coors.

"Providing you drink in moderation, it is perfectly possible to enjoy a pint and stay in shape," he says. "It's one's whole lifestyle that is important and the major reason why beer drinkers get fat is not beer, it's because they don't do enough exercise, eat too many fatty foods and smoke."

Last year, Anheuser-Busch introduced Michelob Ultra (pictured)​, a five per cent ABV beer containing only 2.5g of carbohydrates and 88 calories per 275ml bottle. Previous attempts to introduce a low calorie brand have failed to impress UK drinkers but if the Atkins Diet has successfully made the trip across the pond, few eyebrows will be raised if it catches on this time round.

People often drink spirits when trying to lose weight. But just because they are smaller does not necessarily mean your waist will be. Most spirits have the same calorie value at the same strength, with more potent tipples containing more calories. It's the mixers that you have to watch out for, however.

Diet mixers have up to 80 per cent less calories than their regular counterparts with the worst offenders being cola, tonic and, surprisingly, cranberry juice. This incredibly popular mixer has more calories than both tonic or cola and is only beaten by pineapple juice. On the flipside, however, it is awfully good for your urinary tract. Slimmers should opt for soda, diet so