Читать книгу Textbook of Lifestyle Medicine - Labros S. Sidossis - Страница 77

Regular physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, hypertension, and depression and contributes to weight control and prevention of overweight and obesity.

Moderate alcohol intake may have some beneficial effects on CVD risk by lowering the risk of ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke and associated mortality in some populations. When examining average alcohol consumption in comparison to lifetime abstainers, the relationship with ischemic heart disease risk follows a J‐curve. The curve turns into a negative relationship at much lower average alcohol intake levels in women compared with men. However, average alcohol consumption alone is not sufficient to describe the relationship between alcohol and ischemic heart disease.

Drinking patterns play an important role in health; both episodic and chronic heavy drinking may counteract the beneficial association with ischemic heart disease risk and elevate other health risks substantially. There is some evidence to suggest that drinkers who have one to two drinks per day without episodic heavy drinking have a lower ischemic heart disease risk compared to lifetime abstainers. However, different drinking patterns are associated with very different health outcomes in diverse population groups with the same level of consumption.

Furthermore, large epidemiological studies suggest that any alcohol consumption may increase the risk for various types of cancers (Figure 4.2). Thus, recommendations for clinicians remain challenging because average low alcohol consumption may have both beneficial and detrimental health effects. According to the WHO, there is no specific limit for alcohol consumption; drinking less is better.

FIGURE 4.1 Basic principles of a healthy lifestyle.