“Drinking alcohol? No way!”
The sentence above could be the reaction of people when they are being asked to drink some alcohol. Alcohol is often connoted with bad things, such as drunkenness. Old people usually tell their children or young children to avoid consuming alcohol because it’s not good for health. But that bad stigma of alcohol impacts will turn out when it consumed in appropriate amount. There are some alcoholic beverages that are beneficial for our health. One of them is whiskey.
I guess this one kind of alcohol is similar for us, right? Though we might never try what it tastes or see directly what whiskey is like, but we might see it in movies being drunk by the actors. Whiskey or whisky is made from wheat fermentation. It is considered as the most magical creation in Scotland.
Whiskey was originally used for medicine at the end of the 14th century and then later was referred to as living water. Do you believe that whiskey can serve as medicinal purposes? But believe it or not, it really does.
People always thought that whiskey was drunk for socializing with friends, an instant way to escape from the pain of a broken heart or any problems people facing. It might be sound crazy, but there is actually scientific evidence suggesting that whiskey should not be just ‘a drink’.
There are some health benefits of drinking whiskey such as aid in it’s good for weight loss treatments, cut the risks of dementia, and best for heart health. Also, drinking whiskey in moderation may help you an preventing and managing diabetes, increasing HDL cholesterol, cancer treatment, reducing internal blood clotting, helping cure a cold, and for the immune system.
This article would not cover all the whiskey uses for health, but will elaborate the benefit of whiskey to help cure a cold more detail. Let’s check it out about the health benefits of whiskey for cold remedy.
Nutrition Facts of Whiskey
For your information, whiskey contains extremely low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and it also has an almost absence in the level of carbohydrates. Whiskey is a very powerful antioxidant and responsible for a lot of benefits. To know more about the nutrition information of whiskey, please check this out.
Below are the nutrition facts of whiskey of the serving size per 100 g
- 231 Kcal calories
- 1 g carbohydrates
- 0 mg sodium
- 0 mg phosphorus
- 0 mg potassium
- 4 g alcohol
- 6 g water
- 1 g sugar
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Benefit of Whiskey as Cold Reliever
Is there any health benefits of whiskey for cold remedy? Who doesn’t want to get rid of nasal congestion? Well, everybody does!
A bottle of whiskey is not only contains antioxidants but also can relieve your cold. Meanwhile, whiskey contains some substances to chill your blood vessels, so it allows your body to respond infections better by reducing mucous membranes, thereby reducing congestion.
Dr William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center stated that the alcohol dilates blood vessels a little bit, and that makes it easier for your mucus membranes to deal with the infection.
According to the research, hot whiskey is able to be cold remedy. Hot whiskey may relieve your nasal congestion problems and at the same time relieve the bad membrane inflammation through your nose and throat. Also, it prevents you from dehydration. You may also try and get Health Benefits of Fermented Rice Wine
How does it work?
When you drink whiskey in order to ease your cold, you will feel the warmth feeling soon after drinking it. The reason lie behind sudden feeling of warmth is because your blood vessels become dilated by the alcohol, causing the blood to rush to the surface of your skin, making you feel warmer as well as effectively lower your core temperature.
Another benefit is as your body becomes warmer near the surface; your nasal cavity also becomes warmer, which allows your body to start getting rid of some of that congestion and swelling in the nasal cavity that makes it difficult to breathe. You may also try and get Health Benefits Of Sherry Wine
Also, drinking whiskey can make you feel warmer. At the same time, it warms up your body, your skin, and your nose too. That it’s so good to steam you breathing systems and soothe the stuffy things on your nose. That will remove the congestion and help to clean out some of the mucus that builds up and might even contain the nasty infection that made you sick.
The blood dilation might get more oxygen enriched blood so it can flow freely and easily throughout your body to carry all the good stuff including antibodies and nutrition with it around your body faster than normal, in which the increasing speed can greatly decrease recovery time.
The point is if you drink a bit amount of whiskey, it will boost your immune system to fight against the cold faster. Thus, that’s the health benefits of whiskey for cold remedy. You may also try and get Health Benefits of Wine Berries
Recommendation Intake
Chief Medicinal Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies said that drinking any level of alcohol regularly carries a health risk for anyone, but if men and women limit their intake to no more than 14 units a week, it keeps the risk of illness like cancer and liver disease low.
For pregnant women, it is advised to avoid alcohol altogether. Yet, if they still wanted to consume some alcohol like whiskey, it is suggested that the consumption should not be more than two units each week because it could danger their developing fetus.
Precautions and Warning
Although there are some benefits of whiskey for your better health, there is also a dangerous side to drinking whiskey. Excessive amount of whiskey intake and binge drinking alcohol are very detrimental for your overall health and can turn out any possible good things of the moderate amounts of whiskey that being taken into the bad sides.
Therefore, be careful of how much whiskey you consume. Do not drink it regularly or every day because it will increase your tolerance of whiskey and you may feel the desire to keep drinking until you feel the excitement, energy, and pleasure gotten by drinking it. This will be a dangerous and unhealthy progression. Consume small to moderate amounts of whiskey for the best result.
If you are nursing or pregnant, consumption alcohol should be avoided. If you have heart issues or problems with circulation, you should consult a physician, especially if you have already been advised against the consumption of alcohol.