Alcohol is not risk-free! |28 March 2025

We’ve all come across colourful adverts of happy people with their glass of alcohol or we may have read something on the internet telling us about the benefits of alcohol x or y. The reality is however that the evidence about the harmful effects of alcohol keeps piling up. What’s alarming is that even at a low level of intake, alcohol is shown to increase our risk of many health conditions and can harm our health.

There is no ‘safe’ or beneficial amount of alcohol! Even light or moderate alcohol intake can increase your risk of harmful health effects. The level of risks will vary from one person to another depending on your gender, age, health status, as well as type, amount and frequency of alcohol consumed.

When we think of ‘substance abuse’ the main thing that comes to our mind is illicit drugs. We never consider alcohol as part of it. Most times alcohol is not viewed as a problem because it is ‘normalised’. It is so well-integrated in our day to day lives that it has become cultural and accepted socially, especially as part of recreational activities.

In Seychelles, the month of March is designated as an awareness month for Alcohol. This year as in previous years, the Division for Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation (DSAPTR) from the Ministry of Health, is once again urging us to have a ‘dry march’ or ‘mars azen’ in Creole. This theme is encouraging everyone to abstain from drinking alcohol due to its harmful effects on the body.

Harmful effects of alcohol on the body

Alcohol affects all organs and systems in the body.

Brain
Alcohol has a negative impact on brain cells. These disruptions can change your mood and increase your risk of depression and anxiety. It can also impact on your memory, your ability to learn, your behaviour and reasoning.

Heart
Drinking alcohol regularly increases blood cholesterol level and blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease over time. Some common conditions include irregular heartbeats and stroke. 

Liver
The liver is involved in breaking down alcohol, which is seen as a toxin. Excessive alcohol use can eventually cause inflammation of the liver. Chronic liver inflammation causes scarring and can lead to permanent damage of the liver. 

Pancreas
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation in the pancreas that causes it to swell and become painful, affecting its daily functions.  

Immune system

Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making you more vulnerable to infections.  Chronic drinkers are more likely to have diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink regularly.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion is also discouraged as it slows your body’s ability to fight infections.

Health consequences of alcohol

Excessive alcohol intake can increase the risk of non-communicable diseases. Alcohol consumption can increase the risk of certain cancers such as breast, liver, oesophageal, mouth and colorectal cancer. Regular alcohol misuse can cause cardiovascular diseases, weakened bones, infertility, gastritis, ulcers, gout and liver diseases.

Alcohol can increase the risk of injuries such as falls, drowning and road traffic accidents. Alcohol can also lead to risky behaviours, such as unprotected sex and violence. Aside from health consequences, alcohol consumption also brings about significant social and economic losses to individuals, families and society as a whole.

Many people tend to avoid alcohol throughout the week and binge drink on the weekend. Binge drinking is when you drink a lot of alcohol on one occasion. This could mean drinking heavily in a short period of time or drinking a lot over multiple and consecutive days. Binge drinking can lead to alcohol misuse if it happens regularly.

Alcohol misuse is when you drink in a way that's harmful, or when you're dependent on alcohol.

On the other hand, alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking.

Recommended alcohol intake

The Seychelles food-based dietary guidelines (2020) recommends that those who do not drink alcohol, should not start drinking at all. People who choose to drink alcoholic beverages however should do so sensibly within recommended limits. Men and women should not drink more than 2 units of alcohol at any occasion and no more than 14 units each week. Additionally, men and women who drink should try to abstain from having any alcohol at least 3 days per week.

One unit is 10ml by volume or 8g by weight of pure alcohol and is equivalent to:

“How much alcohol do you drink? Remember, the less you have, the better your overall health!”

Thank you for joining us this week on our Eat for Our Health page. Look us up on Social Media - Eat for our Health Seychelles on Facebook.

Please get in touch by emailing eat4ourhealth@gmail.com and let us know how you’re doing with these ideas, or better still, let us know how we can help you.

Yours in health

The Nutrition Team