In human history, the regular consumption of alcohol is directly related to cultivated agriculture, when people began to deliberately brew beer-like drinks from grain 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. People had individual experiences more or less by chance even before that, for example when fruits began to ferment in the first primitive vessels and the resulting alcoholic beverages were consumed. Very soon these were also used for soothing or healing purposes, because various positive effects were recognised by chance, but of course their cause could not be interpreted. This is attested in many ancient writings, including the Bible.
Alcohol as a medicine
The Jewish Talmud states (Rabbi Banal): Where wine is lacking, medicine is needed. For the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), wine played a role in almost all his medicines. Among other things, he prescribed it to cool fever, as a diuretic, as a tonic for convalescents, and as a painkiller and sedative. The Romans used the effectiveness of wine as an antibiotic, because during the conquest campaigns, the soldiers were given water mixed with wine (or also vinegar). In some ancient cultures, alcohol consumption and even intoxication were also used as a means of communication. At the boisterous festivals in honour of the wine god Dionysus in ancient Greece, intoxication was regarded as a purifying ceremonial with psycho-hygienic effects (for related practices and customs, see Drinking Culture).
A well-known quotation from the Greek philosopher Plutarch (45-125) reads: " Wine is the most useful of drinks, the most palatable of medicines and the most pleasant of foods. The Greek physician Galen (129-199) recognised the antiseptic effect of wine and the French scholar Arnaldus de Villanova (1240-1311) wrote a book on the healing power of wine. The famous mystic and healer Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) used wine and vinegar against various diseases. Many scholars praised the hygienic effect, including the French chemist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). In medicine, wine was a universal antiseptic until the end of the 19th century, used to wash out wounds and make water drinkable. Especially in cities, water was a health hazard due to the lack of sewage systems and pollution with faeces. In addition to wine, other products of the vine were also used as medicine or remedies, for example tears of gra pevine against skin diseases.
Positive effects of alcohol consumption
For good reasons, however, alcohol or alcoholic beverages should never be considered or referred to as medicine or medicines, despite all their actual or supposed positive effects. In moderate amounts, alcohol can have a sedative, antispasmodic, antitension, pain-relieving, but also disinhibitory effect on the central nervous system. Up to a certain amount, it triggers a feeling of well-being, but this quickly turns into the opposite when consumed in excess. There has always been great interest in researching the health effects of regular alcohol consumption on the human organism. A number of studies have therefore been carried out in the past. Despite all the differences in detail, there were and still are high levels of agreement regarding positive effects.
The level of the "good" blood fat HDL cholesterol is increased and the level of the "bad" LDL cholesterol is reduced. Certain substances prevent the platelets from sticking together in the arteries and thus reduce the risk of vascular blockage and arteriosclerosis. Phenols, such as those contained in red wines in particular, are responsible for this. Storing in wooden barrels favours the formation of further phenols, which is, so to speak, in favour of Barrique-Ausbaubarrique...
