Palm wine is a fun beverage that comes loaded with many health benefits. However, these reasons will make you think twice before indulging in the drinking pastime.
In considering the benefits of drinking palm wine, we must also be cautious about the adverse effects that excess intake brings.
1. Palm wine could give rise to neurological symptoms like affecting body rigidity and muscle contraction.
2. The high ethanol content in palm wine can affect liver function and lipid metabolism causing liver damage.
3. Palm wine decreases blood clotting factor, leading to uncontrolled bleeding.
4. It can also weaken the heart muscle and the ability to pump blood.
5. It causes fat to accumulate in the liver.
6. Fermented palm wine contains a high percentage of alcohol, which is probably higher than what is found in some of the alcoholic beverages we drink. Since the lifespan of palm wine is only 12 hours, that means what we mostly have is fermented palm wine which destroys the kidney, liver and other systems in the body. This can also cause hypertension.
7. Pregnant women should not drink fermented palm wine at all. It can cause miscarriages, stillbirths and some abnormalities in babies because of its high alcoholic content. Alcohol is capable of crossing the placenta into the fetus causing fetal alcohol syndrome. This can lead to mental retardation and make a child to have a low intelligence quotient (IQ) and hence will be dull in school or any other activity that requires some level of IQ.
When buying palm wine
Drinking adulterated palm wine can cause:
- Diarrhea, stomach upset and other water-borne diseases if unclean water was used to dilute the palm wine.
- The artificial sweetener and sugars used can increase the risk of having type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.
