What are gin benefits and side effects? Is gin vegan? Gluten free? Acidic or alkaline? Good for you? Healthy? Sustainable? Here are gin pros and cons: all the info on gin that every ethical consumer wants to know…
Food is something we consume every day and if you’re like me, you do all the research you can to make sure you don’t hurt yourself, the planet, animals or others when shopping. As an ethical consumer myself, I am giving you all the info I’ve found on gin side effects and benefits (if any).
You are going to learn all about gin side effects. This will include gin benefits for your health and potential risks, gin water footprint and gin carbon footprint, gin sustainability, if gin is vegan or impact animals in other ways, and much more.
After learning if gin is good or bad for you, the environment, animals and human rights, you will be prepared to make the best choices you can the next time you buy food.
This post is all about gin side effects and benefits that every ethical consumer should know.
Gin Side Effects And Benefits
Health
Gin side effects may include:
- risk of addiction
- alcohol dependency
- dehydration
- depression
- disrupted sleep patterns
- impaired brain function
- risk of cancers
- deadly accidents
- dementia
- early death
- high blood pressure
- liver damage and liver disease
- dry skin
- weight gain
Gin health benefits may include:
- reduced anxiety, temporarily
Also, gin is…
- Acidic 4.5 pH level once digested
- Is Gluten Free when distilled and not gluten free when non-distilled
- Not a common Food Allergen
- Note: Some alcoholic beverages, including wine, hard ciders and beers made from gluten-free grains, such as buckwheat or sorghum are gluten-free
Formula with L-Theanine, GABA, Vitamin B6, and Glycine, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Vegan
Environment
Water footprint: unknown
Carbon footprint: high, 3.5-3.3 kg CO2e to produce 1 kilogram or 2.2 pounds of alcoholic beverages, a car driving equivalent of 8.75 miles or 14 kilometers
Destruction: high, gin production is unsustainable, alcohol production negatively impacts the planet with the process of growing the ingredients necessary to produce alcohol, grains, potatoes, rice, botanicals, sugar cane, and agave are all significant ingredients in the alcohol industry, which require a significant amount of fertilizer, land and use of machinery to produce beverages that aren’t necessary for human survival, resources could be diverted to providing food and beverage aid for those in need
Additionally, gin is…
Animals
Kills: none, gin production does not require any animals to be killed
Harms: none, gin production does not require any animals to be used
Indirectly kills or harms: unknown
Laborers
Health and safety: varies, overall, agriculture continues to be one of the most dangerous industries, farmworkers may be subject to dehydration, heat stroke, unprotected exposure to harmful, toxic chemicals and pesticides, unsafe machinery and clean drinking water may not always accessible
Living conditions: varies, laborers are often exploited, they may face tough working conditions including long hours in the sun and heat performing physically exhausting tasks, labor laws and rights may or may not be in place, even if worker protection exists, employer violations may go unreported, refugees and migrant workers are especially vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment, fearing consequences of job loss or deportation
Wages: varies, generally farmworkers earn meager wages, there are many cases of underpaid agricultural workers, wage theft and no overtime payment or benefits
Gin…
- May have labor issues
Another name for gin is Mother’s Ruin.
Is gin alkaline or acidic?
Gin is acidic.
What is the pH level of gin?
Gin has a 4.5 pH level, once digested. Hard liquor is an acidic food group.
When you eat food, it breaks down to an ash residue that can be neutral, acidic or alkaline. Minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, silver, copper and iron produce an alkaline ash; whereas sulfur, phosphorus, chlorine and iodine, which are in meat, coffee, dairy and alcohol, leave an acid ash.
Going alkaline easier than ever with this: Acidic and Alkaline Foods List
Is gin gluten free?
It depends. Gin and other liquor is gluten free when distilled and not gluten free when non-distilled.
While celiac disease may not be as rampant as many marketing trends lead us to believe, you may have a gluten sensitivity…
Celiac and gluten sensitivity symptoms are similar and may include:
- recurring abdominal pain
- chronic diarrhea
- constipation
- tingling
- numbness in hands and feet
- chronic fatigue
- joint pain
- unexplained infertility
- low bone density (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
There are hundreds of potential symptoms, many of which are also symptoms of other conditions.
Going gluten free easier than ever with this: Gluten and Gluten Free Foods List
Is gin a common food allergen?
No, gin is not a common food allergen. Some people may experience allergic reactions to gin but it is relatively rare by comparison.
A group of the eight major allergenic foods, AKA the Big-8, include:
Severe food allergies can be life threatening. Following ingestion of a food allergen, a person with food allergies can experience a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.
Persons may still be allergic to and have serious reactions to foods other than the eight foods identified by the law.
Be aware of common dietary restrictions and food allergens with this: The Big 8 Most Common Food Allergens List
Carbon footprint of gin?
Gin has a relatively high carbon footprint compared to other foods and beverages.
What is the carbon footprint of gin?
It takes around 3.5 kg CO2e to produce 1 kilogram or 2.2 pounds of alcoholic beverages, a car driving equivalent of 8.75 miles or 14 kilometers.
Food not only has a water footprint but also a carbon footprint, known as CO2e, which stands for carbon dioxide equivalent. Since carbon measurements are a bit more difficult to comprehend, it is common to equate CO2e to the distance which a car drives in miles or kilometers.
When calculating product emissions, some factors that may be included are… farm equipment, animal feed production, hothouses (greenhouses), food processing, packaging, transport, refrigeration, freezing, package waste, and more.
But that’s not all!
It’s best to keep the following in mind when grocery shopping:
- shopping locally reduces transportation emissions
- food without packaging reduces waste as well as the carbon footprint
- refrigerated and frozen foods increase carbon emissions
- seasonal foods reduce carbon emissions from hothouses (greenhouses)
- growing plant-based foods at home is the most environmentally sustainable method with zero carbon footprint
Find out how much carbon your food emits with this: Carbon Footprints of Foods and Ingredients List
Is gin sustainable?
Gin production is relatively unsustainable. Alcohol production negatively impacts the planet with the process of growing the ingredients necessary to produce alcohol: grains, potatoes, rice, botanicals, sugar cane, and agave -all significant ingredients in the alcohol industry.
Such ingredients require a significant amount of fertilizers, land and use of machinery to produce beverages that aren’t necessary for human survival. Resources in alcohol production could be diverted to providing food and beverage aid for those in need.
A 2018 Oxford University study – which is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet – found that ‘avoiding meat and dairy is the single biggest way to reduce your impact on Earth’ as animal farming provides just 18% of calories but takes up 83% of our farmland.
Consuming animal products and byproducts is not environmentally friendly and is one of the worst things for the Earth. Not only is meat production wasteful, it causes enormous amounts of pollution. The industry is one of the biggest causes of climate change.
Read more about ‘What Makes Food Sustainable Or Unsustainable?’
Is gin vegan?
Yes, gin is vegan. Unflavored gin and other hard liquors are vegan and do not include any animal products or byproducts, therefore making it a vegan beverage.
Animals of factory farms and the livestock industry are suffering. They live in horrific conditions that often include confinement, physical abuse and unnatural environments…so much so that they need to receive antibiotics to keep from getting ill or spreading disease. They’re also injected with growth hormones to become fatter faster and live short lives, being slaughtered as soon as they finish growing and are killed prematurely, well before their natural lifespan.
Because we cannot see for ourselves how these animals live and what they endure does not mean it isn’t happening. The meat, poultry and dairy industries do everything they can to distance us from knowing how our food comes to be in order to keep us in the dark about what we support each time we buy animal derived products and byproducts.
Go vegan for animals!
It’s the best way to help animals and it’s not as difficult as you may think. Speak for animals with your actions, for they cannot speak at all.
Going vegan is easier than ever, at a glance with this: Vegan and Non Vegan Foods List
Does gin have human rights issues?
At this time, there are no known specific reports of worker mistreatment regarding gin production but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
Did you know the single largest employer in the world is agriculture? The labor involved behind each and every product cannot go unrecognized.
Some known problems include workplace health and safety, child labor, gender inequality, inadequate pay, wage theft and exploitation. Workers can even be subjected to harassment, humiliation and violence and unfair employers often fail to provide laborers with access to shade, drinking water, restrooms and breaks. Consequently, laborers can face nausea, dizziness, heat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke -the leading cause of farmworker death!
Such mistreatment has been likened to modern day slavery. Workers are often afraid to report issues because they fear it will result in losing their jobs or deportation.
Fair trade organizations fight to ensure better social, environmental and economic standards.
We can improve people’s lives with foods we eat every day simply by buying products that are certified fair trade.
Be sure to read up on this list of ‘Foods You Should Always Buy Fair Trade‘
This post was all about gin side effects and benefits.
Sources:
Alcoholic beverage, distilled, all (gin, rum, vodka, whiskey)
Health, hygiene and the rise of ‘Mother Gin’ in the 18th century
Pink gin is booming – but here’s why many purists loathe it
