Perhaps you’ve seen the recent headlines about the benefits of drinking alcohol. Hopefully, you also noted that moderation is vital to what the studies have found.
All of the benefits come from moderate drinking – up to one drink for women per day, and up to two drinks a day for men. Most studies included all types of alcohol – beer, wine, and liquor.
Studies in both the United States and Great Britain found a link between drinking and living longer. A study of British physicians found moderate drinking lowered the mortality for all causes by at least 16 percent, and a Chinese study of men found that moderate drinkers lowered their risk of dying by 19 percent. The U.S. Nurses' Health Study found that "for women as a group, light to moderate alcohol consumption offers significant survival advantages.”
And while such studies make a case for longevity among moderate drinkers, the experts do not typically recommend adding alcohol to your diet. One too many drinks too often leads to addiction – which can be costly and nearly impossible to battle – to drunken accidents. In fact, drunk driving causes 37 percent of all fatal accidents on the road.
So when it comes to ordering your next drink, weigh these research-based benefits and risks:
It’s good for your heart
Looking at study results for more than 200,000 people, U.S. researchers found that moderate drinkers saw higher levels of HDL “good” cholesterol, and were therefore at less risk of dying from heart disease. They found that heart patients who drank between 5 to 10 grams of alcohol a day had the best survival rates during the study (a 12-ounce beer, 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1 ½ ounces of liquor contain about 14 grams of alcohol each). However, those who didn’t drink at all or consumed more than 25 grams per day were at high risk for heart disease.
But puts you at risk for some strokes
While moderate drinking has been found to protect against ischemic strokes (those caused by blood clots), heavy drinkers are at higher risk for hemorrhagic strokes (caused by bleeding in the brain), according to a study at the University of Debrecen Health Science and Medical Center. Heavily drinking men saw a 67 percent increase in death risk by hemorrhagic stroke, while their female counterparts saw a 61 percent increase. Story continues. Click “next” below.
