Ira B

WuuuHuu!

Drinking improves health in those over 50!

(Just don't overdo it)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddr...ddle-aged.html

colpatrick

That's what we want to hear.

No "on the one hand, but on the other hand" complexity.

In fact, it almost sound too simple to be true with so little equivocation...

chasm54

Actually, the study shows nothing of the sort. It makes no attempt to establish a causal connection, it merely notes a correlation. It would be just as true to say "those people who have a better quality of life tend to drink moderately". So which is chicken, and which egg?

It may be that moderate drinking is not actually good for you. It is more likely that heavy drinking is actively bad for you, and that heavy drinkers are represented in both the heavy drinking and the teetotal groups, because the latter will contain a proportion of recovering alcoholics. Plus the non-drinking group will include some people who have become ill for other reasons. So the findings of the study could just as easily have been presented as "moderate drinkers tend to have better lives than those who are alcoholics or otherwise ill." Big news, indeed.

Sorry about that.

GrandaddyBiker

I was 30 years old before I ever tasted a beer to see what it tasted like. God, I thought that was some nasty stuff. I guess people can acquire a taste for anything then call it good. I am now 67 and if I measured all the alcohol I have consumed in my lifetime it would be less than ½ of a cup. I don’t think I have missed anything and like you, I have never had a DUI.

DnvrFox

+1 and I am 72.

Mom didn't drink and lived to 96.

Dad drank just a little and died at 61,

Did you know that people with large feet have a higher IQ?

How does one stretch their feet - and what about all those ladies in China years ago who bound their feet, watching their IQ drop precipitously as their feet got smaller?

chasm54

Oh, you definitely have. Some good things, maybe some bad things.

Ira B

Geez, you guys are so serious around here.

In the interest of full disclosure I drink a glass of red wine with dinner most nights but only because I like it.

Most of these health related stories are contradicted by another story 6 months later and appeal to people looking for some kind of perfect health magic bullet, of which there ain't none.

Try to eat right, exercise, drink in moderation if you do.....and you are still going to get old (if you are lucky) and die.

Ranger Dan

I never liked the taste of alcohol. My in-laws used to accuse me of being unsophisticated because I didn't have a drink before supper and then wine with the meal. However, now that I've been married to their daughter for a few years, they've grown to like me, while also finding numerous other reasons to find me unsophisticated.

Now, please pass the chocolate milk. And I'll have a Coke Zero for the road.

Artkansas 

How is this supposed to cheer up those of us who don't drink. Use of drugs like alcohol is not universal despite what the advertisers would have you believe.

Yen

There must be a good reason why they are saying "... if you don't drink, don't start". That seems to imply that it's better to not drink at all, and they don't say that about fruits and vegetables.

DnvrFox

I never did like drinking fruits and vegetables. What's one to do?

chasm54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yen

There must be a good reason why they are saying "... if you don't drink, don't start". That seems to imply that it's better to not drink at all, and they don't say that about fruits and vegetables.

Not really. It's much the same as telling people not to start, or stop, taking a particular drug just because some study has found some new apparent benefit, or risk. There's no point, and some degree of risk, in getting people to change their individual practice on the basis of a smallish statistical effect observed at the level of a population. And, of course, researchers will be careful about advising people to drink more than they do, in case some of them end up abusing it.

As it happens, the evidence over quite a lot of years seems to indicate that there is a small positive correlation between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of heart disease. Whether it's causal, who can say? It may just be that the sort of people who drink moderately tend less to the type A personality than either those who choose to be teetotal, or those who drink heavily and are at risk of alcoholism.

lhbernhardt

On the other hand, I think that drinking fermented beverages is perfectly natural. I've taken waterbottles filled with diluted apple juice to races. Just sitting in the car, by the third day, it's turned to cider. I'm sure our ancestors found out the pleasant consequences of this transformation and went on to ferment other beverages.

Spirits don't seem to be as intuitive. I wonder how anyone could invent a beverage that required heating it up, then collecting the vapors and drinking the result. And I agree that gin tastes pretty bad by itself. But gin is quite a remarkable spirit. Just get it ice-cold, and serve with a drop of dry vermouth and some olives, and it actually assumes a good taste. Or mix it with tonic water (which actually does taste like hair tonic!). Each constituent, on its own, tastes just horrible. But combine them, and the result actually tastes quite good!

But I think the true test of how good a spirit tastes is this: can you drink it neat at room temperature? I find that a good cognac (VSOP or better) or an aged scotch easily pass this test. Not so much gin, vodka, or least of all tequila! And for years, I got sick at even the smell of bourbon after I had too much of it in my high school days and threw up all over myself. I think your body tries to tell you things, and it's best to listen. So I agree, all things in moderation. I find that liquor doesn't taste as good after the first, definitely not after the second, so I very seldom have more than one drink in an evening. But for those who have acquired a taste for the stuff, I do think it's a worthwhile experience, and life is all about experiencing the worthwhile.

Luis

Wogster

In the case of a newspaper article or magazine article, they almost never state the reference to the actual study, which makes it difficult to determine who paid for the study, which could affect the results. Personally I think not stating a reference to the actual study is a poor excuse for journalism, but it is common.

Artkansas 

Here is an abstract of the study.

pro_jo

On a recent tour two riders in my bunk house were talking. They each had to stop drinking because of A-fib while riding. Made me curious about the relationship between drinking and A-fib.