Alcohol as a Dietary Supplement

One of the biggest studies ever conducted on drinking and health has found that the regular moderate consumption of alcohol can protect against major causes of death, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Some researchers now believe that middle-aged people should treat alcohol like a dietary supplement. That’s because positive health effects of up to two drinks a day for women and three for men are so dramatic.

“Age-related diseases like thrombosis take a long time to develop but alcohol seems able to delay it by years,” reports Dr. Morten Gronbaek of the Danish Centre for Alcohol Research. 1

The research studied 57,000 Danes, aged 55-65, over time to examine links between their drinking behaviors and death rates. It documented that regular light to moderate drinkers had a significant reduction in mortality. It appears that moderate drinkers can expect to live up to several years longer than either abstainers or heavy drinkers.

The study, to be published in the British Medical Journal, is consistent with other research on the health effects of drinking alcohol.

The health benefits of alcohol apply not only to wine but also to beer and liquor or distilled spirits. Alcohol is alcohol. And a drink is a drink because standard drinks of beer, wine and spirits each contain equivalent amounts of alcohol.

Reference:

  1. Jonathan Leake, Tipple a day keeps the reaper at bay. The Sunday Times, November 28, 2004.

Readings

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See Also

Filed Under: Health