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 Center for Addictions Research at the University of Victoria, British Columbia in Canada study 45 of such previous studies and found flaws in methodology. One such issue related to the subjects being that the “non-drinkers” could have actually been former drinkers who turned teetotallers or cut down on drinking alcohol for health reasons. As such, they are less healthy than moderate drinkers but not because they never touched alcohol. Their health may influence their drinking choices; they may not drink because their health is poor.
"We can't 'prove' it one way or the other," says the lead researcher Dr. Time Stockwell , director of the study. But we can say there are grounds for a healthy skepticism around the idea that moderate drinking is good for you.”
Another study backs that up. Researchers followed more than 9,100 adults from the UK aged between 23 and 55. Moderate drinkers - those who had up to two alcoholic beverages a day were found to have a lower risk of heart disease than non-drinkers. But that wasn’t the case when the researchers analyzed drinking habits of younger people, 55 and under — and then followed them to an older age when they are more at-risk of heart disease.
The study shouldn’t be read as a reason to quit drinking. “The risks of low-level drinking are small," Stockwell said. On the other hand, alcohol isn’t a wonder drug that wards off disease.
"We know that people generally cut down on drinking as they age, especially if they have health problems," Stockwell said. "People who continue to be moderate drinkers later in life are healthier," Stockwell said. People who stop drinking, on the other hand, often do so because they're sick or because they take medications that could interact with alcohol. "The risks of low-level drinking are small but the notion that one or two drinks a day is doing us good may just be wishful thinking."
DelWine has always been recommending for several years-two 125-mL glasses of wine-preferably red and preferably with wines. We continue to take that stand-editor |