Saturday, December 21, 2013

DRINK 'EM UP!


The study shows some surprising results
The tightly controlled study followed 1,824 people, ages 55 to 65 and lasted twenty years. It also took into consideration a number of variables, including socioeconomic status, physical activity, number of friends, as well as several other factors. The study was divided into three groups, abstainers, moderate drinkers and heavy drinkers. Abstainers were identified as people who never drank, or those who had drank in the past, but stopped drinking. Heavy drinkers were defined as those who drank 4 or more drinks daily. Moderate drinkers consumed one to three drinks a day.
 
After 20 years, the study revealed that moderate drinkers had the lowest mortality rate, while heavy drinkers actually lived longer than non-drinkers, who had the highest mortality rate. In percentages, 69 percent of non-drinkers died prematurely, compared to 41 percent of moderate drinkers. Heavy drinkers came out much better than the abstainers, with a 60 percent mortality rate.
 
One explanation was alcohols ability to breakdown social barriers. Researchers called it a "social Lubricant." This plus the need for humans to have strong social networks to maintain good mental and physical health was reason enough to explain the need for alcohol. Another factor at play in favor of drinking was that non-drinkers were more inclined to suffer from depression as opposed to drinkers being more sociable, if not gregarious. It was also the conclusion of the scientists that one of the added benefits of moderate consumption of alcohol, particularly red wine, also aided in maintaining heart and circulation health. This little fact brings to mind an article by Tony Edwards, Science journalist and writer in the Daily Mail. Edwards wrote, and these are his words, that after reading thousands of papers on the benefits of drinking, he found that alcohol can stave off cancer, colitis and even the common cold. All this, in addition to its well-known benefits in helping to prevent heart disease, strokes, circulatory ailments and migraine headaches. It's eye-opening reading.
 
It has been found that low levels of ethanol in the blood stream prevent the formation of formaldehyde found in some foods we consume. Actually, ethanol is used as an antidote in methanol poisoning in the emergency room in many hospitals.
 
Naturally-occurring methanol is found in some of the fruits and vegetables we normally consume. It is also found that the artificial sweetener, aspartame, converts into methanol in the body. Normally, this causes no problems because the methanol binds with pectin, and is excreted in the stool, leaving none to be absorbed in the body. Problems arise when we can or bottle fruit or vegetable juices, because the methanol tends to be released from the pectin, becoming free methanol. This the body absorbs, passing through the blood/brain barrier and converting into formaldehyde. You now have a very potent toxin, and this is dangerous.  
 
 
 

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