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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