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You've Prolly Seen This, but What the Hell
This was all over memeorandum yesterday and on Red Eye last evening... so EIP continues to be your best source for old news. But. Whatever. There's a new study out that's fairly good news for us moderate drinkers and Time magazine ran a piece on it. Excerpts: But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that — for reasons that aren't entirely clear — abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one's risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers.
Moderate drinking, which is defined as one to three drinks per day, is associated with the lowest mortality rates in alcohol studies. Moderate alcohol use (especially when the beverage of choice is red wine) is thought to improve heart health, circulation and sociability, which can be important because people who are isolated don't have as many family members and friends who can notice and help treat health problems.
Well, now. That's us... on six out of every seven days, at a minimum. Once or twice a month I'll have more than three drinks in a single day and once or twice a year I'll throw caution to the winds and let it all hang out. Things were sorta different in past lives... the weekly Happy Hour on Fridays when I was working might could have been described as "excessive drinking"... but that was then and this is now.
Speaking of now... Beer Me! Just like the picture, please.
p.s.: I liked what The Awl had to say on this subject:
Still, there's plenty of good to take away from this, unless you happen to be a non-drinker. Although you're probably happy to die early given your joyless, alcohol-free existence.
Heh.
Walter Breuning gave up his cigar habit eleven years ago, when he was just a kid of 103. He's still among us, maybe because he gave them up at such a tender age.
ReplyDeleteHenry Allingham credited "cigarettes, whiskey and wild, wild women" for his survival.
Fred Hale relied on whiskey, along with bee pollen and honey.
Antonio Todde's magic potion seems to have been red wine. Red wine turns up in lists like these quite a lot, especially when the long-lived person hails from France, which is often.
Also seeing lots of milk, olive oil and fish in these items. Perhaps this would be a worthy list to assemble, but being a young whippersnapper I'll stick to rating James Bond movies best-to-worst over & over again.
I heard about this on the radio this morning. Such GOOD news! And the "beneficial effects" aren't limited just to heavy red wine for a change -- thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteLet me be the first to raise my glass -- *clink* -- cheers to our health!
I'll drink to that, too!
ReplyDeletePerhaps this would be a worthy list to assemble...
ReplyDeleteHell, Morgan... there's an entire industry devoted to this subject. No sense in you adding to the noise, yanno? BTW... I watched "hombre" last night and Paul Newman's line towards the end seems appropriate: "We all die, it's just a matter of when." In the meantime, we should just enjoy, eh? That means I won't give up cigars, no matter how long I remain in this vale o' tears. ;-)
Let me be the first to raise my glass -- *clink* -- cheers to our health!
Indeed. We're just in from Happy Hour and I raised my glass to ya, Moogie.
Lou: You too! As Moogie sez: *clink*!
All dry here, but for the Grappa. Kind of hard to take all by itself.
ReplyDelete007 has his martinis, Morgan. That and the ladies should keep him going for centuries.
Physical health aside, often wonder if just the mental health aspects of pouring a glass of (your choice here) at the end of the day aren't just as important.
ReplyDeleteLike that first cup of coffee in the morning -- ahhhh.
Each person's road to longer life is different from his neighbor's. That's what I've learned from reading all of the varied reports about what people who have reached 100 or older swear by. What kills some, preserves others. And, since we have no earthly idea what's going to do the trick for us until we've already done it, I say eat what you desire, drink as much as you want, exercise only in ways that gratify you, and try to have sex early and often. If I'm wrong, I still won't go out with a frown on my kisser.
ReplyDelete"...is associated with the lowest mortality rates..."
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read one of these studies, I HeeHaw. I know what they mean by "low mortality rates," but it is still laughable.
The mortality rate in every generation is 100%. Drink, smoke, gorge, screw around, or not. 100%.
All dry here, but for the Grappa. Kind of hard to take all by itself.
ReplyDeleteI don't THINK you're back in Italy, based on my quick look just now at today's post. Haven't been to the store lately, or sum'thin? I never could get into grappa, btw.
Kath: You have a point there, whether it's you doing the pouring or a bartender. There are rituals associated with the process and those are comforting, indeed.
Jim: You are a wise man, Sir.
L-Andy: Heh.
Yeah, Buddy. Same bottle of grappa that I brought back with me from lovely Italia. Some things just don't get drunk very quickly. I can't keep a bottle of whiskey more than a week, but the grappa is a once in a great while situation.
ReplyDeleteAh. Thanks for the explanation, Andy.
ReplyDeleteFranziskaner Hefeweizen... now that's a beer. With a Maibock chaser, I am halfway to heaven.
ReplyDelete