We all know the bad effects of alcohol, everyone has been teaching us how bad alcohol is and that we shouldn’t drink, but why don’t they tell us that alcohol is actually good for you heart? I don’t mean that if you have a broken heart you should go out and drink everything in your way. I mean that alcohol is beneficial to prevent heart diseases and many other diseases.
Let’s start by saying that you need to drink moderately, persons who drink moderately have better health that those who are heavy drinkers or abstainers. Here’s a video that explain why alcohol is good for preventing heart diseases. Alcohol also is good for other diseases which I’m not going to mention because I want to focus on heart disease, but if you want to know them here you go, alcohol consumptions and its benefits in diseases. I’ve mentioned that moderate drinking can reduce cardiovascular diseases, buy why drinking? I know that most people think that having a good diet, exercising, and loosing weight is helpful for cardiovascular diseases, but so does alcohol, and actually alcohol is found to be more effective than any other lifestyle change.
Wait, how would I know if I’m drinking too much or if its moderate? Well there has been studies that say that moderate drinking for women would be 7 drinking standard drinks a week and for men 14 standard drinks a week, let me specified, ONE drink each day for women and for men well TWO. It all depends on you body size. And let me be like all those Penn State surveys that you had to answer before school:
- 12-ounces can or bottle of regular beer
- 5-ounces glass of dinner wine
- ONE shot, or a 1.5-ounces
Do you want to know the 5 ways alcohol is actually beneficial to you?
- It can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, like I’ve mentioned before, only if you drink moderately.
- It can lengthen your life, drinking occasionally and during meals can add a some years to your life.
- Helps you prevent a cold, this is actually possible, from personal experience (where I’m from legal drinking age is 18) I was sick and I drank a glass of wine and I felt better the other day, weird huh?
- It can decreased changes of developing dementia, “Small amount of alcohol might, in effect, make brain cells more fit. Alcohol in moderate amounts stresses cells and thus toughens them up to cope with majors stresses down the road that could cause dementia.” Edward J. Neafsey, Ph.D., co-author of the study, as reported by Science Daily.
- Lowers the chance of diabetes, its say that people who drink one to two glasses of alcohol a day are less likely to have type 1 diabetes.
***Blondell, R. et al. Ethanol in formularies of U.S. teaching hospitals. Journal of the American Medical Association 2002, 289, 552.
References:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/7-health-benefits-drinking-alcohol-247552 ***
http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/AlcoholAndHealth.html#.VBDxWEuyjwI
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/faq-alcohol-and-your-health
I never knew that nay alcohol in general was good for your health! I definitely knew wine was, but I didn’t know any alcohol at all was! As is for anything in life, moderation is key! I found it really interesting that wine helped your cold, because I never really imagined it to be similar to a normal medicine. It was really interesting to hear that alcohol is served in hospitals as well! After reading your blog post, I looked it up a bit more and found this really good article on it! http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/10/18/130651819/booze-friendly-hospitals-aim-to-ease-patient-woes
Of course in order to be served alcohol in hospitals the physician must approve it, but there are many hospitals where the families and friends of the patients are allowed to bring alcohol in to give to the patients.
I love this blog post! For one, it you took a completely different view on a topic that we are all extremely familiar with and made some great arguments that I, personally, have never considered. Like most of the people who commented, my parents will drink a glass of wine or two most nights, and never was curious enough to ask why. I also think that it was super important that you, and the studies, reenforce that these benefits only occur with drinking in moderation. I have heard people try and promote health benefits in relation to alcohol when the person drank excessively, so I automatically dismissed the claims. I think you did a really great job proving your point.
Good sources too. I found additional information on red wine at this site.
I knew that wine was good for you, but I never knew specifically why. I like the way that you formatted everything and made it easy to read. Little room for criticism. Nice job!
I strongly agree with this topic! My parents who are old fashion Italians enjoy a glass or two of red wine at dinner every day! it’s become a tradition for them and something that is very common in Italian families. Growing up I always wondered why they would do that and this makes perfect sense! I have always heard that red wine is actually beneficial for you but I never quite allowed myself to fully believe it until now! Check this link to see more benefits of red
I strongly agree with this topic! My parents who are old fashion Italians enjoy a glass or two of red wine at dinner every day! it’s become a tradition for them and something that is very common in Italian families. Growing up I always wondered why they would do that and this makes perfect sense! I have always heard that red wine is actually beneficial for you but I never quite allowed myself to fully believe it until now! Check this out to see more benefits of red wine!
This makes total sense now because my grandparents who are in their mid 80’s have drank a glass of wine a day for almost 30 years and are still up and at em! They always brag how their doctor says they have such healthy hearts for their age. Apparently alcohol isn’t the only secret indulgence though check it out http://www.naturalhealthmag.com.au/content/3-foods-are-secretly-good-you